DoSomething Members and Young Americans Stand Against Discrimination"Remember that there are so many people who DO support you and want to help and protect you! You deserve to feel safe in this country, no matter who you are." — Mikaela, DoSomething member, Iowa

Since January 9 there have been over 100 bomb threats toJewish Community Centers (JCCs) across 33 states in the US and two Canadian provinces. These bomb threats come in the wake of vandalism in Jewish cemeteries in St. Louis and Philadelphia where, in the past week, hundreds of headstones have been overturned or defaced.

These threats have disrupted the daily lives of communities across the country, leaving families feeling unsafe. JCCs are frequented by Jewish and non-Jewish families alike. They offer classes for adults and children in the community and are pillars of community-building, welcoming people of all faiths and backgrounds.

Thousands of DoSomething members, ages 13 to 25, frequent JCCs for a variety of reasons: classes, youth groups, social events, performances, athletics, and more. Targeting these centers hasn't just left a threatening message to the Jewish community but to communities as a whole. When any group is threatened and discriminated against, it serves as an attack to all of us, as a nation of people with diverse belief-systems.

Religious freedom is a core value in the US, and a constitutional right endowed to all Americans. One of the first things we learn in school is the story of the pilgrims, who fled from their homes to the US hundreds of years ago to escape religious persecution. However, religious-based discrimination still remains a huge issue in the US for many groups, and the prevalence of this discrimination has risen since the November 2016 election.

The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that:

"In the three-month time frame following the November 2016 election, 1,372 bias incidents were recorded, including anonymous bomb threats being called into Jewish Community Centers in 24 states. This came with an increase in hate groups across the US and an increase in the number of anti-Muslim hate groups... around 37 percent of all incidents directly referenced either President-elect Donald Trump, his campaign slogans, or his infamous remarks about sexual assault."

The presidential administration is also a contributor to the climate of religious discrimination. Its Muslim Ban attempted to bar entry to the US for nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries and suspended the entry of refugees into the US for 120 days, despite the world facing its greatest refugee crisis since WWII. Between November 23 and December 2, several Islamic centers received an identical letter that described Muslims as "Children of Satan" and a "vile and filthy people."

These hostile acts of hatred toward Jewish and Muslim communities threaten the human rights of all of us. Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are poisoning our values of human rights and freedom. Now more than ever, we must stand together and uphold these rights for each other, and we must work together to keep groups facing religious-based discrimination safe and protected.

DoSomething.org, a community of millions of young people with diverse identities and belief systems, stands in firm opposition to anti-Semitism and to hate towards and to any religious-based discrimination.

"No matter what, people deserve to be treated with care and respect. Your age, race, religion, and gender doesn't matter — what matters is who YOU are...I've decided to stand up for anyone being discriminated for where they're from" — Holly, 15, DoSomething member, Tennessee

DoSomething members around the world are already celebrating their family's backgrounds and building a digital solidarity wall  to show support for refugees and immigrants. In the coming months, DoSomething will activate thousands of members around Islamophobia and other hate crimes. We recognize our duty to provide our members with impactful actions to counteract the rise in hate and division we've seen in this country in the past few months.

We stand tall with every single one of our 5.5 million members to say no to anti-Semitism, no to Islamophobia, and no to hate.

As long as there continues to be discrimination targeting religious groups in this country, we will not stop in our efforts to dismantle hate and bring communities together to demand religious freedom for everyone in this country. We. Will. Not. Stop.

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DoSomething.org is the largest tech company exclusively for young people and social change. We're activating 5.5 million young people (in every US area code and in 131 countries!) to make positive change both online and off.