New Yorkers will march across Manhattan and Brooklyn on Sunday, January 5, to protest the rampant anti-semitism cropping up against the 1.5 million Jewish citizens living in the five boroughs, and in New Jersey. The “No Hate No Fear” Solidarity March, organized by the United Jewish Appeal Federation of New York (UJA), Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC), ADL New York/New Jersey, AJC Global Jewish Advocacy, Americans Against Antisemitism, and The New York Board of Rabbis (NYBR), will begin at Foley Square in lower Manhattan at 11:00am ET.
Protestors will march through the neighborhood and cross the Brooklyn Bridge, ending in Columbus Park near Cadman Plaza. Get directions to Foley Square and Columbus Park by visiting the UJA Federation site HERE. “This Sunday, we will march through our streets — proud, united, and strong. The 1.5 million Jews of our great city and region will not stand down. We will not be intimidated. We invite New Yorkers of every background to stand with us and say no to hate and no to fear,” read a press release from the organization. Americans Against Antisemitism founder and former New York state assemblyman, Dov Hikind, tweeted on New Year’s Day, “Please come out this Sunday for the ‘No Hate, No Fear’ Solidarity March.
” We’re calling on all to come out & stand with us and send the message loud and clear that we are one & together [and] we stand up and say NO to Anti-Semitism.” The protest comes one week after five people were stabbed at a Hanukkah gathering at a rabbi’s home in Monsey, an Orthodox Jewish community north of New York City. The suspect, Grafton Thomas, 37, had searched “why did Hitler hate Jews” online three times, as well as “temples near me.” Officials also found journals with the words “Nazi Culture” next to a swastika and a Star of David on the same page.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called the attack, the 13th on Jewish people in the state since December 8, “an American cancer on the body politic.” He stated that “this is violence spurred by hate, it is mass violence and I consider this an act of domestic terrorism. Let’s call it what it is.” The Monsey attack left one person in critical condition; doctors tell MSNBC that his prognosis is “not good.” Just one month before this attack, a man in the same community was stabbed multiple times while walking to a synagogue.
Two men flashed a knife at a Jewish teenager walking in Brooklyn on December 30, yelling “Hey Jew Boy” at the 17-year-old, according to the NYPD. Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced the city will increase police presence in Jewish communities in response to the number of anti-semitic attacks. Six people were killed in a massacre at a kosher grocery in Jersey City on December 10 — the two gunmen, a police officer and three people inside the store. Mayor Steve Fulop, de Blasio, and Cuomo called the attack a hate crime against Jews.