United against anti-Semitism in Cedarhurst

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On the heels of 11 days of fighting between Israel and Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel, an estimated 3,500 to 4,000 people rallied in Andrew J. Parise Park in Cedarhurst to show support for Israel and Jewish people around the world.

The May 27 rally followed a recent surge in anti-Semitic violence in the New York metropolitan area and beyond. Officials said the crowd was the largest ever at the park.

Organizations ranging from the American Jewish Committee to the Anti-Defamation League, Hadassah, the Jewish Federations of North America, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America and others partnered to declare May 27 a Day of Action Against Anti-Semitism.

Many other local groups were involved as well, ranging from Achiezer to the Gural JCC, schools including the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach, Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway and the Shulamith School, and several synagogues.

“I’m here today as the child of a Holocaust survivor who lost his entire family and who repeatedly reminds us that the writing is on the wall, and we’re not going to hide and we’re not going to cower and we’re going to stand up as a community,” Cedarhurst resident Mindy Rosengarten said. Her father, Israel Kofman, survived the Holocaust.

Last month, the Anti-Defamation League released what the organization called preliminary data from its Center on Extremism that showed an increase in online and real-world incidents of anti-Semitism in the U.S. since the recent outbreak of violence between Hamas and Israel.

An analysis of Twitter in the days after the fighting showed more than 17,000 tweets that used variations on the phrase “Hitler was right” between May 7 and 14. The ADL has also seen an uptick in on-the-ground activity that demonizes Israel and at times has crossed into anti-Semitism, the organization said. The ADL, which fights anti-Semitism, also reported that 193 possible anti-Semitic incidents were reported the week after the conflict began, up from 131 the previous week.

The ADL also documented anti-Semitism on other social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok that included messages with explicit praise for Hitler, promoting tropes about Jewish control and demonizing Jews.

Anti-Semitic violence hit home for Five Towners when Lawrence native Joseph Borgen was attacked in Manhattan May 20, allegedly by five pro-Palestinian men, two of whom were charged.

“Like yourselves, I was going to a rally and supporting Israel and fighting anti-Semitism in the process, because at the same time, anti-Zionism, anti-Semitism are clearly interlinked because I was wearing a [yarmulke],” Borgen said of his assault. “Moving forward, ideally, what I want to do is prevent what happened to me.”

Marty Rosen, a Hewlett Harbor resident and a former mayor of Lawrence, was a confidant of noted Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal. Rosen, a World War II veteran, recalled seeing Holocaust survivors for the first time at the war’s end. “When this happened we were aghast,” he said, referring to himself and his fellow soldiers. “Then I realized we knew that Hitler had killed six million Jews. They were responsible for the same crime that everybody in this park is — being Jewish. That was their crime. They did nothing wrong.”

How to battle anti-Semitism? Rosen thinks the fight begins with being involved, whether it is with civic organizations, schools or a synagogue.
Woodmere resident Rachel Ginsburg, a native of Israel, held a sign that read, “I stand with Israel.” “There has been terrible anti-Semitism the last [several] days,” she said. Noting the Hamas-Israel conflict before the recent ceasefire, Ginsburg said that Hamas was “targeting civilians, women and children. I see a big, big connection today with the anti-Semitism; it’s not just happening here but also in Israel.”

Declaring that anti-Semitism is “completely out of control” and citing recent acts of hatred against Asians seen as a response to the coronavirus pandemic, David Lewin, of Woodmere, said, “Any type of bigotry is no good. We’re here to rally for Israel because Israel is getting the short end of the stick. It’s always ‘Israel launches rockets.’ It’s never ‘Hamas did this.’ The media always puts Israel first.”

Among those who spoke at the 90-minute event was Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, who said the goal is to keep people safe. “We are truly in this together,” she said, adding a quote from Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder, “We got you. We got you.”