South Carolina rabbi, Jewish group shares perspective on recent college protests

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Rabbi David Weissman for Temple Shalom and Charleston Jewish Federation on Friday spoke out about pushing state lawmakers to vote and enforce a hate crime law.

South Carolina and Wyoming are the only states without a hate crime law.

Now, nearly a dozen SC communities have either approved or are considering a local hate crimes ordinance including Myrtle Beach and Florence.

Weissman said he’s grateful to live within city limits of Myrtle Beach. He says he has never experienced any antisemitism in Horry County but those who express it should be punished severely.

“We have increased security, that’s what we have,” he said. “We have surveillance of our property and for some occasions we have security protection outside the building so we’re being precautionary, nothing has happened, and we feel safe.”

Brandon Fish, the director of community relations for the Charleston Jewish Federation, said according to a yearly antidefamation audit, South Carolina has experienced a 93% increase in anti-Semitic incidents.

Weissman said it’s important to set the tone to not tolerate hate crimes against anyone or any group. He said it’s sad to see how college campus are unfolding across the country due to the war between Israel and the terrorist group of Hamas.

Fish agreed. He said recent assaults and harassments are concerning and not an example of freedom of speech. He added that 75% of hate crimes are violent.

“We have seen the effects of a Nazi group distributing antisemitic flyers to thousands of South Carolinians homes in the middle of the night, you know, putting it on their property in the middle of the night and they’re waking up in the morning to get the paper and finding it on their doorstep,” Fish said.

Fish said there’s been an overwhelming amount of support from law enforcement officials and city leaders as well as other religions, increasing responses to hate crimes.

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Jackie LiBrizzi is a multimedia journalist at News13. Jackie is originally from Hamilton, New Jersey, and was raised in Piedmont, South Carolina. Jackie joined the News13 team in June 2023 after she graduated as a student-athlete from the University of South Carolina in May 2023. Follow Jackie on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, and read more of her work here.

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