Dear Rotary leaders:

We, the undersigned Jewish clergy of Southern California, are deeply troubled and concerned by the installation of former Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan as president of the Rotary Club of Orange County Los Angeles. By doing so, an organization built on truth, goodwill, and service has elevated a figure who has circulated grotesque anti-Jewish blood libels and conspiracy theories.

The record is public. A July 7 article in The Forward documented that Ms. Khan described Israel as “sick pedophiles/cannibals,” baselessly alleged that “handcuffed babies were found in a mass grave” in Gaza, and claimed that “the elite” were “worshipping evil, eating humans, engaging in rape and pedophilia.”

These statements echo the same old conspiracy structure: hidden, powerful, corrupt forces engaged in the ritualized abuse of children. For centuries, blood libels accusing Jews of murdering children, consuming blood, and committing unspeakable depravity have been used to incite mobs, expulsions, torture, and murder. Today, the vocabulary may be dressed up as anti-Israel rhetoric or coded attacks on “elites,” but the moral danger is the same.

As Irvine Vice Mayor James Mai said when he resigned from Rotary leadership, “It’s the same thing if you asked me to be led by someone who openly hates black people or hates Asian people or a member of the KKK.”

As The Forward reported, when organizations like the Jewish Federation of Orange County, the Jewish Community Action Network, and the Anti-Defamation League of California raised these concerns, the Rotary district governor who oversees the club claimed that he did not have the power to make decisions regarding a club’s leadership. But Rotary’s own rules provide a mechanism for addressing precisely this kind of failure. If local club leaders will not act when a member’s conduct violates Rotary’s standards and brings the organization into disrepute, Rotary International and district leadership cannot hide behind procedural helplessness.

Rotary’s own standards make this issue simple. The Four-Way Test asks whether the things Rotarians think, say, or do are true, fair, likely to build goodwill and better friendships, and beneficial to all concerned. The Rotarian Code of Conduct calls on members to act with integrity, treat others with respect, and avoid behavior that reflects adversely on Rotary. Circulating claims that Israelis are cannibals and pedophiles fails every part of that test.

We are especially troubled by the message Rotary now sends to the wider community. If a service organization dedicated to goodwill treats blood libel as a private social media matter, it teaches that even the oldest and most dangerous forms of antisemitism can be overlooked.

We therefore call on Rotary International, Rotary District 5320, and the Rotary Club of Orange County Los Angeles to use the authority available under Rotary International Bylaws Section 3.060 and the Rotary Code of Policies to terminate Ms. Khan’s membership for good cause.

At a time of rising antisemitism across California and the United States, silence from civic institutions has consequences. Rotary can still act to preserve its reputation and correct this action. We urge you to do so.