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Pure Anti-Semitism At the Highest Levels in New York City
Over the last few weeks, there has been a resurgence of COVID in the New York City area. While nowhere near the levels that left hospitals working non-stop for weeks in March and April, the spike in cases has concerned officials who are still reeling from the worst of the COVID losses nationally. They decided that the Orthodox Jewish community was behind the spread, and so, they have decided to wage war on the entire community.
HAPPENING NOW: New York City police officers forcefully dispersing Jews who gathered outside to celebrate the Sukkot holiday. pic.twitter.com/r7hYwJZKVT
— SV News 🚨 (@SVNewsAlerts) October 6, 2020
This was two nights ago, and take a moment to look at how the NYPD is doing crowd control. If this were really about a highly contagious and deadly virus, do you honestly think that this is how the situation would be handled? No, this is about punishing the Orthodox Jewish community and forcing compliance. We know what’s behind the spread: unmasked gatherings indoors. So what is the city doing? It’s closing libraries, schools, businesses and breaking up outdoor gatherings. Local Jewish leaders have rightly pegged this for what it is: punishment.
I live in one of the “zip-codes.” I wear a mask. So do my neighbors. I’d like NYC to explain the science that says my local stores need to close while those a few blocks away stay open. This seems like extra-judicial “punishment.” #DueProcess
— David G. Greenfield (@NYCGreenfield) October 6, 2020
The community is rightfully furious at being singled out after months of watching the city destroyed by riots, protestors, criminals and hoodlums setting off constant fireworks. At first, the frustration with the city’s handling of some gatherings over others was tongue-in-cheek:
Haha!! Jewish kids put up “justice for George Floyd” sign at street carnival, hoping this will prevent cops from breaking it up. pic.twitter.com/ri3xCKR3N8
— Kippah United (@kippahunited) June 5, 2020
But now, there’s nothing but all-out war against city and state officials. Elected officials have stood up in protest:
Four men who represent parts of Brooklyn affected by @NYGovCuomo’s new restrictions — @NYSenatorFelder, @SEichenstein, @KalmanYeger and @ChaimDeutsch — said they were “appalled” by his plan and rhetoric toward Jewish communities they represent.https://t.co/eIJ1AoGoIq pic.twitter.com/pQUxefHieF
— Jimmy Vielkind (@JimmyVielkind) October 7, 2020
And the community has as well:
Protest in Boro Park, Brooklyn with music people just marching for freedom. pic.twitter.com/9pEAPwM313
— Yaakov Pollak (@Yanky_Pollak) October 7, 2020
To be clear: These crackdowns aren’t about “flattening the curve” or keeping hospitals from being overwhelmed. They are about control and anti-Semitism, and from the looks of the streets in Brooklyn, the Jewish community aren’t going to go down without a fight. Judging by the many Jewish Facebook groups I’m in, today the Jews of New York City fight, and soon enough, we’ll be seeing an exodus to Florida.
In the ongoing political football between @NYGovCuomo & @NYCMayor the goalposts keep being moved without warning. First it was flatten the curve. Gov declared we must be below 9% to open up. Somewhere in the dark of the night 9% became 3%. Our religious rights must be protected. pic.twitter.com/0HWs4N9IZY
— Chaskel Bennett (@ChaskelBennett) October 7, 2020
Published in General
So now NYC is the epicenter of anti-Semitism in the US. 2020 really is a crazy year. Seriously after all the
mostly peacefulprotestsrioting, people out celebrating Sukkot are the bad ones?? This is one of the turning points where the middle-class begins to turn away from the rule of law and that is not good.Jews vote for Democrats though.
I keep wondering why.
A lot of Jews live in NYC but the Democrat Party has decided that while it will allow Jews to continue to vote Democrat and will throw the community a bone over Israel for now, the days when Jews were an important constituency are ending.
The Orthodox community isn’t monolithic, but is much more likely to vote Republican than are secular Jews. Zionist sentiment among secular Jews is, literally, dying out despite decades of strong, organized programs which bring college age Jews to Israel on programs designed to foster a heart connection to Israel. Witness the heavy approval Obama’s Iran policy got among Jewish Democrats; Peter Beinert is an up and coming political power on the Left; he was a strong advocate for Obama’s Iran policy (and works to move young American Jewry in the Democrats’ new direction) despite his public stance of “supporting” Israel. He he also “supports” the USA—and wrote this for the NY Times:
When I saw this news, it simply made me think again of what I think every day.
The US is undergoing a cultural change similar in some fundamental ways to Germany in the 1920s. The rise of anti-Semitism and anti-Christianity into plain view is one. This time, the mainstream institutional vector is the Democratic Party.
As in the Weimar Republic, a hereditary, pseudo-Christian elite (far less powerful and illiberal than that of the Hohenzollerns and the Junkers, of course) has been displaced, initially by a sudden rise in the power of liberals. In the American case, this could be seen in the election of Reagan.
That short-term flowering of liberty and constitutional republicanism based on Judeo-Christian moral values is being replaced by an unstable condition: power struggle between two main radical anti-liberal ideologies, and between factions within them. As in Germany, the now-homeless liberals are having to choose between the two sides. For now, it is an easy choice for most of us.
But the proto-Leninists will not tolerate a peaceful opposition by defenders of American democracy and the freedom to worship the Creator. Their method is to create provocations more and more violent and repulsive until all of their opposition is driven to violence, and the liberals who find shelter in the encampments of the nationalists are increasingly tolerant of the view that the pursuit of truth and virtue are principles that must be abandoned for the duration of the war.
As usual, Bethany speaks the truth.
The scapegoating of the Ultra-Orthodox by the DeBlasio/Cuomo has been disgusting. I say this as a Catholic, but I also say that as a neighbor.
For over a year, they did nothing about vicious daily targeted attacks on members of these communities.
After bungling the response to COVID in Feb and early March, the Mayor and Governor Cuomo, have blamed the Ultra-Orthodox for outbreaks in NYC. They cite transmission rates tied to religious gatherings as if it is settled science, yet they offer no actual statistics on this.
That community was ravaged by COVID in March and April, which seems to have been tied to a Purim, celebrated just before shutdowns were imposed. It was horrible timing. Multi-generational families gathered to celebrate on March 9 & 10, when the two horsemen of NY’s apocalypse were still urging folks to enjoy the city, ride the subways, live your life. The cancellation of St. Patrick’s events a week after Purim, surely saved lots of lives but it was just a matter of lucky timing.
It’s Fall and with it comes colds and the holiest of Jewish Holidays. After months of isolation, people came together again, and some people got sick. That’s how colds, influenzas, and viruses work. When this happens after college kids come home in Nov. and people celebrate Thanksgiving, and it will, will Cuomo and De Blasio rage against those victims?
Time and time again, as protests and riots convulsed the country and city, both “leaders” have treated those protests as a moral calling, yet they’ve condemned folks with a genuine moral calling who merely want to attend religious rites and services.
The Governor pretends this is a well thought out policy. Really? I live in Rockland County. There are three zip codes here and one in Orange that have higher disease rates than those in NYC. Yet we are still open. Why is that? Believe me, I don’t want to close down, but if there is a policy, we surely should be treated the same way that places in Brooklyn are.
Infection rates are rising. Weren’t we told that was going to happen? If this was about zero cases, and it wasn’t, then we’ve been lead by lying fanticists. This isn’t how disease works. The rates have risen, but the hospitalizations and deaths haven’t. Can’t politicians give the credit to innovation and skilled physicians and the most medically vulnerable being cautious? Nope. It’s hard not to think that the Politicians behind this are seeing a benefit to themselves to keeping their power trips going.
This disease is horrible. I’ve lost people I loved to it. People have suffered and are afraid, but none of that justifies bigotry or unequal application of regulations. This isn’t science, or common sense, it’s arbitrary, it’s anti-semitic, it’s anti-religious and it shouldn’t stand.
Not the Orthodox.
It’s an impure anti-Semitism.
Do you doubt that Cuomo would come down hard on any other hypothetical* white, non-leftist, group that similarly flouted his orders?
*Since the Catholic Church has fallen, the Hassidic Jews are the only large organized non-leftist movement in NY.
I did notice that the zip codes identified seemed to be all Jewish neighborhoods. As it happens I live in NYC and in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood no less. The one on Staten Island, if you know the City. I have first hand experience. The big Synagogue in the neighborhood has set up outdoor prayer facility and I’ve seen them using it, and wearing masks. They seem to be following the rules there.
There are smaller synagogues in the neighborhood but I don’t know what they do. I see lots of orthodox wearing masks even in the streets, which I think are useless. In my experience they are following the rules.
The impression I got from de Blasio and Cuomo’s comments is that it’s not so much anti-Semitism but anti religion. Their language seems to smear all religions. The Catholic League has condemned Cuomo and de Blasio over this.
I am very skeptical of these claims of anti-Semitism. There is no empirical evidence presented.
I did watch the linked video, supposedly of police “forcibly dispersing Jews.” This was an unruly crowd blocking a public street. They looked like they were celebrating and having a good time, but you don’t get to block public streets. The audio involved police instructing people to get out of the street and onto the sidewalk.
I don’t know whether the same instructions were given in various protests (much less riots) in NYC. I would hope that the police were trying to keep the streets clear. If they failed to do so with respect to BLM protesters, that is unfortunate, and they should have done so. This doesn’t mean that other groups should also be allowed to block the streets.
According to this NYT article, there have been new outbreaks of COVID in 20 specific zip codes (called “clusters”):
Gov. Cuomo’s reaction appears targeted at these specific areas of outbreak. He has a set of Twitter maps here. The new rules seem to be designed to respond to these specific problem areas. There are “red” zones with more serious restrictions: worship limitations of 25% of capacity (maximum 10 people); mass gatherings prohibited; closure of non-essential businesses; and restricting restaurants to take-out; and school closures. There are “orange” zones with more moderate restrictions: worship limitations of 33% of capacity (maximum 25 people); mass gatherings limited to 10 people, indoor or outdoor; closure of high-risk non-essential businesses such as gyms and personal care; restaurants restricted to outdoor dining and 4 people per table; also school closures.
I don’t know whether the claim about the new “clusters” are true or not. They do not appear to be rebutted at all in the OP.
Perhaps these measures are wise, perhaps not. I see no evidence that they are motivated by anti-Jewish animus. They seem to be motivated by infection data.
I have become very skeptical, and even borderline hostile, toward all identity-politics claims. I see the same tactics, the same hateful rhetoric, the same attribution of nefarious motives, and the same unwillingness to consider alternative explanations used by many such groups, from BLM-style accusations of systemic racism to the OP’s accusation of anti-Semitism.
It may be that NY leaders (chiefly Cuomo and De Blasio) are horrid anti-Semites. Or it may be that they are being falsely accused.
Ms. Mandel. I’m honestly confused about this. I loathe both Deblasio and Cuomo, however I fail to see a lack of a rational basis for this. Are not these zip codes zones with virus spikes? If these areas are heavily populated by the orthodox, is this not a kind of de facto discrimination being alleged to be de jure discrimination? And yes, my observation of the frum in and about 11215 do suggest A lower rate of masking amongst the frum, and yes, using a dated image to “evidence” non-compliance is vile, and yes, Cuomo and Deblasio are vile incompetents, but I don’t see this policy as irrational. What am I missing?
I’m with Jerry on this. Accusations of anti-Semitism should be saved for when it’s true. The headline of this post is not justified by the facts. If hundreds of Catholics refuse to distance and become a viral hot spot, they will be targeted too. It has nothing to do with religion. The NYPD is not anti-Semitic, New York City is not anti-Semitic. The vast majority of Jews are not ultra-Orthodox or even Orthodox. If you put it up to a (hypothetical!) Jewish-only vote, New York’s Jews would come out heavily against the Hasidim.
On the NYC subways, there’s an emergency switch to stop the train, but it’s kept under a sheet of glass. There’s a hammer chained to it, ready to break it when needed. Surprisingly, that sheet of glass is enough of a deterrent to discourage false alarms. That’s the way I think of calling “anti-Semitism”–if you have to use the hammer, do it like Judas Maccabee. But if you don’t, don’t go near it.
He’s targeting churches, too.
Why did it take reading a Reason article for me to find that out?
I should probably have added that my neighborhood, which is an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood, was not one of the zip codes identified as having a Covid outbreak.
Catholic League had their second post in two days on this issue, titled: “NYC ORTHODOX JEWS ARE RIGHT TO REBEL”
Here’s a key section:
You can read the entire thing here.
And here is the post from yesterday’s Catholic Leagues on how Cuomo is singling out religious institutions, titled “CUOMO’S TYRANNICAL EDICT.”
Here’s a key section:
You can read it here.
Why would Cuomo single out the synagogues? What rationale says that the source of the transmission is attendance to synagogue worship? From all we know it could be the delicatessen or the supermarket or the school or anything in the neighborhood. He’s got no proof the synagogues are the problem.
Fools and anti-Semites have a considerable overlap, but they are not necessarily the same things. A headline that claims “Pure Anti-Semitism” had better be able to back it up.