It's A Thin Line
It’s A Thin Line
by Devon Nola
Two days ago, in Jersey City, NJ, an attack on a kosher deli left 6 dead including the two attackers and a police officer. The assailants were two African Americans, male, David Anderson aged 47, and female, Francine Graham aged 50. One wonders what leads people of this age to suddenly seek to massacre other people. Anderson had a criminal record but nothing in the line of this. It isn’t confirmed, yet, if the attack was an act of anti-Jewish sentiment, but according to an article in Heavy.com, Anderson’s social media postings could suggest this. Apparently, he was once affiliated with Black Hebrew Israelites and had posted some ant-Christian and anti-Jewish sentiments. So, what made him pick a kosher deli vs a Christian business?
According to the Washington Post, Jersey City, a predominantly Black community, has seen a massive increase of ultra-Orthodox Jews coming in from New York. As the Post article points out, when Hasidic Jews come into a neighborhood, they come in large blocs that include synagogues, schools for both boys and girls, kosher markets and anything else these insular communities need to function. What is interesting is that Jersey City is a relatively mixed community and the Black community has been more than welcoming of others. The influx of the Hasidic communities provoked tensions.
In a recent article in the Jewish online outlet, “The Forward”, they report there has been a sudden spike in violent crimes against Jews. I admit I have witnessed more people vocalizing their anger about Zionism, Jewish identity politics, Jewish lobbies and pressure groups in blogs and on social media. Obviously, this is not a crime. According to the FBI report cited in the article, victimless incidents, such as vandalism to property, is down. So, if the report has any merit, what might be causing the uptick in violence?
The article claims the FBI counted 105 violent crimes with a Jewish bias in 2018, an increase of 40% from the previous year. These alleged crimes have increased particularly in Brooklyn, NY, more specifically in Crown Heights, home to one of the largest concentrations of Russian Hasidic Jews of the Chabad Lubavitch sect. Chabad Lubavitch are a Zionist clan and extremely wealthy. Their presence in Crown Heights, a majority Black community, is palpable. Friday afternoons, as Shabbos approaches, Mitzvah tanks blaring Klezmer music roam the streets hoping to scoop up straggling Jews and get them back to safety before sundown. Another custom is to sound old-style air raid sirens to let them know time is ticking and if they don’t head for home before the sun sets, they could turn into pumpkins. I lived in Crown Heights for 8 years and this was all new to me. The first time I heard the air raid siren, my instinct was to look for a desk to crawl under. This was the custom when I first started school and the Vietnam war was still going on. But this is the 2000’s. Don’t Jews wear watches? I know they have cell phones, I’ve seen them. Even a flip phone has a clock on it. There are ample ways for them to keep track of time without making the goyim want to drop and yell “in coming”.
Another way their presence is very visible is on work orders outside newly purchased properties. Crown Heights has some of the most beautiful, historic architecture. Brownstones abound on many of the tree lined streets. It’s a neighborhood where many Black families became homeowners for the first time. It’s also a neighborhood that has had to deal with gentrification. Historic brownstones are being purchased, often in very deceptive ways, by LLC’s or individuals, partitioned into several apartments and rents are going through the roof. I made it a ritual to look at the names on the work permits and overwhelmingly, the owners’ names were Jewish. Another example is a Black business owner with whom I was friendly operated a successful soul food restaurant on the ground floor of the 4-story building he purchased back in the 70’s. It a prime location, the corner of a main thoroughfare. The Hasidic Jew who had purchased the two opposing corner buildings wanted his location, but it wasn’t for sale. The Hasidic developer was bordering on harassment as he tried to coerce my friend to sell to no avail. Out of nowhere, a vendor who had supplied him with goods over 15 years ago claimed the restauranteur owed him over $100k in unpaid invoices, allegedly overdue for a decade. The vendor put a lien on the building. Long story short, my friend fired his first (Jewish) lawyer, found another lawyer and almost $200k later, he saved his building. Add to this the list of out and out slum lords who over charge for rent in some buildings that could qualify as condemnable and tempers rise. I had one of these gems. The Landlord Watchlist that comes out every year reads like roll call at the local Yeshiva and my former landlord made this list in 2015. The people in this community see what’s happening and they know who is behind it. They know it’s not some white guy.
What is striking about The Forward piece is that while most of the assailants in Brooklyn have been Black, the article suggests white nationalism is the problem, overall. According to this clumsy writer, any crime committed against what he calls a member of a minority group is driven by white nationalism. However, he fails to provide a shred of evidence to support this theory. He also fails to provide any evidence that victims of a minority group are victims because they are from that minority group. This is one reason hate-crime categorization is problematic. He attributes a rise in Black Nationalism, such as the Black Hebrew Israelites as a direct response to White Nationalism. Somehow, Jewish Nationalism or Jewish supremacy doesn’t enter the equation.
One element this article, and the countless others just like it that come out weekly, doesn’t explore is why are Jews being violently attacked? How does one fail to contemplate what may have changed to cause the sudden surge in hostility? Black people are aware their calls and complaints can fall on deaf ears. They’ve been very vocal about Jews getting quicker responses and often better results when they lodge a complaint, whether to law enforcement or city officials. People can only take so much before they fight back and predictably, frustration often leads to violence.
Many Hasidic communities have their own security forces, the Shomrim. Local police forces provide assistance and training to the Shomrim. One unit received bullet proof vests from the New York State Senate, while all manage to secure government funding for vehicles, phones and other equipment. The problem here is obvious. Shomrim utilize a taxpayer-funded municipal service, but their insular community benefits, exclusively. Shomrim have no authority to arrest people, they are prohibited from carrying weapons or using any force. The protocol is for them to immediately inform local police and the most they are permitted to do is try and detain a suspect until police arrive. However, in several cases, they have used excessive force, especially on non-Jewish suspects. In addition, they neglect entirely contacting police when the suspect is one of their own, including child molesters. In other cases they act as vigilantes, the judge and jury, sans credible evidence of a crime being committed .
Brooklyn Borough President, Eric L Adams is working with the ADL, who is donating $250K to implement anti-hate education in public schools. I confess I would love to sit in on one of these classes. I’m thinking they should save their money and start asking people why they’re upset. Listening to their grievances and working to rectify the causes may be a more productive approach. Instead of taking weekly polls and writing useless articles on how much they believe they’re hated, they could change some of their most problematic practices. Going through life with catcher’s mitts on both hands isn’t the way to live in peace. One hand needs to be free to throw something back.
There is no denying there has been an increase of violence on members of Jewish communities, but there are differences. In Brooklyn, and now in Jersey City, the assailants are Black. The Tree of Life Synagogue shooting was by a White Nationalist. The Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris a few years ago, which some compared to this recent Kosher Deli shooting, was carried out by Muslims. Without imparting blame, what is it about those who identify as Jewish that provokes violence from so many different people, from completely different ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds? This is a crucial question that I believe desperately begs to be dissected immediately, given the tragic history of Jewish people, if we want to prevent another disaster.