Thousands march in solidarity after spate of anti-Semitic attacks
NEW YORK — Tens of thousands of people, some covered in Israeli flags and others singing Hebrew songs, poured into Lower Manhattan on Sunday in a show of solidarity for New York’s Jewish community in the wake of a spate of anti-Semitic attacks in the region in the last month.
The most recent attack occurred inside a Hasidic rabbi’s home in a New York City suburb, when a man wielding a machete stabbed at least five people who had gathered for Hanukkah celebrations.
The violence has shaken the Jewish community in the New York area and underscored the startling rise of these types of hate crimes across the country: Anti-Semitic hate crimes in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — the nation’s three largest cities — are poised to hit an 18year peak, according to an upcoming report from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.
“We’re not afraid to stand together, to be able to stand against violence and promote nonviolence,” said Leslie
Meyers, 44, who attended Sunday’s rally, which was organized by the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York and the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, along with dozens of other advocacy and Jewish community groups.
Speaking to the crowd Sunday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said that New York will increase funding for security at religious institutions and will also increase the presence of the state police force and hate crimes task force in vulnerable communities. Cuomo said he also plans to propose a new state law labeling hate crimes as domestic terrorism.
“While we’re here today in the spirit of solidarity and love, government must do more than just offer thoughts and prayers. Government must act,” Cuomo said.
Several other noteworthy politicians, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive Democrat from Queens and the Bronx; Mayor Bill de Blasio; Corey Johnson, the City Council speaker; and Letitia James, New York’s attorney general, also attended the march. Mark D. Levine, a New York City councilman, called the outpouring of support from the large and diverse crowd “unprecedented” on Twitter.