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Jonah Pesner

Dilawar Syed, president of the software company Freshdesk, speaks during a Tech Stands Up rally on Pi Day, March 14, 2017, outside City Hall in Palo Alto, California (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
August 13, 2021, 11:14 am
Jewish groups, senator rally behind Muslim Biden nominee attacked by Republicans
GOP attacks aimed at blocking Dilawar Syed’s nomination at Small Business Administration reportedly cite his membership on board of Muslim advocacy group that is critical of Israel
By Ron Kampeas
Protesters march in a Black Lives Matter demonstration organized by the Dallas Black Firefighters Association on Juneteenth 2020 in Dallas, June 19, 2020. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
July 7, 2020, 3:46 am
Movement for Black Lives is having a 2020 confab. Will Israel be on the agenda?
Group’s 2016 platform backed BDS and accused Israel of committing ‘genocide’ against Palestinians; US Jews who want to fight racism wonder whether the issue will come up again
By Eric Cortellessa
Signs showing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer are taped to vehicles during a protest in Lansing, Michigan, April 15, 2020 (AP/Paul Sancya)
April 17, 2020, 4:08 pm
US far-right extremists are now calling social distancing a Nazi policy
Fringe activists are comparing governors fighting COVID-19 to Hitler; Jewish leaders fear the conspiratorial rhetoric will lead to violence against community
By Eric Cortellessa
Illustrative: Israeli schoolchildren, August 27, 2013. (Yossi Zamir/Flash90/File)
January 24, 2019, 3:39 pm
Trump administration grants waiver for foster agency that rejects non-Christians
South Carolina’s Miracle Hill Ministries can receive federal funding despite turning away Jewish and LGBTQ families; ADL and Reform movement slam decision
By Josefin Dolsten
A boy from Honduras is shown being taken into custody by US Border Patrol agents near the US-Mexico Border near Mission, Texas, June 12, 2018. (John Moore/Getty Images)
June 22, 2018, 1:03 am
10 US rabbis visit separated families on the Mexico border
Group of clergy also includes Catholic, Protestant, and Muslim leaders, among them Rev. Al Sharpton
By Ben Sales
Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner. (Courtesy RAC)
May 2, 2017, 3:54 pm
Trump’s policies focus of US Reform movement conference
800 activists discuss ‘new vulnerability’ of immigrants, refugees; debate anti-Semitism and Islamophobia
By JTA
A man is detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Los Angeles, Oct. 14, 2015. (John Moore/Getty Images)
April 1, 2017, 3:15 am
Reform movement urges synagogues to protect immigrants facing deportation
Union for Reform Judaism calls on congregations to buck tightened regulations, and provide shelter, legal help for those at risk
By JTA
Attorney General Jeff Sessions , left, speaks as Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, right, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson look on, during a news conference about issues related to a reconstituted travel ban at the US Customs and Borders Protection headquarters, on March 6, 2017 in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson/Getty Images/AFP)
March 6, 2017, 8:09 pm
US Jewish groups excoriate new travel ban as ‘more of the same’
ADL ‘strongly condemns’ order, calling it an ‘appeal to xenophobia, fear’; Reform Movement says administration ‘doubled down on discriminatory, unjust ban’
By Eric Cortellessa
Sen. Jeff Sessions arrives to testify at his confirmation hearing to be attorney general of the US before the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 10, 2017, in Washington, DC. (AFP/Molly Riley)
January 13, 2017, 10:02 am
Reform movement comes out strongly against Sessions nod
Jewish stream joins other groups opposing Trump’s attorney general pick, raising concerns over voting rights, immigration reform and church-state separation
By JTA
Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions pledging his commitment to Donald Trump at a rally at Ambridge Area Senior High School in Abridge, Pennsylvania, October 10, 2016. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
January 11, 2017, 8:33 am
Reform movement expresses concerns about Trump’s AG pick
Senator Jeff Sessions ‘has a voting record and a history of statements that raise alarm,’ says Religious Action Center director Jonah Pesner
By JTA
Rabbi Jonah Pesner, director of the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center (Screen capture: YouTube)
October 18, 2016, 3:08 pm
Top Reform rabbi blasts Trump for ‘anti-Semitic associations’ in his rhetoric
Republicans reject allegations, saying nominee has lifelong commitment to Israel and Jewish community
By JTA
Donald Trump delivering a speech in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sept. 7, 2016. (JTA/Mark Makela/Getty Images)
October 2, 2016, 7:41 pm
Top Reform rabbi slams Trump for joke about non-Christians
Rabbi Jonah Pesner says singling out people at a political rally based on faith, even in jest, is unacceptable
By JTA and ToI Staff
A woman leaves the Old Etlan rescue squad building, used as a county voting location, during the Super Tuesday primary voting, Etlan, Virginia, March 1, 2016. (AFP / Andrew Caballero-Reynolds)
August 18, 2016, 6:51 pm
US Reform movement launches voter protection initiative
Ahead of 2016 election, Reform Jews will work with NAACP and other groups on nationwide effort to alleviate voter suppression
By Eric Cortellessa
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at the Merrill Auditorium in Portland, Maine, on August 4, 2016. (Sarah Rice/Getty Images/AFP)
August 6, 2016, 6:36 am
To name or not to name: Jewish organizations grapple with the Trump question
Tax laws prevent nonprofits from endorsing or opposing a presidential candidate, leaving groups to navigate how to voice criticism of Republican nominee
By Ron Kampeas
Zoey Bailkin, 14, reads a passage from Isaiah at an interfaith gathering on Sunday, July 23, 2016, the eve of the Democratic National Convention. (Mikki K. Harris via JTA)
July 28, 2016, 5:31 am
At DNC, rabbis (and a 14-year-old) draw from scripture to rebuke Trump
Jewish leaders warn of ‘the anger of the mob,’ hold interfaith gathering in implicit – and often not so implicit – critiques of GOP
By Ron Kampeas
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