De Blasio is stoking anti-Semitism. He's not alone.

[MosheFeingold]

The Forward
April 29, 2020
By: Batya Ungar-Sargon

https://forward.com/opinion/445132/enraged-at-deblasios-bigotry-against-jews-hes-not-the-only-one-blaming/

On Tuesday night, Mayor Bill de Blasio declared war on New York’s Jewish community. The very same mayor who went to the gym the day after closing New York City’s schools, restaurants, and bars and who took a stroll in Prospect Park on Saturday, as news was breaking that 28 New York City schoolteachers had died from the virus, has ventured out yet again into a crowd. This time, he went to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where a large number of Satmar Hasidim had gathered. The mayor went to personally “ensure the crowd was dispersed,” the mayor explained in a tweet.

And then, he took things one step further: “My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed,” the Mayor tweeted. “I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups. This is about stopping this disease and saving lives. Period.”

The tweets would have been outrageous coming from any elected official. Certainly, the city has the right to police people breaking its stay-at-home ordinances. Protecting first responders and flattening the curve are absolute values in the public interest. But the mayor painted a whole community with the brush of its offenders – portraying the entire “Jewish community” as diseased malefactors requiring police intervention to stop the spread of the virus.It was grossly anti-Semitic, casting New York City’s 1 million Jews with the brush of a few hundred. And it was doubly offensive given the mayor’s failure to protect Orthodox Jews last year as they suffered daily physical attacks on the streets of New York City. Unsurprisingly, de Blasio had no opprobrium for the thousands of New Yorkers who, like himself, were tempted by the weekend’s warm weather to enjoy the city’s parks. Couple all that with the fact that Satmar Headquarters is claiming that the mayor’s office initially approved the funeral and coordinated it with the NYPD, and you have a truly shameful debacle.

The mayor is being roundly denounced, and rightfully so. But de Blasio’s ugly sentiments do not stand alone. From the beginning of the outbreak, Orthodox Jews have been uniquely cast by the media as the villainous spreaders of the coronavirus, despite there being little evidence to substantiate that claim. Indeed, while being beaten up on the streets of New York for a year, Orthodox Jews couldn’t get anyone to pay attention to them. Now that they can be cast as villains rather than victims, the media can’t seem to get enough of them.

(Excerpted. More at link above)

[Shemp Howard]

1. Puzzling

I really don’t understand why de Blasio is singling out the Jewish community. This can easily lead to violence. When the mayor issues his warnings, he should mention every group, or no group.

I’ll give de Blasio the benefit of the doubt here, and say he just made a stupid mistake, one that he should quickly correct.

[chia]

3. I'm not Jewish, but my understanding is the tweets are referencing the Hasidic funerals

which were in contravention of the local social distancing requirements, like this:

?quality=90&strip=all&w=1024

If I'm antisemitic in thinking they're placing themselves and others at risk, please help me out here because it's not my intention at all, but how then should he have said it? I'm genuinely curious, and open to correction.

[Shemp Howard]

5. ...how then should he have said it?

It can be fairly argued that this gathering was reckless. I am of that opinion myself.

But these are volatile times, and a leader’s words must be chosen carefully. Remember when Trump referred to the Covid-19 virus as the “Chinese Virus”? A few Chinese-Americans across the country got assaulted shortly thereafter. Racists will always be looking for an excuse. Don’t give them one!

I would have advised the mayor to say something like this: “My message to the Jewish community, and the Christian community, and the Muslim community, all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed.”

If the Jewish community in particular needs a stronger warning, by all means deliver it. But do so in private.

[chia]

6. Thank you, I appreciate your insight

[MosheFeingold]

7. Point of order

The Satmar (pictured) are not Hasidic.

They are Haredi. Not the same.

But also note the Satmar involved are: (1) outside and (2) generally wearing masks.

Regardless, the point of the article is Herr Wilhelm disregards other groups doing the same, but consistently singles out Jewish people.

[EllieBC]

8. Satmar is chassidishe though. And charedi.

They aren’t litvaks. They have a lineage to the Baal Shem Tov.

[MosheFeingold]

11. We could debate that quite a bit

But it's not the point.

AND most importantly, it's not the kind of debate for the public.

[EllieBC]

15. Of course we could debate it!

And as much as I like to, you are correct. DU is neither a friendly nor appropriate setting for well meaning and spirited debate regarding Judaism.

[MosheFeingold]

18. I'm in love

I'm going to have the shadchan call your people.

[EllieBC]

19. Get that shidduch resume ready! Lol nt

[hlthe2b]

12. I don't feel like I have sufficient facts to weigh in except for photo where I see very few masked

Very very few. And outside or not, they are extremely closely congregated.

This is not safe. That, to me is abundantly clear.

That said, how De Blasio elected to weigh into this matter has obviously deeply offended and for that, I would surely agree is self-defeating.

[MosheFeingold]

13. See the post and link at #9 n/t

[still_one]

2. I am no fan of de blasio, and am Jewish, but I don't view that specific tweet as anti-semetic.

Unless I am missing something, the reason he said Jewish community is because he was relating it to the Hasidim group that illegally gathered in violation of the covid 19 crisis. He added all communities

The context was regarding a specific event

Anyway that is how I see it

[marybourg]

10. Me too.

[still_one]

21. If this was Chinese celebrating Chinese New Year, Japanese celebrating the Cherrty Blossom

Festival, or a Hindi celebration of Diwali, etc. I wonder if there would be the same outrage.

When there were evangelistic congregations meeting for services in Florida and Louisiana, it was that associated congregation that was called out for violation of social distancing etc.

As I understand it one of these specific events was triggered from a gathering at a funeral. Yes, I guess the Mayor could have been very generalized about it, but as I understand it this is not the first time this sect has violated the current ban on gatherings during the health crisis

[marybourg]

22. Well, I would be just as outraged.

[still_one]

24. Of course, and so would I. In my view this is analogous to what happened in Michigan and other

places where protestors were saying how dare you violate our rights with the lock-down.

Isn't the answer for public health concerns?

[Behind the Aegis]

25. Actually, what if it were Muslims celebrating Ramadam?

If he had said what he did, then you better believe people would be screaming out in rage, but, because it is a bunch of Jews, it is muted and mainly only coming from Jews. While I don't know that what he said was anti-Semitic, it sure was too close for comfort and should have been worded differently, ESPECIALLY in a city which has seen an huge increase in anti-Semitic attacks in the last year. It was tone deaf for sure.

[still_one]

26. I don't know. When a few evangelist churches services in a few states, they were called out by the

media.

In this instance, I am going by what the tweet said in the OP:

“My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed,” the Mayor tweeted. “I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups. This is about stopping this disease and saving lives. Period.”

Is that anti-Semitic? In this context, I don't think so. From my understanding this particular sect had violated the social distancing order several times.

To me this is similar to the argument used by those protesting the lock-down. How dare you violate my Constitutional Rights.

To me it comes down to Public heath verses Religious gatherings, or any gatherings for that matter

[Behind the Aegis]

27. I understand what you are saying, however...

“My message to the Muslim community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed,” the Mayor tweeted.

How do you think that same statement would fly, especially with liberal groups? How about...

“My message to the African-American community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed,” the Mayor tweeted.

Would those messages be called Islamophobic or racist? I would almost bet money they would be. Like you though, I don't think any of them really are "bigoted", per se, but rather tone deaf as it addresses an entire and specific community (communities, using the aforementioned examples). I also brought up the fact of the recent spate of anti-Semitic hate crimes in that area, tone deaf statements like this do not help.

Also, like you, I don't think ANY group should get a 'pass', no matter their religious preferences, ethnic identities or what-have-you, but I do think politicians do need to be more aware of tone, especially when addressing minority groups.

Adding: I also want to add, my concern is also heightened because of recent events, including things highlighted in this article, Coronavirus Crisis Elevates Antisemitic, Racist Tropes and articles like, Insiders describe Kushner as 'de facto president' who played key role in delaying coronavirus closures and Jared Kushner mocks the 'eternal-lockdown crowd,' says he hopes the US will be 'really rocking again. The groundwork has been laid.

One more edit:

[still_one]

28. Good example, and you make a good point.

[matt819]

4. Wrong

It doesn't matter whether there was a gathering of Hasids, Latinos, African-Americans, or Itlaian-Americans. They put themselves and their community at risk as a result of this gathering. And to the extent that these people work in areas where they are in contact with non-Hasidic people, they put them at risk as well. In the city that is the epicenter of the COVId-19 outbreak. It was wrong, irresponsible and selfish. I get it, the Hasidic communities have long-standing grievances with this mayor, and others before him. They have long been the victims of anti-Semitic attacks, and that concern is genuine and legitimate. But this isn't one of those times. Could de Blasio have handled it differently? I don't know. But this is not anti-Semitism.

[MosheFeingold]

9. The NYPD police union disagrees

The tweet is thus:

"The grand rabbi from Williamsburg passed away. The community followed all guidance & wore masks. The Shomrim was there giving out masks if they saw somebody on the street with out a mask. They did an excellent job. The only issue is your incompetent and targeted people of faith."

Link to tweet

[hlthe2b]

14. Your earlier photo showed few wearing masks. This photo shows much better compliance, but

the very first individual shows him exposing his mouth...with the mask down around their chin. That is as ineffective as not wearing one.

I believe in being respectful to custom and tradition, but not when lives are being put at risk. That includes all groups, ethnicities, and religions. If it were not for the earlier photo you posted, I might agree with you (and the police statement), but there is clear evidence that a problem existed. Putting on masks after the fact of close exposure might make us feel better, but it is largely too late.

[MosheFeingold]

17. It's a kid

Good luck getting 100% compliance in all circumstances.

The main thing is the breadth of the mayor's statement. We renamed the Wuhan Virus (as opposed to Lyme Disease (named after Lyme, PA, EBOLA (a river), Hong Kong Flu of 68, etc) for fear of idiots attacking Asians.

He is broadly attacking Jewish people. For the acts of the Satmar, who are a minority-of-a-minority of even Orthodox. (And, as noted, it's questionable if the acts are even bad.)

I wear a black suit and kippa every day. I don't want to be treated like a disease vector because of this idiot.

We live in a time where 1/4 Jewish people experience serious (as in violent) antisemitism sometime in their life in the USA. The number of attacks on observant Jewish people in NYC is so off the charts, every day, occurrence, that it's not even covered by the media any more. And these aren't name calling. This is beating-the-crap-out-of-an-old-guy walking down the street.

Blaming all Jews for the acts of the few is the oldest trick of antisemites. I'm sick of it. It's dangerous.

[hlthe2b]

20. Lyme disease was named after Lyme, Connecticut. As an arbovirus it is & all are traditionally named

after the location of identification. Other viruses not necessarily. In fact, the Southwest identified original hantavirus was named Muerto Canyon virus after the local geographic landmark, though this was a zoonotic but not arbovirus (i.e., not arthropod vector-borne). That Muerto means death in Spanish and the area was home to a very large Navajo population for which "death" is a cultural taboo to discuss, the virus was renamed, ironically, Sin Nombre Virus, so as not to offend. (Sin Nombre means "No Name" virus).

So, when you talk to me about cultural offense versus the issues of public health and safety, I'd agree that respect is important. However, viruses don't care if you are Jewish, Hispanic, female, male, Chinese, or Martian.

Close clustering without any steps to ameliorate via proper use of masks and at least some distancing is a genuine public health issue. Our elected and public health officials have a duty to address.

[still_one]

23. So does the NYPD police union dictate health policy now? Also, most of those in that picture were

Last edited Wed Apr 29, 2020, 09:19 PM - Edit history (1)

not wearing N95 masks, and masks in general are not a guarantee that you won't get Covid-19. They reduce the risk, but it is also indicated that even with masks you practice social distancing. That is the way it is in California anyway.


When some infants contracted the herpes virus after undergoing an Orthodox Jewish type of circumcision because certain sterile procedures were not abided by, was the news media being anti-Semitic because they name the Rabbi and the Jewish congregation involved.

The logic the NYPD is using is the same logic those protesters in Michigan were using for the lock-down. How dare you violate our rights. It's called public health

[EllieBC]

16. Wrong.

You let me know when a pol can issue a warning to any entire community based on one sect.