Bob Packer / New India Abroad

Increasing  concerns over antisemitism and anti-Hindu bias in the United States have prompted Jewish and Hindu leaders to strengthen cooperation through a new nationwide coalition aimed at defending their communities and preserving cultural and religious identity.

Bob Packer, a member of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) Board of Governors and one of the founders of the Hindu Jewish Coalition of America, said the challenges facing Jewish Americans following the October 7 attacks on Israel increasingly mirror concerns being expressed by Hindu Americans.

Speaking at a Capitol Hill event organised by the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS), Packer said Jewish communities across the United States experienced a sharp rise in hostility after the Hamas attack on Israel and the war that followed.

“The purpose was to marginalize, discriminate, and deprive our kids of the right and the ability to be openly proud American Jews,” Packer said.

He described an environment in which some Jewish students felt isolated or unwelcome on university campuses.

“Our Jewish kids felt isolation, depression, and the inability to openly be Jewish,” he said, recalling accounts from students whose religious symbols were removed or who felt pressured to conceal their identity.

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Packer warned that similar trends are increasingly affecting Hindu students and young Indian Americans.

“Sadly, as Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi just said, our problem is now yours,” he told the audience.

According to Packer, some Hindu students are facing growing pressure to distance themselves from their cultural and religious roots.

“Your kids are being targeted on campuses,” he said.

“They want to be identified as proud Americans as they should be, and they want to be accepted as they should be. But they're finding that the atmosphere that they have to do this in is not particularly welcoming if they also want to be identified as Indian and as Hindus.”

The growing sense of shared concern led Jewish and Hindu leaders to establish the Hindu Jewish Coalition of America, bringing together major organisations from both communities.

“That organization has been named the Hindu Jewish Coalition of America,” Packer said. “It is an organization of organizations, not of individual memberships.”

The coalition seeks to coordinate advocacy efforts, educational initiatives and community engagement programmes across the country.

According to Packer, the coalition already represents communities numbering roughly 13 million Americans.

Among its first major initiatives will be a leadership summit in Chicago, where Jewish and Hindu leaders will discuss how to address attempts to separate younger generations from their cultural and religious heritage.

“The first part of this program is going to be a three hour workshop led by Jews and Hindus together on what are we gonna do about this problem of people trying to pull our kids away from their heritage,” he said.

The coalition is also organising a Hindu-Jewish religious summit involving clergy from both faiths and planning educational visits to India and Israel.

“We're planning a trip for our leadership to go to India so that the Jewish members of our leadership can understand India, can understand the Hindu faith,” Packer said.

A corresponding visit to Israel will allow Hindu leaders to learn more about Jewish history, culture and religion, he added.

Throughout his remarks, Packer emphasised that both communities should celebrate, rather than apologise for, their identities.

“Let's be happy about the fact our communities are beautiful communities with amazing histories, amazing cultures, rich religions and spiritual foundations,” he said.

“We have to celebrate our cultures, not apologize for them.”

Packer argued that both communities have become targets in part because of their success in education, business, politics and professional life.

“They have seen how you and we have succeeded financially, achieved success in business, education, politics, medicine,” he said.

He warned that political narratives increasingly divide society into categories of oppressors and oppressed, placing successful minority communities in the crosshairs.

The answer, he said, is solidarity.

“I want you to know that we American Jews stand with you lockstep,” Packer said. “Just as I know and proudly say that you stand with us as our friends.”

He recalled that Hindu organisations were among the first to reach out to Jewish groups following the October 7 attacks.

“We got more phone calls from our Hindu friends than any other group in this country,” he said.

Packer said the coalition's mission extends beyond responding to incidents of hate. It is also about ensuring that future generations feel comfortable expressing their faith and cultural identity while fully participating in American society.

“We are going to celebrate and we are gonna fight for the futures of our children and our grandchildren,” he said.

The Hindu Jewish Coalition emerges at a time of heightened debate in the United States over religious freedom, campus climate and identity-based discrimination. Jewish organisations have reported a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents since October 2023, while Hindu groups have increasingly raised concerns about anti-Hindu bias and stereotyping in educational, political and social spaces. 

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