Robert Kraft / Credit Chris Graythen / Getty Images
Robert Kraft, the billionaire Jewish businessman who owns the NFL’s New England Patriots, is launching a multimillion-dollar campaign to fight against the growing problem of anti-Semitism in the United States. The 81-year-old donated $25 million to his own Foundation to Combat Antisemitism (FCAS).
“The message here really is that the Jewish people that live in this country are 2.4% of the population, yet we receive 55% of the religious hate crimes,” Robert Kraft told USA TODAY, citing a crime statistic from the FBI. “Just being between 7 and a half and 8 million people, (Jewish people) can’t solve this problem on our own.”
Robert Kraft wears a small, sky-blue lapel pin on his blazer that represents the new campaign.
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Robert Kraft told AP, “This little blue square represents the Jewish population in the United States – 2.4 percent. But we’re the victims of 55% of the hate crimes in this country.”
Founded by Robert Kraft, the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism declares its mission is to win the hearts and minds of non-Jews and Jews through powerful positive messaging and partnerships, motivating and equipping them to be defenders of and upstanders for Jews.
The organization said with the recent rise in conversations about antisemitism on social media, FCAS launched #StandUpToJewishHate, encouraging Jews and non-Jews alike to speak out against hatred and stand with the Jewish community. The messages, it said, are focused on the ongoing need to address antisemitism on social media and in our communities every day.
According to his official bio, Robert Kraft, founder, chairman and CEO of the Kraft Group, is an American entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist whose portfolio of businesses and brands range across many verticals, including paper and packaging, sports and entertainment, real estate and venture investing. His holdings include the New England Patriots, New England Revolution, Gillette Stadium, International Forest Products, Rand-Whitney Group, Rand-Whitney Containerboard and a portfolio of more than 100 venture and private-equity investments.
When he was awarded the Genesis Prize in June 2019, Kraft announced the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism. Through his own $20 million investment and the generous donations of others, Kraft’s vision is to stand up against racist and violent rhetoric aimed at the Jewish people through the most easily accessible and most powerful avenue of information in the world today: social media.
