FOXBOROUGH – New Eng­land Patriots owner Robert Kraft brought together athletes, representatives of professional sports teams, and heads of Jewish organizations to a conference at Gillette Stadium on Nov. 6 titled, “Blue Square Alliance Against Hate: Sports Leaders Convening 2025.”

“We need something non-confrontational to bring people together,” Kraft said, wearing the blue-square pin of the Blue Square Alliance, the advocacy group he founded to oppose antisemitism and hate. That something, he said, was “a small blue square” that represents “unity, solidarity” for “people of all backgrounds,” signifying that “we stand together, we reject hate, we choose love.”

Concerned about rising antisemitism in the U.S., Kraft founded the Blue Square Alliance, then known as the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, in 2019. Shortly after Oct. 7, 2023, he held the organization’s first-ever convening of sports leaders to address antisemitism and hate. “Since then, we’ve seen a horrifying rise in antisemitism and hate across our nation. This work is more important than ever,” he said.

Kraft recommended showing allyship with Jews who feel threatened, including by wearing the alliance’s blue-square pin.

Speakers at the event included three Jewish athletes: former Patriots Julian Edelman and Andre Tippett and former Boston Red Sox Ryan Lavarnway.

Edelman said that during his playing days, he was often the lone Jew in the locker room. When he sees an athlete posting content online that may be unintentionally antisemitic, he reaches out with an invite to a Shabbat meal, which he hopes will be a chance to clear up misconceptions.

Speakers at the event included representatives of Major League Soccer (MLS), NASCAR, the National Football League (NFL) and the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

Jessica Berman, commissioner of the NWSL, said that in the midst of “division and despair, sports is the one thing … that helps people see beyond our own personal and collective challenges.” She cited a need for sports leaders like herself to “do the things we can to allow for people to experience happiness and joy, bringing it to a world so challenged and troubled.”

A session on Black-Jewish relations was moderated by CNN host Van Jones. It featured Edelman and Emmanuel Acho, a former NFL player whose book, “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Jew,” was co-written with Israeli actress Noa Tishby – a prominent defender of Zionism and Israel.

Acho recounted how in the wake of the book’s publication, he was at a dinner and overheard a woman wondering how much “they” paid him to write the book. He confronted her and asked whom she meant by “they”; she eventually replied, “Zionists.”

Jones lamented that the Black-Jewish connection was no longer strong. He said he is trying to recreate that solidarity by hosting “EXODUS Over Dinner” events to bring Blacks and Jews together. He also mentioned his own travels with his Jewish godmother to Israel in 2002 and 2004, visiting Yad Vashem, Masada, and the Gaza Strip.

Another panel featured the heads of Jewish advocacy organizations, including the American Jewish Committee’s Ted Deutch, the Anti-Defamation League’s Jonathan Greenblatt and Hillel International’s Adam Lehman.

Greenblatt said antisemitism has spiked exponentially: a 2024 ADL survey of antisemitic events revealed nearly a thousandfold increase from 10 years prior.

Lehman said a Hillel study of 1,100 Jewish students in the U.S. showed 40% reported fearing to publicly disclose their Jewish identity.

He also cited a recent incident at Toronto Metropolitan University, where pro-Palestinian activists disrupted an event held by Jewish pro-Israel students. The event featured Israel Defense Forces members who were discussing Oct. 7; it was reportedly moved off-campus because the university had concerns over security. Protestors forced their way in, with property vandalized and one person injured, the media reported. Θ