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A closer look at anti-Semitism in Iowa and the American Red cross is gearing up for a celebration, and its next big emergency in The Cities We've seen tornadoes, flooding and fires in western Illinois and eastern Iowa over the last few months.

The status of Red cross emergency funds, just as the group prepares for a fundraising party, could be a concern.

We'll talk about that.

But first, the rise of anti-Semitism.

It isn't just the war between Israel and Hamas, though some would argue that hasn't helped.

The Anti-Defamation League tracked almost 8900 anti-Semitic incidents last year nationwide.

It's the largest number of reported cases since the ADL started tracking data in 1979 and incidents on college campuses, particularly as some of those campuse saw clashes between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups increase, have become a concern not only across the country but also in Congress.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird announced last month the creation of a statewide anti-Semitism task force that includes a member of the Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities.

And joining us is the executive director of the Federation, Alan Ross.

So you have been named on this anti-Semitism, a task force developed by the attorney General.

What do you hope to accomplish?

What w hope to accomplish I was a I'm very proud that I was asked to be on this task force.

And you know, what we hope is that, any incidents of anti-Semitism, any type of hate, throughout Iowa, that, we're able to react to it, do something about it.

And, and resolve the issue if we can.

So that's that's basically the mission.

there are 13 of us, right now on on the task force.

There may be more in the future, but, it's, you know, it was set u at the end of last year, 2023.

We've had two meetings so far.

There's another meeting scheduled for, for June.

And so we're kind of just getting started pretty much, and trying to, you know, meet the people on the task force, and they're throughout, state of Iowa and, and determined what really what needs to be done.

We have to figure that out, see where there's some issues right now and, and try to deal with it.

This isn't just about Gaza.

This isn't just about, Hamas and Israel.

I mean, it's it's so much more, is it not?

Right?

I mean, anti-Semitism goes back thousands of years, and it's been it is the the, for the Jewish people.

Of the hate crimes that are, reported every year by the FBI and the Anti-Defamation League, over half the religious hate crimes are done against the Jewish people.

Whereas we only represent 2% of the population of the United States.

Well over 50, it's usually about 55 to 60% of all religious hate crimes are against Jews.

So it's, it's it's something, where I guess you could say in a negative way, it's for a far ahead of any other, religious group in, in hate crimes.

So it's it's something that, we're, we're really happy that Iowa has stepped up to do this.

And, you know, we look forward to being able to work with communities throughout the state if we see any forms of, anti-Semitism.

Well, and the.

ADL, the Anti-Defamation League has tracked 3283 anti-Semitic incidents last year alone.

And it was a spike.

Have you been noticing it that that the trend of anti-Semitism is going up, particularly over the last even 3 to 5 years?

Well, it has been going up steadily pretty much, over the years.

And after October 7th, it has really spiked up, across the country.

And it's, really, really across the world right now.

And so Jewish communities, whether in the United States, Europe, wherever are are being really under threat, daily and, various organization are tracking what's happening.

And every single day there are a number of incidents, especially here in the United States, of anti-Semitic actions by by those who hate Israel, those who hate Jews.

And it's all, together, pretty much, which is really, really disturbing.

How do you determine whether an incident is anti-Semitic?

I know it's it seems to be such a basic question, but.

But how is that determined?

Well, in 2022, the state of Iowa passed a law which was, accepting the internet National Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism.

Thousands of organizations, countries, states, cities have passed this, this law, this definition.

And it's a very, very thorough definition of anti-Semitism.

And you can look at it has many, many examples.

And so you can look at that and see if that falls within, what's considered anti-Semitic.

And I know one of the, some of the, one of the biggest, anti-Semitism incidents, since October 7th is, is hate against Israel and hate against the Jewish people and Zionists.

And so, you can look at this definition and determine if an incident is anti-Semitic.

And one of the things with this definition is it talks about Israel, and Israel should be treated like every other country in the world, but it isn't in many cases, is treated like a pariah.

People expect things in Israel that they don't expect from any other country.

And, so much of this anti-Semitism is, you know, it's anti-Israel but are really more attuned to anti-Semitism, has a huge if you see an Israel hater, by and large, they're a Jew hater as well.

You have seen the protests that that have unfolded on college campuses and, and people would say, is that anti-Israel or is that anti-war, or is it a mixture of both?

Well, it's a mixture of both.

But, you know, you can be anti-war.

You know, but how are you, you know, treating Israel differently from, say, you're treating Russia, invasion of Ukraine, or what's happening in other countries around the world.

And what we're seeing is Israel is being treated differently.

you know, there are calls for, you know, Israel to be dismantled.

What's happening in Gaza is a genocide, which it certainly isn't a genocide.

you know, so we're, we're very war of any type of demonstrations.

And the college campuses are some of the worst places right now.

And we've realized and we've known for a number of years that many of these colleges especially the elite colleges, have been heavily funded by state, which hate Israel, such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other countries.

and this funding, there's always the undercurrent of, anti-Israel hate there and, and, and anti-Semitism as well.

But it didn't you didn't notice it very much.

Most of us didn't notice it very much.

We knew it was happening but didn't notice it till August.

till after October 7th when it exploded.

And now anything that was underneath anti-Semitism has been exposed.

Now it's, it's become mainstream.

It's been mainstream in, in the media, throughout the world.

And so it's a very, very difficult situation for us.

the way I look at it is the Jewish people, by and large, especially in America, we were surprised.

We knew the anti-Semitism was there.

But what has happened since October 7th, it's we just weren't prepared.

We weren't ready for it.

And so it's taken us a while to respond.

To fight back against us.

And that's what we're doing, as much as we can.

Have you noticed the incidents, particularly in the Quad Cities area?

Well, the only incidents, not so, overt, so to speak, but there is an or a there's a Facebook organization, a Facebook page here of, supporting Palestinians.

And they have had protest marches here.

They marched across the bridges and things like that.

And and what we've seen from the area is that I've seen some of the posters that says of the genocid going on in Gaza, which is not I've heard them say the, the, the, phrase, from the river to the sea, Palestinian Palestine will be free, which means the eradication of the State of Israel.

So there is some of that here in the quad Cities.

Not really over it yet, but there is some of that now throughout the state of Iowa.

What we've seen is in the college campuses, Grinnell has some issues.

We've talked to a Jewish student there, probably 4 or 5 months ago, who's talked about the anti-Semitism there.

And he's worried, from, you know, for his safety.

There was an incident at the Iowa State.

so we're trying to monitor that or try to deal with it.

And so but I in in terms of overall, Iowa is nowhere near as bad to say, New York or California or Michigan right now.

But, again, that's why I'm one of the reasons I'm really glad is task force is start it up before things get really bad.

We have an organizatio in place that can deal with it very quickly and effective, hopefully very effectively.

Alan Ross, Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities and a newly appointed member of the Iowa Attorney General's Task Force on anti-Semitism.

In a moment, the Red cross, preparing for the next big disaster.

But first, Jason Carl is part of a couple musical groups in the cities, including the Jason and John Experience.

We caught up with him when he took to the stage to play one of his originals at the Black Box Theater in downtown Moline.

Here's Jason Carl with Yazoo River.

Jason Carl with Yazoo River performed at the Black Box Theater in downtown Moline.

Tornadoes have ripped through western and central Iowa.

A show last month brought more twisters to eastern Iowa and western Illinois.

And we're seeing flooding, strong winds and even drought conditions that require more disaster assistance for our neighbors and sometimes for ourselves as well.

This all comes as the American Red cross responds to house fires and local crises, including last year's partial collapse of the Davenport apartment building.

Jace Eustace from the Queen city office of the Red cross, joined us to talk about the organization's ongoing response and a fundraise that helps refill its coffers.

More than 1550 American Red cross volunteers have been mobilized since April.

This is a nationwide I mean, the Red cross is as busy as ever because we keep hearing of natural, natural disasters all over the country.

Yeah.

So absolutely, with the American Red cross, we respond over 60,000 disasters every single year nationwide.

So what's a disaster?

60,000 is what I mean.

That sounds like a lot.

Yeah.

So a large number of those disasters are home.

Fires are classified in that as well.

But obviously when you kind of see the things on the news, a lot of it you're going to see these widespread, you know, severe storms and tornadoes really in this area is something that's going to be really hitting close to home for people.

So it's somethin that we respond to year round.

we're always responding to disasters.

It's always a huge part of discussion for us.

And it's really kind of one of the bases of the Red cross is that disaster response.

And that will be for a long time for.

The Red cross.

Usually when you picture the Red cross, like let's say at the Greenfiel tornado in US in central Iowa, is that that you picture that red and white red cross van, and the people that have, I believe, red vests.

Right.

at the scene there.

and I know you have a Red cross, people that are there and they transition in and out.

In any given day, you could have somebody from the Quad Cities right now, not so much.

But I thought it was interesting that you said that you're also offering, Red cross volunteers are offering help virtually.

That's kind of a new aspect of what you do, is it not?

Yeah.

I say a little bit.

obviously Covid kind o changed a lot of things for a.

Lot of people.

And in all aspects.

So one thing that we do have is we do have some volunteers that deploy virtually and that can be them kind of helping people from home while still serving as either a caseworker in response, kind of working with people that were assisting with these disasters as well.

So which is kind of another area where we're able to just kind of cut a little corner and we're able to provide that support to people who need it the most.

And when we have people that are willing and able to do so, it makes sense to kind of allocate the resources that way, just to make sure we're servicing the people that need to be.

Helped, because a lot of those volunteers that do show up, I mean, you think of the meal serve, that is one big deal, but the other is the emotional support.

and that's kind of the backbone of what the American Red cross does on some of these disasters.

Yeah, absolutely.

So it's always going to be important that we're out there and we're on the scene when these when these events happen, as far as getting people making sure that they're safe and, and shelter, making sure that they're having hot meals in order to eat.

But like you said, it's it's that emotional and really spiritual support that we provide to people as well, where after an events, you know, they might physically be recovered, but it's still going to be affecting them emotionally.

And we're fortunate that we have, you know, the volunteer force and we have the resources able to provide that to people.

So it's not just the event that happens.

It's kind of that aftermath of everything that is involved in their recovery from disaster.

And when you talk about a disaster, you're thinking of something that's widespread, that's impacting dozens, if not hundreds, maybe even thousands of people.

But as you said, when it comes to disaster, you're counting some 60,000, many of them house fires.

Yeah.

Which is just could be a family of four.

How much of the work that the Red cross does locally in the Quad City chapter is that help for the family that has lost or has been impacted, at least by house fires or damage to their homes?

Absolutely.

It's work that's happening pretty much every minute of every day, for the American Red cross.

And and like you said here locally, where it might just be a family of four that's dealing with a home fire, but for them, that is the biggest deal in the world.

They're losing, you know, their possessions, that possibly loss of life.

Obviously, we hope that that never happens.

But we know that that does happen as well in these home fires.

So it's important that we're there to kind of provide that support to people.

And it's not just, you know, it's obviously these widespread tornadoes and disasters that happen that make national news as well as local news.

But it's also just like you said, that family for that that's here in the Quad Cities area or here in our chapter that need that assistance.

And we're fortunate that we're able to be there to provide that to them when they need it most.

Home.

With so many disasters, you kind of sit there and go, there's a disaster.

And then a week later there's a different one.

You forget about it.

And I think of the Davenport apartment building that collapsed in downtown Denver.

That's more than a year ago.

the Red cross was there at the beginning, but the Red cross and some other community organizations were there for a longer period of time.

Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely.

So when something like that happens where it's going to be, it took everybody by surprise when the event happened.

It's not going to be something that it's like, okay, onc the building is taken care of, once people are out of the building, once physicall people are in a safe location.

It's not something that's going to be away from people's minds.

So it's important that we're there emotionally and spiritually to to just help these people.

Because like you said, we were talking before where it's it's still top of mind for a lot of people in this area, and it's going to be for a long time.

It was obviously a very big event, and we want to make sure that we're there to support people and that we're involved in it, that we're around it, or might just have known someone that was involved.

and then unfortunate incident.

So it's it's very important for us that we're there, not just the day off, but like you said, for the days, weeks and sometimes even months following those events.

Because the people that had possessions inside that building weren't allowed to.

I mean, they they could have had their apartment that was in that building that didn't collapse.

And yet they weren't allowed because of the instability, no building to retrieve any of their possessions.

I mean, you really are talking about people who are starting from, you know, step one.

Yeah, absolutely.

And unfortunately, we see that a lot with the Red cross.

The peopl that are having to go back and and start from scratch.

So it just comes down to those basic needs that people need.

And we treat it, you know, obviously the same.

It's just about every disaster.

What do people need in that event.

And that' what we're looking to provide, whether that be, you know, relief supplies, whether that be clothing, hot meals, just places for people to stay, everything.

It changes for every disaster.

So it's important that we're there and just kind of seeing what these people need and seeing what we can do to provide that.

And for almost 30 years, you've had the annual A taste on the River used to be held at Schriever Park.

I remember it used to also, I think, be held at LeClaire Park even before that.

But now it's at the Bend Expo Center in East Moline.

It's coming up Thursday, June 20th.

How important is an event like that?

as far as filling your coffers and making sure that our neighbors are better served.

It's incredibly important, for events like that because especially obviously it's a fundraiser for the American Red cross and what a lot of those funds go to is that local home fire response for people, for but also preparedness.

Do we have our sound the alarm events that happen every year?

Or we go around into the community and install free smoke alarms to people who are in need as well.

So it's about that preparedness trying to prevent home fires.

Obviously, we wish we can never have to respond to these home fires because that would mea that they're not taking place.

But it's about preparedness.

And then in the event that something happened, it's about response.

So, you know, events like this are so huge because it reminds people that, these people that are affected b these fires are our neighbors.

They're people in the community that they could be loved ones that could be family friend members that, you know, and it's important that someone is there to help them at their time.

But it's also babysitting classes.

It's CPR classes, it's lifeguard training classes.

I mean, you do all of that.

Yeah, absolutely.

So our five lines of service is definitely that's par of something that we do as far as our training services people, a lot of down the line, people might have taken swimming lessons, lifeguard lessons growing up.

And it's just important for the Red cross that we're really just finding these areas and finding these ways that we can help people in any way that we can.

And when we have the resources in order to train people.

As far as for CPR, such a lifesaving skill that it's important for so many people to know because you never know when you can need it.

It's it's so important for us that we're there to kind of teach people, because we might not always be able to be there when something happens.

But if we could train someone that might be there, it could help save a life.

And you also have veteran services and service member services as well.

And that really became a really important part of what the Red cross does.

Yeah, absolutely.

So our service to the armed forces is something that we do.

And it's another important line of service as far as providing anything that we can to those who are out there, you know, fighting for our country, defending our country and, and anything that we can do as far as, relaying messages to them back in from back home, getting them back on a plane in the event that something important might happen, back on the home front.

So it's that's a huge part of what we do as well.

The American Red cross, Red cross is that service to the armed forces.

And I know you use, a taste on the river as kind of an education, effort.

But tell me a little bit about what will be happening that night, because you've got you've got you got stuff that people can buy.

Yeah, absolutely.

So it's a fun night if someone out there hasn't had a chance to go check it out.

Really, it's it's a cool thing to come come in and experience.

So basically we have a bunch of local, chefs that will be participating local restaurants and chefs, and they'll be coming out and have kind of tastings for people to go around and kind of check out and just kind of experience kind of the best of what the Quad Cities has to offer.

And and also, like you said, there's going to be auction items both live, and leading up to the event that people can bid on just a lot of packages really cool stuff, that we've been working on to put together for for the people coming out to the.

Event Thursday, June 20th, the Bend Expo Center in East Moline.

But people can start buying tickets right now.

Yeah, absolutely.

They can go to Red cross that August taste.

It's an easy way to go online.

You can also check on our social media pages.

You'll find it on there as well.

So it's great to obviously you can come the day off, but we encourage people to go out and, buy tickets ahead of time.

But it's a really fun event and it supports, obviously a great local cost.

Jace Eustis, public relations director for the American Red cross in the Quad Cities.

To learn more about taste on the river, visit the Red cross website for ticket and event information.

On the air, on the radio, on the web, on your mobile device, and streaming on your computer.

Thanks for taking some time to join us.

As we talk about the issues on the city's.

At IHMVCU, we've always been here for you.

You are and always will be our top priority.

We care about your financial health and we are here.

IHMVCU is a proud supporter of WQPT.

The future.

That's where our minds are at Western Illinois University, Quad Cities.

We are innovators searching for something new outside of the textbooks dog loving, leadership driven, world changing.

Whether you choose to study on campus or online, your future is designed on your terms.

Start your future at wiu.edu/qc Public Affairs programing on WQPT is brought to yo by The Singh Group at Merrill, serving the wealth management needs of clients in the region for over 35 years.