Who’s Behind the Assaults on Jews in New York?
Who’s assaulting Jews in New York? And why aren’t the attackers getting punished?
A new study released by the Hate Crimes Accountability Project of Americans Against Antisemitism answers the first question. And it's not what the media has been telling us.
The second question remains a mystery.
The study looked at 194 documented cases of anti-Semitic hate crimes between April 2018 and August 2022. Of those crimes, 154 were physical and 40 verbal. In 99 of the cases, the police knew the identities of the attackers.
Yet shockingly, the courts convicted and sentenced to prison only two of the perpetrators of these crimes against Jews in New York.
Minorities Attacking Jews in NY
The narrative of the mainstream media is that the biggest threat against Jews comes from white supremacists. Yet the data from New York belies this claim. Rather, the study found that 97 percent of the attacks came from minority populations. Specifically:
69 percent were committed by blacks
17 percent by Muslims/Arabs
11 percent by Hispanics
3 percent by whites
The study also found a number of additional facts:
22 percent were committed by teens
16 percent by teens in groups of two or more
23 percent by groups of two or more people
Not surprisingly, the majority of the attacks (78 percent) happened in four of the most prominent Jewish neighborhoods in New York. Also not surprisingly, 94 of the attacks were on Jews who were visibly identifiable (Orthodox Jews).
Yet shockingly, the courts convicted and sentenced to prison only two of the perpetrators of these crimes against Jews in New York.
Dramatic Increase of Attacks on Jews in New York
In November 2022, crimes against Jews in New York increased 125 percent over November 2021. That means that in November, according to the New York Police Department, an anti-Semitic hate crime happened once every 16 hours in New York on average.
In fact, every month except April and May of 2022 saw an increase over the same month in 2021.
What spurred such a significant increase in anti-Semitic incidents? The question is particularly relevant since 2020 saw a decrease in the number of incidents compared to 2019.
Within Our Lifetime's Violent Rhetoric and Aggressive Street Actions
In 2021, the most dramatic increase in attacks against Jews in New York occurred in May 2021 during the Israel-Hamas conflict. Since then, attacks have only increased.
During the conflict, the radical anti-Israel group Within Our Lifetime (WOL) held regular and aggressive anti-Semitic demonstrations against Israel. The protests drew WOL’s many intersectional allies out to the streets protesting in solidarity.
Participants were subjected to WOL’s leader and founder Nerdeen Kiswani’s violent and inciteful rhetoric against Jews.
Kiswani, who was named “Antisemite of the Year” by StopAntisemitism.org., is famous for saying at one rally, “We need allies who are gonna help us achieve a victory, not allies who are going to tell us to be non-violent.”
At another rally, after fireworks were launched, Kiswani declared, “I hope that a pop-pop is the last noise that some Zionists hear in their lifetime!"
One of WOL’s favorite rallying cries is "Palestinian resistance and liberation by any means necessary.”
During the May 2021 conflict, WOL launched a new campaign in NYC called “Globalize the Intifada.”
“Intifada” is the word used for the violent “uprising” that characterized decades of terror against Israel and has resulted in over 1,400 Israeli civilian deaths since 1987.
Violent Attacks Against Jews in New York by Within Our Lifetime Activists
WOL activists were responsible for some of the most coordinated attacks against Jews in New York between 2021 and 2022, including:
- The attack on Joseph Borgen, a young Jewish man who was on his way to a pro-Israel rally on May 20, 2021, in Manhattan. Why? He was simply wearing a yarmulke on his head. The menacing group of activists, including Waseem Awawdeh, surrounded Borgen, punching him, kicking him and beating him to the ground.
Awawdeh was arrested for the assault and charged with hate crime assault, gang assault, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon. In January 2022, he was offered a plea deal, reducing what most likely have been a sentence of upwards of 10 years to six months in jail.
“I felt a liquid being poured on my face and at first I thought I was getting urinated on, but it turned out I was getting maced and pepper sprayed,” Borgen recounted. “My face was on fire. That pain was worse than the concussion and all this other stuff that followed.”
While in jail, Awadeh declared, “If I could do it again, I would do it again,” according to a prosecutor at Awawdeh’s original arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court.
The April 20, 2022, attack on Matt Greenman in Midtown Manhattan. Greenman was on his way to a pro-Israel rally in Midtown Manhattan. He was wearing an Israeli flag on his back and supporting himself on a crutch for a sprained foot. Saadah Masoud, a leading WOL activist, began following Greenman.
“He started getting closer, along with his friends who got near me,” Greenman recounted, “and then from behind he attacked me, threw me down, punched and kicked me in the face a bunch, and then he left and said, ‘That’s what you get for being a terrorist.’ I went to the ER, was told I have a mild concussion and a possible fracture above the eye.”
Rhetoric Translated Into Action
In a climate where Zionism is routinely vilified and violence becomes the norm, Jews in New York have unsurprisingly become the target of generalized attacks.
In October 2022, this toxic atmosphere was exacerbated by high-profile influencer Kanye “Ye” West, who engaged in a weeks-long anti-Semite rant in the media.
At the beginning of the rant, Kanye referenced the ideology of the Black Hebrew Israelites when he said,
“The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because Black people are actually Jew also. You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda …”
Black Israelites claim that blacks are the “real” Jews. The most extremist and vocal groups in this movement accused the Jews of being from the “synagogue of Satan.”
By November 2022, thousands began exploring this ideology after Brooklyn Nets superstar Kyrie Irving tweeted out a link to the film “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America.”
The film, which was virulently anti-Semitic, espoused Black Hebrew ideology. One of the anti-Semitic claims it made was that the death of six million Jews during the Holocaust is one of five fundamental lies invented by the Jews.
The Nets suspended Irving for several weeks after he refused to apologize (which he did eventually). Meanwhile, an extremist group within the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, Israel United in Christ, came out in full force, protesting and menacing Jews in support of Irving.
Fighting Crime
Fighting crime, no matter what kind, is not rocket science. Between 1990 and 1999, the crime rate in New York City dropped dramatically Mayor Rudi Giuliani: homicide dropped 73 percent, burglary 66 percent, assault 40 percent, robbery 67 percent and vehicle hoists 73 percent.
By 1996, halfway through his tenure as mayor, NYC was the safest city in America, according to the FBI.
Many attribute this change to the “Broken Windows” policy instituted by Giuliani during this time. Part of that policy was the policing measures put into practice during this time. In a study called “Carrots, Sticks and Broken Windows” analyzing New York’s crime drop in the ‘90s, data show that,
“The police measure that most consistently reduces crime is the arrest rate of those involved in crime.”
At the same time, the incarceration rate rose by 24 percent. Also during the ‘90s, Giuliani increased the police force by 35 percent.
Now, we have the opposite.
In 2022, close to 1,600 officers left New York’s police force, an increase of 38 percent from 2021 and 46 percent from 2020. In addition, bail reforms practically guarantee the release of criminals.
The Solution to Stop Attacks on Jews in New York
At an international summit on anti-Semitism, current NYC Mayor Eric Adams said Congress should pass a law similar to the European Digital Services Act which forces social media companies to curtail hate speech if they fail to do it themselves. He also called for tougher sentences for racially motivated attackers on the streets of New York.
It’s easy bloviation for a man who has done little on the ground to curb the attacks on Jews in New York which have dramatically increased on his watch. When attackers walk free and never face trial, tougher sentences are superfluous. Moreover, the way to tackle this problem is not to curtail freedom of speech, an essential American value and a guaranteed right by the Constitution of the United States.
Adam should take a page out of Giuliani’s playbook. As noted by Dov Hikind, a former New York State Assemblyman and founder of Americans Against Antisemitism, speaking to JNS,
“Can anybody tell me why the police department and why the city administration have not done something so simple as what was done many years ago? And that is to put police officers into these neighborhoods that look Hassidish, including women police officers? What a simple thing to do to try to bring down those numbers, to try to get the perpetrators before they assault people.”