New York Daily News
By Trevor Boyer and Leonard Green
December 30, 2019
Black and Jewish leaders joined forces Monday to speak out against anti-Semitic attacks in the wake of a madman’s machete onslaught that left five men wounded at a Chanukah celebration in Rockland County.
Even with a black man in custody and charged with hate crimes for the attack at a Hasidic rabbi’s Monsey, N.Y., home, religious leaders and elected officials partnered in peace to denounce a violent bias blitz that has Jews across the region on edge.
“This will not set us back.” said the Rev. Al Sharpton at a news conference at his National Action Network’s Harlem headquarters. “We will cooperate and stand with any move in our community to investigate hate crimes no matter who the hated, and no matter who the hater.”
“If it had been attacks against the members of the black community, we would have stood up and spoke out,” Sharpton added. “We cannot remain silent as we see a consistent pattern against people based on their faith and based on who they are.”
Sharpton was joined by black, Hispanic and Jewish leaders who denounced the Monsey attack and a recent spate of violent hate crimes against Jews across the region.
New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman called on all New Yorkers to take responsibility and call out racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia and anti-Muslim bias.
“It is important and valuable for us to stand together and embrace our common humanity our pain and, yes, our differences,” Lieberman said. “And to commit ourselves to push back against the hate that has become too much a part of our lives.”
U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat called the attacks “an epidemic in America.”
“We must not turn our heads,” Espaillat said. “When they go after one of us, they go after all of us. And that’s why we’re here today.”
According to the NYPD, there have been 214 anti-Semitic hate crimes this year as of Friday, up 14% from the same period last year. Anti-Semitic hate crimes account for 53% of the hate crimes police have investigated this year.
Earlier this month, a black man and woman opened fire on a Jewish grocery store in Jersey City, killing three people after shooting and killing a police detective, officials said.
But civil rights leaders said the attacks should not undo the progress that has been made between black and Jewish communities.
“It was the historic black-Jewish alliance that led to some of the greatest political and social changes in the history of our nation.” said Rabbi Marc Schneier, president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding. “We cannot fight our battles alone.”
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