The fighting in Gaza has also sparked unusually intense political strife.
In a high-profile case, Andrew Young, running for mayor of New York, made a statement in support of the “people of Israel” after a voter opposed him at a campaign stop in Queens, and the representative of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes of New York condemned his remarks as “completely shameful”.
Mr Greenblatt said he believed extremist views were responsible for the increase in the number of incidents targeting Jews.
“When people make unusual statements, you shouldn’t be surprised when other people do reckless things,” he said. “We saw this happen to the Latin American community when there was a wave of scapegoats over immigration policy, we saw this happen to the Asian community when there was a scapegoat for Covid-19.
“Now we see it with the Jewish community,” he added. “You may have strong feelings for the Middle East, but this is no excuse to persecute the Jewish people.
More than half of the 51 attacks recorded in New York took place in Brooklyn, where 34 anti-Semitic attacks were reported last year, most of them against people wearing traditional religious attire who identified them as orthodox Jews, hats, blacks. suits or long beards and side locks.
According to the report, the victims in Brooklyn included several Jews who were punched or slapped, including a three-year-old child; an Orthodox woman whose wig was torn from her head and thrown to the ground; and a group of Hasidic men between the ages of 11 and 82 who were hit by a driver who drove a minivan into them.
In addition to the attacks, the report also recorded 183 cases of harassment in New York, along with 182 cases of vandalism and 161 incidents involving swastikas. It also says there is a 41% increase in reported incidents at Jewish institutions, which were directed 62 times last year in New York.
Add Comment