Vandals Set Fire To Jewish Religious Items In Brooklyn For Second Day
New acts of hate targeting Jewish families were
perpetrated in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn Tuesday, for the second day in a
row.
As CBS 2’s Derricke Dennis reported, police on Tuesday
had surrounded a building in Williamsburg after someone once again torched a
sacred religious symbol known as a mezuzah.
On Monday, a dozen Jewish families in the same
Independence Towers housing development also saw vandals burn their mezuzot, on
the 70th anniversary of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
With the latest incident just after 1 p.m. Tuesday, the
outrage had been compounded in the community.
“I was a little bit shocked to see what’s going on again.
The next building? What is it going to happen again?” said neighbor Pessie
Gelb.
The scene Tuesday at 130 Clymer St. was just steps away
from the fiery vandalism in Monday in another building in the same development
at 85 Taylor St. In the Monday incident, mezuzot on affixed to several doors on
several floors were set afire.
A mezuzah – mezuzot in plural form – is a piece of
parchment inscribed with the prayer “Shema Yisroel,” which is affixed to door
frames in Jewish homes. They are symbols of God’s protection over the home.
Investigators have called the vandalism a rash of hate
crimes.
“It’s devastating,” said resident Raizy Fogel. “It’s very
sad and such things shouldn’t happen.”
Fogel said the desecrated religious items are now being targeted
to send a message around Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The message, Fogel said, is “that we are unwanted here,
and I don’t know why.”
Residents said just last year — vandals spray-painted
swastikas outside the buildings.
City and community leaders are now coming together and
demanding more be done to protect these residents and their homes from hate and
violence.
“These fires were hate crimes and they were perpetrated
by a coward or cowards,” said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.
“An action like this is absolutely disgusting, it cannot
be tolerated,” said Brooklyn Councilman Stephen Levin. “For something like this
to happen, it really strikes deep in terms of its hurtfulness and the malice
that’s involved.”
“Nothing but hatred can explain why someone would burn
Mezuzahs on Yom Hashoah, the day we remember the six million Jews killed during
the Holocaust,” said Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. “This is a sickening act
of prejudice that strikes at the very core of who we are as a city.”
“This kind of disgusting hatred has no place in Brooklyn,
a borough that was built on diversity. And to desecrate mazuzahs on the day we
remember those who died during the Holocaust is unforgivable,” stated Sen. Eric
Adams. “When the perpetrators of this hate crime are caught — and I’m confident
they will be — they should face the maximum penalty under the law.”
“This is a blatant act of anti-Semitism with a clear
attempt to instill fear and intimidate the victims in their homes,” said Etzion
Neuer, the Anti-Defamation League’s acting New York regional director.
Police are reviewing a number of surveillance cameras
posted in and around the building hoping to find video of a suspect or
suspects.
No one was hurt, but the apartment door jambs will have
to be repaired and in some cases, replaced.
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