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Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando's CEO says bolstered security, education needed to combat rising hate

Photo: Pixabay
Photo: Pixabay

The Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando will receive money from the state to bolster security measures after Neo-Nazis marched in Central Florida last weekend. The money will be used to improve communication channels with law enforcement in the event of an attack.

The $150,000 dollars from the state will go towards buying a new amplifier for The Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando’s campus which includes the Holocaust Center. 

CEO Keith Dvorchik says the system will allow law enforcement to quickly and efficiently communicate with each other and staff during an emergency. 

“There could be an urgent situation happening right close to somebody whose there but they don’t know about it. Or there could be something that's very risky right around the corner and they don’t know about it.”

Dvorchik says better security is the first step in responding to anti-Semitism and other hate in the area.

Next comes education. 

“Then there’s how do you address the growing hate that we see, whether it was what happened over the weekend. Whether it was the bomb threats against the historically Black colleges. We see that there’s growing hate against others and we have to stand together, we no longer can be separate. We no longer can say oh this was only for them. This was only for them.”

Just last weekend, Neo-Nazis marched near the UCF campus. The Federation wasn’t directly targeted but has received bomb threats in the past.

Danielle Prieur covers education in Central Florida.