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 18-year 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 on 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. Mr. Cuomo said he also plans to propose a new state law labeling hate crimes as domestic terrorism.

Read more

As most people know, last week two heavily armed gunmen killed a police officer and two customers and an employee at a kosher market in Jersey City. The FBI has declared the attack a case of domestic terrorism. But, incredibly, an elected member of Jersey City’s school board has defended the attackers, calling Jews “brutes.”

School board member Joan Terrell-Paige wrote on her Facebook page: “Where was all this faith and hope when black homeowners were threatened, intimidated and harassed by I WANT TO BUY YOUR HOUSE brutes of the Jewish community? They brazenly came on the property of Ward F black homeowners and waved bags of money.”

Read more

The suspects began their killing spree at a Jersey City cemetery, fatally shooting a veteran police officer before driving a stolen U-Haul van to the front door of a family-owned kosher market and opening fire again — setting off a hours-long gun battle that would leave a total of six people dead and the Jewish community on both sides of the Hudson River in mourning.

As the investigation continued Tuesday, authorities directly involved in the case were hesitant to identify a motive for the two suspects, whose bodies were recovered among the hundreds of shell casings beside the store owner, a bystander and an employee. But Jewish leaders were quick to call the attack an act of hate, and both Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio made public statements condemning anti-Semitism.

Read more