Edited by: Fern Sidman
As the recent wave of violent anti-Semitic attacks against Jews in America continues to increase due to the Hamas-Israel conflict, on Monday a Democratic member of Congress called out his progressive colleagues for failing to condemn the perennial scourge of Jew hatred.
“I’ll say the quiet part out loud; it’s time for ‘progressives’ to start condemning anti-Semitism and violent attacks on Jewish people with the same intention and vigor demonstrated in other areas of activism. The silence has been deafening,” tweeted Congressman Dean Phillips of Minnesota, whose district is located in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul Twin Cities.
According to a report on World Israel News, last week Phillips also tweeted about the conflict in Gaza, challenging progressives to engage him in debate on the Israel-Palestinian issue where anti-Israel activists have consistently tried to drown out any dialog.
“If you believe that oppression is inhuman, nationless people deserve self-determination, the loss of children to reckless violence is abhorrent, and firing 4,000 missiles indiscriminately into population centers is a war crime, then we can have a conversation,” Phillips tweeted.
Phillips’ comments came after several widely reported anti-Semitic attacks took place across America as Israel battled terror groups in Gaza following an Iran-backed Hamas rocket attack on Jerusalem, according to the WIN report.
Jews in Los Angeles and New York were attacked by pro-Hamas supporters following anti-Israel rallies in those two cities, while other anti-Semitic attacks took place in Seattle, Chicago and Albuquerque.
According to a report on the Vois Es Nais web site, a man was arrested late Monday, after trying to enter a Brooklyn synagogue and committing an assault.
At approximately 9:30 pm, the man approached a synagogue East 27th Street and Avenue S. According to reports, he began yelling anti-Semitic slurs, while trying to enter the synagogue. He was asked to leave, but rather than do so, he assaulted two people. The police were called, but the man fled on foot. After a short pursuit, the man was taken into custody. He was transported to the hospital for injuries that were not sustained during the incident.
Last Thursday evening, Joseph Borgen, 29, an accountant from the Upper East Side, was beaten mercilessly by a bloodthirsty gang of pro-Hamas terrorists as he was on his way to a pro-Israel rally in the Times Square area. The gang jumped him on Broadway near West 49th Street. Borgen suffered multiple injuries including a black eye and a concussion.
“There was a rally at this location last week, which I had gone to,” Borgen told The Post. “I wore a yarmulke last week, and nothing big happened. I showed up for the same rally this week. I got off the subway at 6:30 and started walking to the rally, and before I could even make it to the rally, a few blocks away, a guy started chasing me.”
“I tried to get away, and the next thing I knew, I was surrounded by a whole crowd of people who proceeded to kick me, punch me, beat me down,” he recalled. “I felt a liquid being poured on my face and at first I thought I was getting urinated on, but it turned out I was getting maced and pepper sprayed. My face was on fire. That pain was worse than the concussion and all this other stuff that followed.”
One of Borgen’s attackers was arrested and subsequently released from custody. On Friday, the NYPD arrested 23-year old Waseem Awawdeh from Bay Ridge. He was charged with second-degree hate crime assault, a second-degree gang assault, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon. Police detectives are searching for others involved in the gang beating of Borgen.
From his jail cell on Saturday, Awawdeh proclaimed that “If I could do it again, I would do it again. I have no problem doing it again.” Even though prosecutors told Judge Kathryn Paek that the vicious attack on Borgen was unprovoked, she saw fit to set only a $10,000 bail fee which was met soon thereafter. Awawdeh was hailed as a hero by his contemporaries and other pro-Hamas terrorist activists.
Also speaking to the Post was an Upper East Side teenager who told the paper that he was beaten up by pro-Palestine protesters after he had his Israeli flag yanked away at the demonstration. He told the Post that he was hospitalized with a concussion and injured jaw after the attack.
“They surrounded me, and by the time I realized what was happening, I was punched in the face twice, once in the jaw and once in the temple,” the 17-year-old boy said, adding that, “This is another example of a rise in hate crimes in New York City, especially anti-Semitism.”
The teen, who asked not to be publicly identified, said he thinks police should have been quicker to separate the feuding factions. “Obviously tensions are high between Israelis and Palestinians and there should have been a better police presence to keep the sides separated,” he told The Post. “It was a mess. It was a nauseating scene.”
On Tuesday, it was reported that the NYPD arrested a second suspect in connection with the violent beating of Borgen. Faisal Elezzi, 25, of Staten Island, was taken into custody Monday and charged with three hate crimes in connection to the attack on Borgen.
“Conservatives call out violence in all forms and on all sides, those on the far left-remain silent until political expediency loosens their lips,” Republican Congressman Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina told Fox News.
“We must denounce anti-Semitism at every opportunity,” Cawthorn added. “There is no place for intolerant political thought for those who tout the endorsements of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood abroad, but remain silent on anti-Semitic violence at home.”
WIN reported that Progressive Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that anti-Semitism should not be tolerated and called the recent surge in attacks “horrifying,” saying “we stand with our Jewish communities in condemning this violence.”
However, Ocasio-Cortez and her colleagues were slammed for being the ones who had fanned the flames of anti-Semitism by adopting Palestinian propaganda slogans that smear Israel with the false “apartheid” label and baseless claims that Israel is carrying out “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians, according to the WIN report.
“Rep. Ocasio-Cortez didn’t call for violence, but she carved out an area of respectability for a certain type of anti-Semitism, and others were only too happy to rush in, fists flying,” American Jewish Committee global director of young leadership Seffi Kogan wrote in a Newsweek op-ed.
“While anti-Zionist gangs beat up Jews in her city, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was providing a quasi-intellectual basis for their actions, defaming Israel as an apartheid state employing indiscriminate force in what she seems to think is a capricious quest to murder as many Palestinian children as possible, instead of a highly restrained military operation tightly targeted on terrorists,” Kogan said.
The Jewish News Syndicate reported that President Biden and Vice President Harris both took to Twitter to condemn the anti-Semitic actions on Monday.
“The recent attacks on the Jewish community are despicable, and they must stop,” tweeted Biden. “I condemn this hateful behavior at home and abroad—it’s up to all of us to give hate no safe harbor.”
Expressing grave concern over the rise of anti-Semitic violence in the United States and the world, a group of major Jewish organizations wrote a letter to Biden on May 21, suggesting actions that he could take to bolster the administration’s response.
JNS reported that the letter was written jointly by the American Jewish Committee, Anti-Defamation League, Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Jewish Federations of North America and the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.
The organizations said in the letter that they were grateful for America’s role in helping secure a ceasefire between Israeli and Hamas last week, but at the same time feared that the conflict has been used to amplify anti-Semitic rhetoric and embolden those looking to attack Jews and Jewish communities, according to the JNS report.
“We appreciate your strong stance throughout your career against anti-Semitism, and urge you to speak out forcefully against this dangerous trend and stand alongside the Jewish community in the face of this wave of hate before it gets any worse,” the letter stated.
It cited examples of violent anti-Semitic attacks since the start of the conflict, including incidents in Los Angeles, South Florida, New York City’s Times Square, and against synagogues in Skokie, Ill., and Tucson, Ariz.
There were also anti-Semitic disruptions of pro-Israel rallies, including protesters who chanted “Hitler was right” to “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”—a slogan the letter said calls for a “wholesale genocide” of Jews, associated with the “push the Jews into the sea” slogan used by Arab military leaders following the establishment of modern-day Israel, as was reported by JNS.
Also on Monday, World Israel News reported that over 500 current and former campaign staffers for President Biden signed an open letter calling for the head of state to “hold Israel accountable” for its actions during Operation Guardian of the Walls.
The letter accuses Israel of human rights abuses ranging from apartheid to ethnic cleansing, listing Sheikh Jarrah as an example of these alleged Israeli practices.
WIN reported that because Biden tweeted last month that he is committed to the global struggle for human rights, the group said he has a unique responsibility “to unequivocally condemn Israel’s killing of Palestinian civilians.”
While there is a brief mention of “Hamas rockets killing Israeli civilians,” the letter primarily focuses on Israel’s alleged wrongdoings, according to the WIN report.
The authors cite the lower rate of Israeli casualties during the conflict as “demonstrative of Israel’s power over Palestinians and its penchant for disproportionate responses.”
“We are deeply concerned that Israel continues to use U.S.-funded military equipment to kill civilians, target journalists, and violently suppress protests in Israel, the West Bank, and Jerusalem,” the group writes, as was reported by WIN.
Suggesting that the Israeli authorities condone Jewish rioting, the letter urges Biden to “take action to protect Palestinians in Israel subject to ongoing violent attacks by Israeli mobs that operate with the protection of Israeli police.”
WIN reported that the letter did not mention that the victims of mob violence in Israel are disproportionately Jews who are attacked by Arabs, such as Lod resident Yigal Yehoshua, who was killed by rock throwers last week.
Biden should also “investigate whether Israel’s most recent assault on Gaza violates the Leahy Law, prohibiting U.S. military aid from funding foreign military units implicated in the commission of gross violations of human rights.”
The president must enact consequences on Israel, the letter reads, because “returning to the status quo is untenable, as it deprives Palestinians of peace, security, and self-determination.”
During the conflict, several far-left Democrats, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) and Rashida Tlaib (MI) attempted to exert pressure on Biden to blame Israel for the fighting, according to the WIN report.
On Tuesday, the eight co-chairs of the House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism issued the following joint statement in response to the disturbing rise of antisemitic attacks and violence targeting the Jewish community:
“Amidst the Israel-Gaza conflict, we have witnessed an unacceptable surge in antisemitic incidents, including violent attacks, across the country. From New York to Los Angeles, hateful individuals have targeted the Jewish community because of their faith and identity. As a Task Force, we will not stand by while our fellow Americans are subjected to physical, verbal, and online abuse. We are committed to combating antisemitism in all its forms, and we urge our colleagues and all Americans to help us eradicate antisemitism from our country and for law enforcement to prosecute these despicable acts to the fullest extent of the law.”
The co-chairs of the Task Force are U.S. Representatives Grace Meng (D-NY), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Chris Smith (R-NJ), Marc Veasey (D-TX), Kay Granger (R-TX), Randy Weber (R-TX), and Ted Lieu (D-CA).
On Tuesday, a Jewish man in Los Angeles was beaten by a group of protesters who were reportedly asking members of the public if they were Jewish.
According to a report on the Algemeiner web site on Monday, police in Los Angeles have arrested a man they identified as a “primary suspect” in last week’s violent assault on a group of Jewish diners who were sitting outside a Japanese restaurant in the Beverly Grove neighborhood.
Algemeiner reported that LAPD officers took 30-year-old Xavier Pabon into custody on Friday night. In a statement following his arrest, the LAPD said that Pabon, a resident of Banning, California, had been booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, and that detectives were recommending that additional hate crimes charges be applied.
Pabon was released Sunday after posting $275,000 bond and was next due in court on Sept. 23, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Tazpit Press Service reported on Monday that due to the dramatic escalation of brutal anti-Semitic assaults, Eric Fingerhut, President and CEO of The Jewish Federations of North America, warned that Jews are afraid to display their religious and ethnic identity in public.
Fingerhut is in Israel in a show of support for the IDF’s counterterrorism operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and against the background of rising anti-Semitism in the U.S. in wake of operation Guardian of the Walls, according to the TPS report.
The Secure Community Network (SCN), the official safety and security organization of the Jewish community in North America, warned over the weekend that “the recent violence between Israel and Hamas has led directly to attacks on Jewish Americans in the United States.”
TPS reported that several Jewish organizations have reported receiving anti-Semitic and anti-Israel related messages via their social media pages.
“The situation in the Middle East is volatile and there are people in the U.S. who will take advantage of the situation to target America’s Jewish community. As we have witnessed in past conflicts, there are direct security implications here in the U.S. for our houses of worship and other community spaces. This is a time to be vigilant,” SCN stated.
TPS reported that in reference to the recent anti-Semitic incidents, Fingerhut said Monday from Israel that he has been told by U.S. Jews that they are afraid to wear identification marks, like a kippah.
“I wear a kippah myself, and I know I look Jewish while walking on the street or in the airport. We will not allow this to become a permanent situation in America. Every Jew who wants to present his Judaism to the outside world, a kippah, jewelry, a T-shirt, should do it. We will do everything necessary to make Jews feel safe to do so,” he declared.
On Tuesday, the AP reported that Elliot Steinmetz, the men’s basketball coach at the Jewish Orthodox Yeshiva University in New York City, found himself enraged by the reports of antisemitic attacks and mounting criticism of Israel on social media.
On May 12th he posted on Instagram accusing some people of masking antisemitism behind political arguments. He challenged critics to be honest “instead of hiding behind Arab children,” saying “that’s what the terrorists do.”
“What prompted that was seeing some of our politicians — and it ultimately became celebrities and athletes as well — who like to chime in on issues they’re not educated on,” Steinmetz said in an interview.
“All of a sudden there’s attacks against Jewish people, and there’s nobody standing up,” he added. “Nobody.”
Steinmetz’s defense of Israel is a sentiment shared by former Yeshiva player Simcha Halpert, who moved to Tel Aviv in September to play professional basketball and has woken up several times in the middle of the night to rush to a bomb shelter. He defended Israel and accused Hamas of endangering innocents on both sides. Israel accuses Palestinian militants of causing civilian casualties by launching attacks from residential areas; many of Israel’s critics, meanwhile, accuse it of disp
roportionate use of force.
Halpert is also concerned about things back home — his father recently told his brothers in Los Angeles to avoid wearing in some areas the skullcap that identifies them as Jewish.
“It’s just a little crazy that we have to be worried,” Halpert said.
Also on Monday, TPS reported that French leaders and officials from the United Nations, Canada and Israel demanded justice for the murdered French Jewish grandmother Sarah Halimi during a special digital rally organized by the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF) and Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM). Speakers also warned against the dangerous spike in anti-Semitism and called for concrete measures to tackle it.
TPS reported that thousands recently took to the streets in cities across the world and many more protested on social media to voice their outrage over last month’s French court decision to excuse Halimi’s anti-Semitic murderer, Kobili Traoré, from standing trial due to his consumption of marijuana on the night of his crime. Many thousands have since signed a petition calling for Traoré to stand trial.
Halimi, a 65-year-old Jewish woman, was pushed out of the window of her third-floor apartment by Traoré after he reportedly yelled anti-Semitic abuse and shouted Allahu akbar.
Keeping the issue in the public eye and on the international agenda, especially at a time of relentless global anti-Semitism, the CRIF and CAM held a special rally titled “Justice for Sarah Halimi: An International Movement is Born.”
Also in Europe, over the past 17 days, at least 267 incidents of anti-Semitism have been reported in the United Kingdom – an increase of over 500% compared to the previous 17 days. 151 of the incidents have come after May 20th, when the Israel-Gaza ceasefire was announced.
