This was probably one of the largest events in recent Washington, D.C., history organized primarily by women. It was the two-day Annual National Coalition Conference Against Antisemitism and Hate, held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., followed by a day on Capitol Hill, where delegates met with bipartisan senators and members of Congress.

The historic conference was hosted and organized by the American Muslim and Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council (AMMWEC), based in Washington, D.C. The gathering brought together Muslims, Jews, Christians, Sikhs, people of other faiths, and those with no religious affiliation. Men and women from across the United States and around the world assembled under one roof in a rare display of solidarity against antisemitism, hatred, and intolerance.

The conference opened with the U.S. national anthem, performed by Ghazal Mizrahi, an American-born Iranian Jewish singer. Mizrahi has been active in the Iranian exile movement opposing the clerical regime in Iran. Her parents fled the country shortly after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the so called Islamic Republic came to power following the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

The conference against antisemitism and hate was especially significant because it took place on the East Coast at a time when New York City was entering what many commentators were calling the “Mamdani era.” Against that political backdrop with the rise of antisemitism, the gathering underscored the urgency of confronting antisemitism, and religious intolerance.

Following Mizrahi’s rendition of the national anthem, three clergymen from the Abrahamic faiths offered prayers for global peace and for the United States and its people: Rabbi Alex Harris, Pastor Leon Benjamin, and Sheikh Musa.

The master of ceremonies was Seemab Asif, an AMMWEC executive board member, who presided over the proceedings throughout the conference. Seemab Asif is a magician with words and with the English language,........

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