By David Ben Hooren
Dozens of elected officials from the Greater New York region today joined more than 25,000 New Yorkers at “No Hate. No Fear.,” a solidarity march with New York’s Jewish community, across the Brooklyn Bridge. The march was organized by UJA-Federation of New York (UJA) and the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC-NY), as well as ADL-NY, AJC-NY, and the New York Board of Rabbis following the violent, anti-Semitic attacks in Monsey, Brooklyn, and Jersey City.
“Today we do not simply walk over a bridge, we begin building better bridges between all denominations of Jews, and between Jews and non-Jews,” said Eric S. Goldstein, CEO of UJA-Federation of New York. “Building bridges means putting aside our differences, religious and political, and calling out anti-Semitism and all forms of hate wherever we see it. The purpose of today’s march is to loudly and publicly proclaim that an attack on a visibly Orthodox Jew is an attack on every Jew, an attack on every New Yorker, and an attack on every person of good will.”
“The showing today of over 25,000 people representing the full spectrum of the Jewish community of New York, and many from the non-Jewish community, is a reflection of the seriousness of the plague of anti-Semitism affecting New York,” said Michael Miller, executive vice president and CEO of JCRC-NY. “We will continue to work with our political leadership locally, statewide, and nationally to address this scourge to ensure the safety and security of the Jewish community and all communities in New York.”
Following the march, New Yorkers of all backgrounds gathered in Brooklyn’s Cadman Plaza where a number of community leaders and heads of faith-based organizations including Cardinal Timothy Dolan spoke about the recent attacks, the rise of anti-Semitism, and the need for people of all faiths to fight injustice. Additional speakers and performers during the program included Eric Goldstein, Michael Miller, Maccabeats, Devorah Halberstam, Jonathan Greenblatt, Gil Monrose, David Harris, Mehnaz Afridi, Janice Shorenstein, Frankie Miranda, Joe Potasnik, Bishop Anthony DiMarzio, Blake Flayton, Matisyahu, Eric Ward, Chaskel Bennet, Rabbi Avraham Gopin, Shulem, MaNishtana, Lawrence Aker, Rev. Que English, Eli Cohen, Amy Bressman, Bari Weiss, and Isaiah Rothstein, as well as a video message from Rabbi David Niederman.
Sen. Chuck Schumer said that he would call on Congress to boost funding to protect houses of worship, allocating $360 million for them to fortify themselves with surveillance equipment, gates and strong doors, according to a NY Post report.
“Houses of worship have become targets, whether it’s a rabbis house in the suburbs of New York or a Christian church in the suburbs of Dallas,” Schumer said, referencing a deadly shooting last week at the West Freeway Church of Christ in Texas.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo also announced that he also will beef up security at New York’s religious-based institutions, doling out an additional $45 million to help protect them against hate crimes, according to the NY Post report.
Discrimination and racism and anti-Semitism is repugnant to every value that New Yorkers hold dear and is repugnant to every value that this country represents,” Cuomo told the crowd. “Racism and anti-Semitism is anti-American.“
But Cuomo said he was “heartened to see this amazing show of support in solidarity,” adding that Sunday’s demonstration was “New York at her best.”
“What is happened in Monsey and what is happened in Brooklyn, New York, is an attack on every New Yorker,” Cuomo said.
