Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Calling New York’s Actions What They Are: Anti-Semitic
For the last several weeks, New York City Mayor Bill deBlasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo have set their aim on the Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn and Rockland county for unique punishment amid the coronavirus pandemic. As time passes, we’re seeing just how much the targeting is for reasons other than public health.
Figures.
Turns out Cuomo's maps for shutting down Jewish neighborhoods – which are supposed to be based on science, but were drawn up inside his office without epidemiologists – follow contours of county roads. So either they're political or the COVID -19 virus knows geography. https://t.co/c2i1SUDHwP
— Omri Ceren (@omriceren) October 18, 2020
My friend Omri calls these outlines of lockdown “political,” but they are not. These lines of pain aren’t being based on politics, but bigotry. While the NYS Department of Health has stated that schools and storefronts aren’t spreading the virus, those are the two biggest targets of these shutdowns ordered by the state. These lockdowns are absolutely crushing these neighborhoods, which appears to be the intended effect, punishment:
I got a call from a store owner in the “red zone” yesterday: “I put my last dollars back into reopening this business. Every person who comes in wears a mask. I insist on it. Why is government putting me into bankruptcy?”
The answer: I don’t know.— David G. Greenfield (@NYCGreenfield) October 16, 2020
The state’s only Hasidic state legislature has released an important statement about the lockdowns, and it’s worth a watch. He comes short of calling the actions of government officials anti-Semitic, but he makes clear that the Jewish community has been directly targeted.
So much has been written about Hasidic refusal to play along with new coronavirus measures, but this is essential reading for anyone actually interested in understanding the nuances:
The situation was so serious, that many Jewish institutions went into lockdown before the city or state mandated it. The emergency was obvious. Sirens were blaring hourly — if not more frequently, & at some point everyone had a neighbor or tow that was hospitalized due to COVID.
— David Shor (@DYShor) October 15, 2020
David goes on to explain why things are different this time around when there is another “wave” of infections, but far fewer are experiences serious complications or death:
Regardless, the situation isn’t anywhere near what it was in March-April, so naturally people don’t see the need for another lockdown. They don’t want their lives disrupted — when the rationale isn’t there.
— David Shor (@DYShor) October 15, 2020
Now the Jewish community feels targeted, because it is:
Then there’s the presentation of the new restrictions. Cuomo lied to the Jewish leaders/Rabbis. He got them to agree on something reasonable, only to hours-later announce something very radical. It was a bait and switch. https://t.co/HJmvPiAASr https://t.co/XEDozRo92K
— David Shor (@DYShor) October 15, 2020
Orthodox Jews also don’t want to be living in a ghetto again, where different rules are tailored for their community. You just need to listen to Cuomo & De Blasio, to hear how their color-coded neighborhoods are all about the Jews. Never again is never again.
— David Shor (@DYShor) October 15, 2020
The Jewish community in New York is standing up for its rights, and it’d be awfully nice if they had some support.
Published in General
I am unconvinced. There is no empirical data here. As I understand it, the lockdown zones are identified by zip code, and it makes sense that zip codes would be bordered by roads.
I very much object to false claims of anti-Semitism (or other false identity-politics claims).
Quoting activists and their lawyers is not proof. Please dig in to the proffered explanation, and prove it wrong, if you can – by rebutting Cuomo’s claim that the affected zip codes have an infection spike.
Otherwise, frankly, stop making unsubstantiated and slanderous accusations.
Bethany,
Nah, Cuomo & DeBlaisio aren’t anti-semitic they just hate all religious people like the two-bit leftists that they are. The Jews are just the smallest Religious community so these cheap clowns figure they can get away with it. Besides they screwed up so badly they are in desperate need of a scapegoat.
First, because of their one size fits all totalitarian mentality they couldn’t figure out to protect those most at risk and leave everybody else alone. Thus they shoved the sick into the nursing homes and got a lot of people killed. Next, since they hold neither science nor law above anything but politics above it all, when the lunatic Marxist riots overtook the city they made no attempt whatsoever to shut it down on the basis of the COVID risk. Thus they proved that they are the worst hypocrites imaginable.
If Cuomo wants to hang it on the Jews he will just prove conclusively what a piece of garbage he is. Right now the City of New York is looking like a ghost town. The combination of the lockdown lunacy and the defund the police mania has made New York a joyless and dangerous place to be. Cuomo thinks his tax base will come back and have a pizza with him. He is nuts.
Regards,
Jim
Based on how Orthodox Jews live in NYS, they do want to live in (de facto if not de jure) ghettos. When one of the main rules of your life is being able to walk to the synagogue, you are going to create a neighborhood that is virtually 100% Orthodox Jews centered around the synagogue.
This, plus the density of such neighborhoods, puts them in a risk category that is different from most other people in the US.
That said, both DeBlasio and Cuomo are tyrannical asshats and need to get all the abuse that we can give them..
The Orthodox should refuse. Open the shuls, open the synagogues, open the stores. Let deBlasio shut them down, let him arrest them, all in public view. Show that commie s.o.b.’s true stripes.
We all need to start a little civil disobedience. The epidemic is long gone. What is happening now is just unbridled authoritarianism. If we were to refuse to go along, this would end I n two days.
The ghettos of Europe became prisons. Jews finally could not go in or out of them. That’s different than living in neighborhoods with people who follow the same religious tenets–voluntarily.
If Cuomo and DeBlasio hate jews, they could simply let them congregate and infect each other, letting the disease run its course. But no. Their overt actions go beyond hate. They need to make a political statement to show off their strength, power, maybe even their “machismo.”
It ain’t workin’. Instead, they’re showing off what bigoted pr**ks they are . . .
So today the news is that they were planning a wedding for the grandson of a Rabbi that was expected to draw 10,000 people. How do you even have 10,000 people at a wedding? That’s crazy. Anyway, it’s being shut down, and I do not feel that is because of antisemitism.
Can you imagine making canapés for 10,000 people? I bet the bouquet toss is fun to watch too . . .
Not effectively.
The complaint seems light on substance:
https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.546161/gov.uscourts.nysd.546161.6.0.pdf
The bride shoots it out of a cannon.
ctlaw,
Depends on the issue. I think this one is a perfect “Free Exercise” clause complaint. The Constitution guarantees the Free Exercise of Religion (check the 2nd clause of the 1st Amendment). The arbitrary imposition of lockdown sanctions constituted an abridgement of the Jewish Communities right to Free Exercise. Perhaps the Catholic community in New York would like to join this and make this a case about the arbitrary discrimination against the entire religious community. Cuomo is a thug and DeBlasio is a Marxist ideologue. Gd should get his day in court.
Regards,
Jim
Where in the 35-page complaint does it reference evidence of an intent to discriminate against the religious generally, Jews more particularly, or Hassids most particularly?
It’s even light on any allegations, let alone evidence of disparate impact.
The complaint references gerrymandering at Sec. 64 but alleges no example such as an odd strip of the red zone linking a synagogue to a prison where there is an outbreak so as to be able to shut the synagogue. Actually the factual allegations of “being cut by a hatchet” rather than a scalpel is the opposite of gerrymandering.
Much of the blather about anti-semitism distracts from any plausible legal argument such as a failure to meet requirements imposed in the Soos case.
Bethany, as I said on your previous post on this issue, de Blasio and Cuomo hate the notion of religious believers rather than any particular religion. Are they singling out Jews? I think what they see are the large gatherings the Orthodox have. Of course they have a blind spot when it came to the BLM protests but that’s their bias. To my perception they have been equally if not more so mean-spirited against the Catholic Church over the years.