Orlando Sentinel: Community leaders sign Central Florida Pledge to stand against hate

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer are joined by students, elected officials and religious leaders during the launch and ceremonial signing of The Central Florida Pledge.

Leaders across Central Florida representing city and county governments, law enforcement agencies, business, religious groups and college campuses gathered Thursday in downtown Orlando to sign the Central Florida Pledge, a document denouncing Islamophobia, antisemitism and other forms of hate.

In the months after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the brutal war that followed in the Gaza Strip, prominent community figures set out to ease some of the tension that bubbled across the region, thousands of miles away from the conflict.

Longtime businessman and philanthropist Alan Ginsberg had the idea to create a pledge that members of the community could sign to promise that they would not only refuse to participate in the hatred of others but would also intervene when they witnessed vulnerable people being targeted by those espousing hate …