NEW YORK – The worst antisemitic attacks in decades has shaken and alarmed the Jewish community in New York and around the country.
What started as a response to the violence between Israel and Hamas has escalated to a dangerous surge of anti-Jewish hate around the world, continuing even after the Middle East began a ceasefire on Friday.
In New York City, the burst of antisemitism in which pro-Palestinian protesters are violently targeting anyone they perceive as being Jewish has been particularly volatile.
Last week Joseph Borgen, a 29-year-old Upper East Side resident wearing a kippah, was assaulted near 48th Street in Manhattan on Friday minutes after stepping off the subway on his way to a pro-Israel rally. The 23-year-old pro-Palestinian suspect, Waseem Awawdeh, allegedly punched, kicked and pepper-sprayed Borgen while yelling antisemitic slurs. Borgen was hospitalized.
He said he felt “banged up and a little out of it,” while recovering at home on Saturday night. “I was covering my head hoping it would end soon. I was pepper-sprayed for a minute straight until the cops broke it up. For hours, my face felt like it was on fire and I couldn’t see.”
He noted that as a lifelong New Yorker, the post-Gaza violence in the US was the first time he’s second-guessed wearing a kippah in the city.
“You walk around Times Square and there are guys offering to put tefillin on you,” he said. “I’ve never had any incident before where my Judaism caused any fear.”
Borgen said he will continue to support Israel in New York City, and that he’s encouraging his friends to attend every pro-Israel rally.
“I don’t want to stop going to rallies, because that would indicate that they won, that intimidation works,” he said. “I’ll still go to rallies, but I’m going to be more aware of the crowd.”
LIKE BORGEN, the New York Jewish community won’t let fear stop them from showing Israel pride.
Thousands gathered outside 7 World Trade Center for a Ground Zero rally on Sunday, “United Against Antisemitism. United Against Terror. United for Us,” led by the Israeli American Council New York region.
“A ceasefire does not put an end to the unprecedented attacks against Israel in the US and against our community,” said IAC co-founder and CEO Shoham Nicolet. “We must protect and defend our families both here and in Israel.”
The IAC chose the World Trade Center as a gathering spot because the site reflects America’s own history of being targeted by hatred.
“The World Trade Center is a powerful symbol of America’s resilience and resolve against hatred and terrorism, just as the people of Israel stand strong in the face of terrorism and hate,” Nicolet said. “We call on New Yorkers of all backgrounds to join us at Ground Zero and show a unified front against antisemitic hatred and terror, here and in Israel.”
Adi Heyman, a 38-year-old Modern Orthodox fashion blogger, attended the Sunday afternoon rally, where Elisha Wiesel, son of Nobel Prize-winner Elie Wiesel, spoke. Heyman called the event “great, with a solid turnout.”
There was only a minimal anti-Israel counter-protest, and the area was blocked off by New York Police Department, but Heyman said she’s still reeling from a smaller pro-Israel rally she went to earlier in the week, in Times Square. That demonstration quickly escalated to chaos, as pro-Palestinian counter-protesters attacked the roughly 100 Israel supporters with smoke bombs, physical fights and antisemitic slurs.
“The Jewish community, civilians in Times Square, tourists slowly coming back, all of us felt very unsafe and unprotected,” said Heyman. “This isn’t some distant area, this is Times Square in broad daylight and I was shocked to see this violence in my city.”
Heyman, who wears a blonde wig and who is nine months pregnant, said she’s going to continue attending every rally she can.
“Just praying [the others are more] peaceful,” she said.
Heyman noted that some Jewish New Yorkers are choosing to lay low.
“People are afraid to go to kosher restaurants,” she said. “Jewish schools have stepped up security. Another Jew said to me, ‘You’re lucky you don’t look Jewish’,” a statement Heyman called “heartbreaking.”
THE ALARMING streak of antisemitic hate crimes in the city will not be tolerated, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Sunday, promising a stronger police presence in Jewish communities.
“Antisemitic attacks will not be tolerated here in New York City,” he said in a meeting with Jewish leaders at Brooklyn’s 66th Precinct station house. “We will stomp out antisemitism anywhere we find it.”
The hateful incidents followed tense confrontations between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrators last Thursday in Times Square, where a pro-Israel protester suffered a brutal beating.
Hate crimes were up 71% as of May 16, compared with the same time period last year, according to the NYPD. Antisemitic incidents were up 5%.
“The NYPD will be out in force in Jewish communities to protect the people of these communities,” de Blasio said.
Members of the NYPD’s strategic response group – which is deployed for everything from terrorist threats to violent crimes – were headed to Jewish communities, said chief of department Rodney Harrison, adding that mobile field forces will drive around those neighborhoods using turret lights.
The NYPD declined to specify the number of extra cops heading to Jewish neighborhoods, citing “security reasons.”
“Antisemitism has to be stopped immediately,” Borough Park Rabbi Bernard Freilich said alongside de Blasio. “It’s just out of control.”
IN ADDITION to the rally in New York City, other pro-Israel rallies took place Sunday nationwide, including in Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Denver; Great Neck, Long Island; Houston; Kansas City; Los Angeles; Miami; Orange County, California; Orlando; Philadelphia; Rochester, NY; and Tenafly, NJ.
Another New York City rally planned for Sunday in Times Square was canceled due to security concerns.
Heyman, a convert to Judaism who has nearly 60,000 Instagram followers – her posts range from modest fashion trends to Israel support – noted that the surge of violence in New York City such as the organized Palestinian attacks on Jews has “turned antisemitic way more than it’s about being anti-Israel.”
Typically, Heyman keeps her social media following informed about pro-Israel and Jewish events, but she said she’s felt less comfortable promoting rallies recently, because of the turbulent brutality.
“At the Times Square event, I would have felt very uncomfortable knowing people were there because of me,” she said. “We don’t know right now what’s going to turn violent quickly. It’s a scary situation here. It’s a taboo for me and I’m usually very vocal. I’ve been asking people, ‘Is this something that’s important for us to show up for despite the chance of violence?’
“I’m very passionate about justice and peaceful protest. What’s been happening at some of these rallies and on the streets of New York City – I’ve just never experienced this type of fear. I could be physically hurt right here, right now.”
Heyman criticized police for not being quick to get involved.
“Eventually some arrests have been made,” she said, “but it’s alarming how uncontrolled it’s felt.”
HEYMAN ISN’T alone in her sense of unease. Jewish communities experienced it this week outside of New York, too.
In Utah, a swastika was found carved in the front window of a Chabad Community Center, and in Arizona, a rock was thrown through a synagogue door.
“We are seeing a level of antisemitism related to the conflict in the Middle East that is beyond quantifiable,” said Oren Segal, vice president of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism.
The ADL has documented disturbing antisemitism on multiple platforms – from Facebook and Twitter to TikTok and Instagram – with messages including explicit praise for Hitler, promoting tropes about Jewish control, and demonizing all Jews. Extreme antisemitic and anti-Zionist content can be found across a wide variety of channels calling for the destruction of the Jewish state, including posts that state: “GAS THE KIKES RACE WAR NOW.”
An analysis of Twitter in the days following the recent outbreak of war showed more than 17,000 tweets that used variations of the phrase, “Hitler was right” between May 7 and May 14.
“We are tracking acts of harassment, vandalism and violence as well as a torrent of online abuse,” said ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt. “It’s happening around the world – from London to Los Angeles, from France to Florida, in big cities like New York and in small towns, and across every social media platform.”
Community Security Service, a Jewish volunteer safety-training program founded in 2007 by military and law enforcement veterans, also expressed concern over the antisemitic attacks.
CSS CEO Evan Bernstein said the current riots are different from previous antisemitic attacks on US soil that typically came from white supremacists. Now the violence is rooted in pro-Palestinian rhetoric.
“We’re always on heightened alert,” said Bernstein. “Our teams always have to be diligent of the climate, for example the lone-wolf attacks in Pittsburgh and Poway. The climate has certainly changed this past week. We need to ensure our teams are diligent as ever in their communities. Antisemitism may have taken a little bit of a pause during the COVID pandemic, but it’s now rearing its head.”
Bernstein pointed to the spate of antisemitic incidents in 2019 in haredi (ultra-Orthodox) communities of Brooklyn.
“The hassidic Jewish community of New York was very unsure of themselves for a long time,” Bernstein said. “Now, the more mainstream Jewish population of New York is being targeted. I think more Jews are becoming aware of what the Orthodox have experienced for quite some time. It’s unfortunate, but a larger swath of the Jewish community is becoming aware.
“What we’re seeing now isn’t coming from white supremacists on the far right, and that shows antisemitism really comes from all angles, not just from one segment of the population. The only way we can combat this is by coming together as one large Jewish community.”
The New York Daily News/TNS contributed to this report.