The Jewish Voice
NEW YORK
PAGE 8
MARCH 10, 2017
Rep. Maloney & NYC Leaders Call for Bolder Fed Actions against Anti-Semitism NYPD reports a 55% increase in hate crimes, 94% uptick in anti-Semitic hate crimes Edited by: JV Staff
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ongresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12), member of Congress’s Bipartisan Taskforce for Combating Anti-Semitism, last week brought together Jewish community leaders, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, and the NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism to call for more federal action in response of the recent wave of anti-Semitic sentiment and actions, including multiple reports of bomb threats against Jewish Community Centers and vandalism at Jewish cemeteries. The leaders, gathering at the Park East Synagogue in Maloney’s district, condemned anti-Semitism and all forms of
According to a report in the New York Observer, Maloney told the concerned gathering hatred, and celebrated the news effort. While we rely on law at the Park East Synagogue that an arrest has been made in enforcement to keep us safe that the upsurge in anti-Semitconnection to the threats on at and bring the perpetrators to ic incidents could be classified least 8 Jewish Community Cen- justice, we must also engage in as nothing short of “domestic ters (JCCs) across the country and to New York’s own Anti-Defamation League. Congresswoman Maloney called on the Department of Justice to create an anti-Semitism task force, for doubling the funding for the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP), announced a new bill for Holocaust education and asked for the Department of Education to adopt a standard definition for anti-Semitism and issue guidance to keep students safe. “Combating anti-Semitism and any kind of hate-driven crime must be a multi-pronged
Letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions from Carolyn Maloney addressing the horrifying escalation of anti-Semitism and other forms of hatred
The NYPD is investigating damage to headstones at the Washington Cemetery in Brooklyn.
community education efforts to terrorism.” She added that, “Bomb stop the hatred before it starts or escalates,” said Congresswoman threats directed at synagogues and the destruction of cemeCarolyn B. Maloney (NY-12).
Elected Officials & Bronx Jewish Leaders Rally Against Wave of Anti-Semitism Edited by: JV Staff
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s anti-Semitic hate crimes sweep the nation at alarming rates, Senator Jeff Klein, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, Council Member Andrew Cohen and Congressman Eliot Engel, in partnership with the Riverdale YM-YWHA, joined members of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale and other community leaders to condemn the disturbing acts during a rally at the Riverdale YM-YWHA on Thursday night, March 2nd. Last Monday four local Jewish institutions in the New York received bomb threats. On Sunday, March 5th, it was reported that vandals overturned dozens of headstones at the historic Washington Cemetery in Brooklyn, one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in the world. “Anti-Semitism exists, but we don’t have to tolerate it, and we won’t. I can promise you that. I met with the police this morning at the cemetery, the top brass from Brooklyn South, and I see that this matter is being taken very seriously. When the criminals who did this are caught, we will demand and expect real justice,” said New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind. “More than 40 headstones were overturned,” said Hikind. “It’s heartbreaking—not just to
As anti-Semitic hate crimes sweep the nation at alarming rates, Senator Jeff Klein, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, Council Member Andrew Cohen and Congressman Eliot Engel, in partnership with the Riverdale YM-YWHA, joined members of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale and other community leaders to condemn the disturbing acts during a rally at the Riverdale YMYWHA on Thursday night, March 2nd.
the loved ones of those who are buried here, but to all of us. Is there anything more cowardly than desecrating a cemetery in the middle of the night? There have now been nearly 100 such threats to Jewish community centers nationwide since the beginning of the year. The elected officials and Jewish community leaders spoke out against these reprehensible acts and called for unity. “This country is one built on the principles of freedom and tolerance, and one where so many have come to escape re-
ligious persecution. To see acts of hate, acts of anti-Semitism on the rise is chilling, and this behavior must be condemned. We must always stand together against hate, and take action in whatever capacity we can to stop it and to spread the word that it will never be tolerated in our communities,” said Senator Klein. “Anti-Semitic threats and acts of violence against the Jewish community are rising at alarming rates. Not only See Elected Officials & Bronx , page 36
Congresswoman Maloney was joined at the event by Park East Synagogue Senior Rabbi Arthur Schneier, NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism John Miller, Chief Assistant District Attorney to the Manhattan DA’s office Karen Friedman Agnifilo, Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations Malcolm Hoenlein, President of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York Charles Temel, and Chairman of the Red Apple Group John Catsimatidis.
teries are meant to instill fear, disrupt our lives and to individually achieve by violent criminal means what could never be achieved through the political process.” The Observer also reported that Maloney sent letters to Attorney General Jeff Sessions—currently under fire for failing to disclose meetings he held last year with the Russian ambassador—asking him to form the task force to examine the outbreak of anti-Semitic incidents. She also sent a letter to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos asking her department to adopt the definition of anti-Semitism developed by the
State Department’s Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism when it investigates possible incidents of religious discrimination. The Department of Justice must create a focused taskforce whose purpose is to investigate this recent wave of anti-Semitic hate crimes, and Congress must double our funding allocation for the NSGP so that all synagogues and community centers can receive the funding they need to pay for proper security. We must protect our students on college campuses, and that should start with the DeSee Rep. Maloney & NYC Leaders , page 37