The year 2019 wraps up as one of the most anti-Semitic in the recent history of New York City — capped off by a slew of hate crimes occurring over the celebration of Chanukah and even extending into the nascent new year.
In just over a week, nine incidents were perpetrated against Jews in the greater New York area, among them a machete-wielding attacker injuring five individuals at a suburban Monsey Chanukah celebration, a shooting threat at a Jewish organization’s headquarters in Brooklyn, and a Hasidic man punched and thrown to the ground by a group of thugs. At least 13 anti-Semitic assaults have been reported in New York City just since December 23.
And while the latest wave of anti-Semitism carried out in the New York City metropolitan area is disturbing, the upward trend of anti-Semitic attacks over a span of several years demonstrates a much larger and more predictable pattern. Anti-Semitic incidents in New York state surged over 96% from 2016 to 2017, with over 50% of the anti-Semitic assaults committed nationally occurring just in the Empire State. For the year 2017, more than 60% of New York state anti-Semitism took place in New York City.
The year 2018 saw anti-Semitic assaults in New York proliferate yet again, this time by an order of 55% — all of that just within the five boroughs. And yet again, in 2019, anti-Semitism accounted for considerably over half of all hate crimes perpetrated in the city.
Nationally, similar patterns arise, with anti-Semitism consistently ranking as the most prominent form of religious discrimination, but the unenviable ascent of anti-Semitism in New York City remains unparalleled in any other big city.
And the logic for the rapid rise in New York City-based Jew-hatred lies, in no small part, with the leadership and neglectful inaction by Mayor Bill de Blasio. Unsurprisingly, the overwhelming narrative surrounding any form of discrimination — anti-Semitism chief among them — in New York City places blame squarely with those on the far-right. Ironic, perhaps, given that New York City consistently ranks among the most liberal urban areas globally, that the far-right might hold sway there. Nonetheless, de Blasio trudges forward, claiming last summer that “the violent threat, the threat that is ideological, is very much from the Right.”
Sadly, the vast majority of the recent anti-Semitic attacks have been perpetrated by <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/8240/black-on-jewish-violence-marks-the-new-new-anti">black and Hispanic individuals</a> and in some of the most liberal enclaves of an already left-leaning city. In the first four months of 2019, with anti-Semitic hate crimes on pace to increase by 82% from 2018, de Blasio denied City Council Speaker Corey Johnson’s request for a fully-funded Office of Prevention of Hate Crimes. Speaker Johnson noted, at the time, that the funding necessary for a fully functional office would nearly double in the 2020 fiscal year, yet de Blasio has shown no intention to allocate any additional funds.
Beyond budgeting shortfalls, New York City’s criminal and bail reform practices have demonstrably returned virulent anti-Semites to the street without bail set. Thirty-year-old Tiffany Harris, responsible for the aggravated assault of three Jewish individuals last week, was released from police custody without bail following the first assault, only to commit the same heinous act twice more — a day later. She was again released with no bail. A policy enacted for the new year disqualifies swaths of crimes from being eligible for bail altogether in New York state. The laundry list of now-disqualified crimes includes third-degree assault, forms of aggravated assault, terrorist threats, arson in the third- and fourth-degrees, and even second-degree manslaughter. These crimes are often the direct criminal behaviors that have been taking place against Jews.
Tangible solutions and an end to the public safety crisis faced by Jews won’t come about by denying the realities of the situation. Pragmatically, significant fault lies with de Blasio himself and the state legislature, due to enacting poorly conceived policies and deflecting responsibility for the attacks to a preferred ideological foe.

Sunset in New York City

PHILLIPS: A Year Of Rampant Anti-Semitism In New York City

Anti-Semitism

Bill de Blasio

Crime

Hate Crime

Jail

Judaism

New York City

New York Police Department (NYPD)

Prison

As millions of students pack up and return to the dorms for the start of a new academic year, so too returns the scourge of the on-campus Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement’s ideology of anti-Zionism, Jew-hatred, and radical indoctrination.
Since 2005, over 130 BDS measures have been entertained by student council bodies at 68 of the nation’s most elite university campuses. At Barnard College, Brown University, the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, the University of Michigan, Wesleyan University, and dozens more, these resolutions have passed — an unfortunate truth that is indicative of the grip BDS maintains among many young people.
As graduates of these universities progress into positions as titans of industry, politicians, and all manner of movers and shakers, they risk carrying with them the skewed BDS stance on Israel’s right to self-determination and the propagation of anti-Semitic rhetoric that is synonymous with BDS activism. As such, they risk fundamentally endangering Jewish presence in society and institutions in the years ahead.
Whether or not oftentimes-gullible students recognize the movement for what it truly is, the BDS phenomenon rejects the value of liberal discourse by advocating for intolerance and promoting divisiveness and discrimination under the guise of a political position.
First and foremost, the BDS movement is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/43033/israeli-government-reveals-stunningly-close-ties-josh-hammer">inextricably linked</a> to recognized anti-Semitic, racist terror organizations. Indeed, BDS quietly serves as the international mainstream propaganda arm of these groups. “More than 30 Hamas and [Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)] operatives hold senior positions within BDS advocacy organizations. Known terrorists are invited to national conventions of BDS affiliates, radicalizing followers to view terror acts as legitimate resistance,” noted Haym Salomon Center senior fellow Ziva Dahl in <a href="https://spectator.org/the-unmasking-of-bds/">American Spectator</a>. PFLP has hijacked dozens of planes since 1968 and has organized countless bombings against Israeli and Jewish civilians. Hamas continues to rule the Gaza Strip with an iron fist, launching rockets and incendiary balloons on a seemingly daily basis as well as digging terror tunnels beneath the border between Gaza and Israel. Likewise, it ought to come as no surprise that the Iranian regime, responsible for some <a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/253558">150,000 rockets</a> directed at Israel from Lebanon, promotes the BDS movement. By proxy, college students subscribing to BDS are thereby perpetuating a pro-terrorist, pro-violence ideology in the halls of the world’s most exclusive and prestigious academic institutions.
Even notwithstanding the grotesque behaviors of its partner organizations and benefactors, BDS independently promotes the alienation of Jewish students not only from political discourse, but from campus life more broadly. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/46068/hammer-yes-united-states-was-right-deny-entry-bds-josh-hammer">BDS founder Omar Barghouti</a> espouses “armed resistance” against Israelis and denies the history of Jewish persecution altogether. “There were no pogroms. There was no persecution,” he has declared. These are the canards being disseminated among the upper echelon ranks of BDS — a self-described “non-violent movement” that ostensibly fights for “freedom, justice, and equality” for Palestinians.
BDS agitators on campus routinely promote hatred and discrimination toward Jewish students, as well as pro-Israel students who are not necessarily Jewish. At Brandeis University in May, anti-Israel students defaced with graffiti a piece of Hillel-sponsored art bearing messages of coexistence and tolerance. In February, Kingsborough Community College professor Michael Goldstein <a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-a-campus-infected-with-hostility-20190131-story.html">faced unrelenting harassment</a> by BDS activists for his Zionism and Jewish faith. A photo of Goldstein’s father, a former college president, was defaced with “F**k Trump Goldstein, Kill the Zionist Entity,” and over 1,500 flyers slandering Goldstein as sexist, racist, and bigoted were disseminated among the student body and faculty. Other recent examples abound: A UCLA student denied a student government post amid allegations that her Jewish faith would cloud her judgment, a University of Michigan professor denying a recommendation to a student seeking to study in Israel, and so forth.
It’s not hard to draw a parallel between the narratives of terrorists like the PFLP, Hamas, and the Iranian regime&#8217;s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the destructive patterns of abuse endured by Jewish and pro-Israel college students at the hands of BDS activists. And right now, BDS is winning hands down. With no sign of abating, coupled with the bare minimum of resistance from many university administrations, the dangers on campus posed by BDS proliferate — at the cost of academic liberty in general, and Jewish inclusion on campus, in particular.
Noah Phillips is a junior fellow with the news and public policy group Haym Salomon Center. Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/salomoncenter">@salomoncenter</a>.

Israel, Jerusalem – 31 December 2018: Israeli flag at the Western wall

PHILLIPS: BDS And The Looming Threat Of A New Academic Year

Education

Protest

Bahrain is set to be the center of the Middle East on June 25-26 when the country&#8217;s capital, Manama, hosts an economic investment conference intended to inject wealth into the Palestinian economy and lay the foundation for President Donald Trump&#8217;s upcoming &#8220;deal of the century&#8221; proposal between Israel and the Palestinians. The Bahraini &#8220;Peace to Prosperity&#8221; economic workshop announced on May 19 is a dual effort between the U.S. and Bahrain to <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/joint-statement-united-states-america-kingdom-bahrain/">&#8220;galvanize support for potential economic investments and initiatives&#8221;</a> and <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/joint-statement-united-states-america-kingdom-bahrain/ents and initiatives">&#8220;facilitate discussions on an ambitious, achievable vision and framework for a prosperous future for the Palestinian people and the region.&#8221;</a>
Participating countries include Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, and a large contingent of the Gulf Cooperation Council &#8212; Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Global powers Russia and China will not partake in the conference. Israel is yet to be formally invited to the summit, with senior adviser Jared Kushner <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/two-weeks-out-from-bahrain-summit-israel-said-yet-to-receive-official-invite/">reportedly</a> delaying an official invitation until the list of Arab states in attendance is finalized.
Notably boycotting the workshop is the Palestinian Authority, which, despite being the focal point and ultimate beneficiaries of the event, rejects the legitimacy of the conference because <a href="https://www.nad.ps/en/media-room/press-releases/dr-saeb-erekat-manama-economic-meeting">&#8220;Palestine&#8217;s full economic potential can only be achieved by ending the Israeli occupation,&#8221;</a> according to Dr. Saeb Erekat, a Palestine Liberation Organization diplomat. Various Palestinian trade organizations &#8212; accounting for nearly <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-23/palestinian-business-groups-say-they-won-t-go-to-bahrain-summit">80% of the Palestinian GDP</a> &#8212; have likewise declined invitations to attend, similarly objecting due to the lack of promise of <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-23/palestinian-business-groups-say-they-won-t-go-to-bahrain-summit">&#8220;freedom and sovereignty for Palestinians.&#8221;</a>
The Palestinian leadership and major trade organizations are outright refusing to even entertain an influx of wealth into their impoverished land &#8212; as though a revitalized economy is a detriment to the well-being of the Palestinian people. Given the utter impossibility of the Palestinians&#8217; demand of full control over all of the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, the unwillingness of the Palestinian leadership to hear out the economic plan at the summit appears to be deeply cynical.
What government would blatantly reject a plan intended to augment the country&#8217;s economic standing? None, excepting the Palestinian leadership, because to do so is possibly the most obvious disservice to Palestinian denizens and industry alike. Yet for the Palestinians, this is part of a much larger play.
The Palestinian &#8220;struggle,&#8221; which has garnered so much favor among mainstream media and international supporters, thrives exclusively on the plight of the Palestinians and the intense suffering that continues to be passed off as an outcome of alleged Israeli interventionism and discrimination. To the Palestinian leadership, a revitalized economy and regional stability would run wholly counter to the messages of despair at the hands of Israelis and would distract from their prime objective of the destruction of Israel altogether. As evidenced by their attempt to <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Palestinians-urge-Egypt-Jordan-to-reconsider-going-to-US-led-conference-592252">block</a> the summit, the Palestinian government does not strive for a better society. Instead, the Palestinian government mobilizes its populace and the international community against Israel &#8212; at Palestinians&#8217; own expense.
Due to this, terrorism in Palestinian society is incentivized instead of the promotion of beneficial public works programs. Anti-Semitism, furthermore, is a state-sponsored cause. Rather than fund secular schooling for Palestinians, the Palestinian Authority commits significant resources to the delegitimization of Israel in school settings. Only <a href="http://www.thetower.org/article/the-palestinian-textbook-fiasco/">7% of photographs</a> in Palestinian textbooks recognize any Israeli claim to territory. A U.S. State Department-funded study revealed that <a href="http://www.thetower.org/article/the-palestinian-textbook-fiasco/">87% of Palestinian books</a> depict Israel and Israelis in a negative characterization, and almost all &#8212; excepting a singular instance &#8212; depict Judaism in a negative light. The Palestinian education system demonstrates another facet of its over-arching hatred and incompetence: Educational advancement is sacrificed for indoctrination and hatred.
The Palestinian Authority also directly funds terrorist activities and diverts sizable quantities of funds from beneficial government activities in order to do so. In March 2018, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/palestinian-authority-payments-to-terrorists">approved</a> the allocation of $360 million &#8212; 7% of the GDP of the government &#8212; towards the compensation of terrorists and families funneled through two government institutions: The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Fund for Families of Martyrs and the Injured. Since 2013, these payments have in sum <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/palestinian-authority-payments-to-terrorists">exceeded $1.5 billion</a>. In 2017, these payments accounted for a whopping <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/palestinian-authority-payments-to-terrorists">49.6% of the foreign humanitarian aid</a> received by the Palestinian Authority.
The persistent pattern of the Palestinian Authority to slander and physically harm Israelis has culminated in the outright rejection of the Bahrain summit. No proposal for peace or economic prosperity will satisfy the Palestinian leadership. Ideals of rejectionism and confrontation with Israelis are so firmly engrained in Palestinian society, reaching children in schools and accounting for immense amounts of the national economy. The fundamental fault for a continued conflict lies not with Israel or with any particular United States plan, but with a culture of bigotry and state-sponsored incitement adopted by the Palestinians.

PHILLIPS: Upcoming Bahrain Summit Yet Again Showcases Palestinians’ Refusal To Negotiate

Donald Trump

Egypt

Foreign Policy

Israel

Jared Kushner

Middle East

Palestinians

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Trump Administration

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar has already been marred by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/sep/27/thousands-qatar-world-cup-workers-life-threatening-heat">controversy</a>, as thousands of native workers readying the country to become the epicenter of the global soccer economy are grossly mistreated and often unpaid. Add to that one ambitious and self-serving rabbi from the Hamptons, and things get messier.
Rabbi Marc Schneier, formerly of the Hampton Synagogue, is busy promoting his next project to unite Jews with the Gulf States: Bringing <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-26/new-york-hot-dog-rabbi-to-make-qatar-kosher-at-soccer-world-cup">kosher hot dogs</a> and sauerkraut to Qatar for the &#8220;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-26/new-york-hot-dog-rabbi-to-make-qatar-kosher-at-soccer-world-cup">thousands</a>&#8221; of Israelis and Jews expected to travel to one of the world&#8217;s most vehemently <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-10-most-anti-semitic-countries/">anti-Semitic</a> and <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2013/06/08/democracy-thats-for-other-arabs">anti-democratic</a> nations. Schneier regularly shares photos and sweet messaging on his <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/RabbiMSchneier/posts/">social media</a> pages on the progress of his hot dog mission.
Schneier is <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-26/new-york-hot-dog-rabbi-to-make-qatar-kosher-at-soccer-world-cup">liaising</a> with Hassan al-Thawadi and Qatar&#8217;s Supreme Committee on Delivery and Legacy to supply the kosher food. On the Supreme Committee <a href="https://sc.qa/en/about/message-from-managing-director">sits</a> Managing Director Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani, who has a troubled ethical past himself. The Sheikh <a href="http://de-tenants.org/QatariEliteLinkedToIcelandicMarketManipulationPart2LoanReinvestmentAndGovtInvestigation.html">narrowly</a> avoided prison time for investor fraud and was <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-24/broidy-s-expanded-hack-allegations-fault-ex-spy-emir-s-brother">recently sued</a> by Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy for cyber warfare attacks &#8212; egregious, even before considering that the Al Thani family has ruled Qatar despotically for generations. Sheikh Mohammed&#8217;s father, Hamad al Thani, implemented a <a href="https://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/backtracking-on-qatar/">series</a> of anti-Semitic, pro-terrorist policies still in place under the rule of Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Sheikh Mohammed&#8217;s brother. These include refusing to recognize Israel&#8217;s sovereignty, funneling <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/No-Holds-Barred-Qatar-flashes-cash-at-Gaza-while-Hamas-continues-its-brutality-571776">billions</a> of dollars to Hamas and providing a safe haven for Hamas terrorists. Other members of the Al Thani family have <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/06/world/threats-responses-terror-network-intelligence-break-led-us-tie-envoy-killing.html">donated</a> millions to al-Qaeda terrorists, as well as creating safe houses and doling out passports to sundry other Islamist terrorists.
And to add to the evident moral dilemma presented by collaborating with Qatari leadership is a more pragmatic fault with Schneier&#8217;s plan for hot-dog peace. Qatar does <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-26/new-york-hot-dog-rabbi-to-make-qatar-kosher-at-soccer-world-cup">not</a> permit Israelis to enter the country, a longstanding tradition making Schneier&#8217;s entire mission nearly impossible. Schneier claims that this policy will be vacated for the duration of the World Cup, although Qatari officials have been mute on the subject. But even if the Israeli passport ban were to be temporarily lifted, should this be hailed as a bridge-building triumph for Schneier? Qatar would, in all likelihood, snap back the policy the day following the conclusion of the tournament and go on with old habits. Schneier&#8217;s supposed &#8220;achievements&#8221; have not further advanced democratic causes or tolerance in Qatar; rather, they have exclusively served to benefit the country&#8217;s economic standing through Israeli tourism.
Coupled with the unresolved passport dilemma is the physical threat posed by Jews and Israelis entering Qatar; indeed, the lifting of a multi-generational passport ban on Israelis is not as simple as Schneier lets on. The anti-Jewish sentiment harbored institutionally in Qatar cannot amazingly disappear, even for a soccer tournament, and should Israelis actually attend the World Cup they will inevitably encounter profound persecution on the grounds of their nationality or religion. It wouldn&#8217;t be past the Qatari government to arbitrarily and inhumanely degrade Israelis, yet Schneier puts forth a fantasy of a Qatari-Israeli safe space during the World Cup &#8212; a naive goal for someone with his alleged breadth of knowledge on the Gulf states.
On the whole, Schneier&#8217;s actions aren&#8217;t just immoral to the Jewish people &#8212; they are also undemocratic and un-American. He&#8217;s consorted with top officials in a nation with values starkly in contrast to our own. Schneier, in his capacity as a figurehead not just for the Jewish community but as a high-profile American citizen, must carefully consider his priorities. He must decide whether he is so concerned with remaining relevant politically so as to sacrifice basic human values of equality and respect, or whether he will condemn and dissociate from the brutish Qatari leadership.

Noah Phillips is the founder of <a href="https://www.jexaminer.com">The Jewish Examiner</a>.

PHILLIPS: Rabbi Marc Schneier Is The Latest American Jew To Be Ensnared By The Qatari Regime

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Noah Phillips

PHILLIPS: A Year Of Rampant Anti-Semitism In New York City

PHILLIPS: BDS And The Looming Threat Of A New Academic Year

PHILLIPS: Upcoming Bahrain Summit Yet Again Showcases Palestinians’ Refusal To Negotiate

PHILLIPS: Rabbi Marc Schneier Is The Latest American Jew To Be Ensnared By The Qatari Regime