On August 10, 1993, Ruth Bader Ginsburg became the first Jewish woman and the second woman after Sandra Day O’Connor to serve on the United States Supreme Court. Appointed by President Clinton, she would embark on a nearly three-decade tenure on the bench until she passed away on September 18, 2020.
Photo Source: New Yorker, Sebastian Kim
RBG’s early career helped shape modern constitutional law on the issue of sex discrimination. She became known for this quote - "I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks” - part of 1973 landmark case she argued before the Supreme Court.
As a Judge, RBG issued decisions on cases that have transformed American law and society, from voter and workers rights, reproductive freedom, and gender equality. She became known for her distinctive style and the nickname the “Notorious RBG,” after she issued multiple scathing dissents regarding the Voting Rights Act. Notorious RBG became the title of a best-selling biography written about her. RBG had two children, James Ginsburg, a music producer and owner of a record label, and Jane Ginsburg, an intellectual property law attorney and professor at Columbia Law School.
CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE ATTACKED ON SHABBAT
On Friday, August 15, a man now identified as Larry Montes (46) stormed Central Synagogue in Manhattan during Shabbat service. He attacked a 63-year-old female congregant and security detail at the synagogue. Montes was arrested by an NYPD sergeant assigned to synagogue security detail.
According to NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, Montes has been charged with two counts of assault as a hate crime, one count of criminal mischief as a hate crime, as well as other charges. Tisch posted the message below on her X account on Friday evening.
Mamdani condemned the incident on X, stating as he has in past incidents that hate has no place in our city.
His remarks have sparked pushback and disapproval, as religious, public leaders, and the Jewish community have said the mayor is fueling the flames of antisemitism with his anti-Zionist anti-Israel rhetoric. Above the Scroll has covered this extensively here, here and here in past newsletters.
Just last week, NYPD hate crimes data showed that Jews, who make up 10% of the city’s population, were targeted in 70% of hate crimes.
The Central Synagogue hate crime comes on the heels of a private meeting that took place this past Monday between Mamdani and rabbis from multiple congregations and denominations. The rabbis told the mayor that he is adding to an antisemitic environment with his anti-Israel rhetoric.
In an interview with The New York Times, Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of Union for Reform Judaism, said he told Mamdani:
“I’m happy to work in partnership with your administration, but Mr. Mayor, you are 90 percent of what could be different here. If instead of vilifying Israel, you spoke constructively, in measured tones — that would move the needle more than anything else, and I’m hopeful you’ll use that power.”
NYMAG PUBLISHED AN ISSUE TITLED ‘HABIBI CITY,’ WHILE EXCLUDING JEWS FROM THE MIDDLE EAST
New York Magazine, a magazine long-known for its coverage of NYC’s cultural zeitgeist and pioneering popular verticals like Grub Street, Vulture, and The Cut, published a full issue titled “Habibi City.”
Habibi City went viral on social media, triggering outrage in the Jewish community by its coverage of SWANA, an acronym that stands for Southwest Asia and North Africa, while completely erasing Jews from their coverage. In SWANA New York, one must have
“a set of shared beliefs: that Palestinians deserve human rights. That what happened in Gaza in the aftermath of October 7 constitutes a genocide. That social justice and social welfare override capitalist concerns. That to care is nonnegotiable.”
In a Grub Street article titled “When Eating Out Is Political,” the journalist describes Israel as the “land mass currently called Israel” instead of a sovereign country, and uses the word genocide six times throughout the piece.
Why is this relevant? These essays provide insight.
Hen Mazzig wrote “New York Magazine Erased My Family from the Middle East.”
Mazzig points out that Habibi City omitted to mention the one million SWANA Jews that were forcefully displaced in the last century. He identifies the digs in the article that go towards dehumanizing Israeli cuisine as something that is invented or stolen from others, resulting in a complete erasure of Jews if it doesn’t fit the narrative.
“What seemed at first like a wonderful deep dive into Middle Eastern and North African history is instead a purity test that the author is determined to pass. Where it once mourned the harsh reality of Arab restaurants rebranding to “Mediterranean” to avoid harassment and violence, it subtly makes jabs at Israeli restaurants doing the same.
Diverse cuisine staying alive and being passed down for generations is great, unless a Jew is doing it.”
Eli Kowaz wrote an essay on his Substack titled “No Zionists in Habibi City.”
An Iraqi Jew, he distills the issue of Habibi City into this one concise statement:
“So 20 pages celebrating the SWANA diaspora in New York City. The Jews of those countries appear only if they publicly disown the state that took many of them in.”
Sacha Roytman, the CEO of Combat Antisemitism, posted on his Instagram account that Qatar is influencing Western media:
“A magazine changes hands. Its new owner has major financial ties to Doha through another venture. Soon after, an issue appears that sidelines Jewish New York and portrays Zionism as toxic...”
MORE IN NYC NEWS
THE MAYOR ATTENDS PAKISTAN INDEPENDENCE DAY EVENT, SPARKING QUESTIONS OF HYPOCRISY AND DOUBLE STANDARD
On August 10, Mamdani posted this announcement on his X account:
“Yesterday, I gathered with residents at the Allama Iqbal Community Center’s Mela to commemorate Pakistan’s Independence Day and honor the contributions Pakistani New Yorkers have made to our city.”
When asked if the mayor supports Israel as a Jewish state, he has repeatedly said he supports Israel as a “state with equal rights.” In an interview on ABC News, Mamdani said he does not “support any state that privileges one religion over another, whether it is Israel, Saudi Arabia, or anywhere else.”
Hours after meeting with NYC rabbis (see story above) who asked him to tone down his anti-Israel rhetoric, Mamdani attended the Pakistan Independence Day event. Rabbi Jonathan Leener, who attended the meeting, voiced his concern on the mayor’s decision.
This “reflects a broader pattern of double standards and the singling out of Israel.” - Rabbi Jonathan Leener, Prospect Heights Shul
Why is this relevant?
The official religion of Pakistan is Islam. It is written into the state constitution that it is an Islamic republic and was created to be a homeland for Muslims. Over 96% of the country is Muslim, and less than 4% of the population is Christian, Hindu or other.
Mamdani was the first mayor to refuse to attend the Israel Day Parade, has labeled AIPAC as “monsters,” and consistently called out the only Jewish state. If by his own line of reasoning he cannot support any state that as he says “privileges one religion over another,” one can question why he attended and celebrated Pakistan Independence Day.
Pakistan has strict laws that do not permit any commentary about the Quran or the Prophet Muhammad, criminalize and discriminate against other minority groups, including the Ahmadiyya Muslim group, and impose forced conversions to Islam. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has been documenting numerous state-sponsored attacks, mob violence, and persecution of religious minorities.
Iranian activist Elica Le Bon called out the hypocrisy in this post on her X account:
ANTISEMITISM IN AMERICA
A VIRGINIA HIGH SCHOOL FAILED JEWISH STUDENTS
The FP published an article on an Arlington, Virginia high school that shows a complete institutional failure by the school in protecting its Jewish students from widespread and prevalent antisemitism.
The entire article is a must-read, but in a nutshell, the Virginia attorney general investigated and concluded that Arlington County Public Schools were “deliberately indifferent to a discriminatory hostile environment against Jewish students at Yorktown High School.” The investigators believe that the schools violated both state and federal anti-discrimination laws.
Two Jewish students described repeatedly being targeted and harassed by Muslim boys, shouting “Allahu Akbar” at them, reporting the incidents to school administration, but feeling that it was an exercise in futility.
“There was no follow-up,” she said. “Nobody came to see me.”
MICHIGAN’S RABBIS AND JEWISH LEADERS CALL FOR SAFETY AT THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION
Last week’s newsletter covered Michigan Attorney General, Dana Nessel, indicating she will not attend the state Democratic convention due to rampant antisemitism in her party.
Over 200 rabbis and community leaders from Michigan and around the country signed and delivered a petition to Curtis Hertel, Jr., the chair of Michigan’s Democratic party. The petition urged Hertel to:
“make it clear, publicly, that anyone who chases, screams at, or otherwise harasses Jews at your convention will be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Although the letter did not mention Abdul El-Sayed who won the Democratic primary for an open Senate seat, Jewish Democrats have been concerned with his vilification of AIPAC and anti-Israel rhetoric. The Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus recently issued a statement to him and his campaign. The full statement can be found here, but an excerpt is below.
“If Dr. El-Sayed seeks to represent our entire state in the United States Senate, his campaign must commit to engaging directly with Michigan’s Jewish community demonstrating a genuine commitment to engage with our community on its own terms, respecting the deep connection many Michigan Jews have to Israel, rejecting rhetoric that demonizes the Jewish civic identity, and seeking common ground on life issues that concern all Michiganders.”
ANTISEMITISM AROUND THE GLOBE
GREECE - Israelis Attacked on Palestinian “Day of Rage”
Last Sunday, multiple pro-Palestine organizations organized a multi-city “day of rage” in Greece. One of the groups, BDS Greece, urged protestors to “fill the entire country with Palestinian flags, keffiyehs, and slogans.”
An Israeli couple was assaulted while trying to pass through a public square amidst shouts of “Free Palestine” and “Zionist murderers.” N12 news reports a local resident intervened to pull them to safety.
FRANCE - “There Are Too Many of You.”
A video has gone viral showing a food shop owner in the French Alps spewing an antisemitic tirade a Jewish customer. The woman is heard saying there are “too many Jews here,” when questioned about who she is referring to at a ski resort town.
The French Interior Minister said an investigation has been opened with the public prosecutor’s office and that:
"The person concerned will have to answer for the remarks made, which I firmly condemn, and which have no place in our Republic.”
For a deeper dive, The Jerusalem Post published an article about the long history of antisemitism in France, ending with this question posed to French Jews:
“The question confronting them is no longer whether antisemitism exists. It is whether democratic societies possess the confidence and moral clarity to confront it before it becomes normalized beyond repair.”
ENGLAND - Security Trumps Education for Jewish School Teachers
BBC News reports than an independent review of antisemitism in England’s schools and colleges is “shocking.” The report encompasses both religious and secular educational institutions and will be completed in the fall.
Students are "subject to regular harassment and abuse" and "are facing a pressure - and indeed one might say even a crisis - that is not the experience of other communities in this country". - Sir David Bell
Photo Source: Getty Images
Security has become a priority so significant that it has often exceeded teachers attention and concerns over the education of their students. All teachers asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons, with several statements from educators cited below:
“There have been weeks where approximately 90% of my time has been spent on security-related matters.”
"I've never spent so much of my time and so much energy dealing with security issues, talking to governors and parents, and above all making daily decisions about how to ensure children in our school are safe."
“When I get to school in the morning and enter the car park, my car is searched with an under-car mirror."
ANAT LELIOR TAKES 2ND PLACE IN TAHITI SURFING COMPETITION
Lelior, who became the first Israeli surfer to make the world surfing Championship Tour earlier this year, took second place in a tight heat against her competitor Erin Brooks at the Tahiti Pro Final.
Photo Source: World Surf League
SCOUTING AMERICA OFFERS ‘SAFE SPACE’ FOR SHABBAT
Jewish scouts are able to participate in a public shabbat without the need for security at Scouting America’s national jamboree. A jamboree, hosted in West Virginia last month, had ten days filled with camping, outdoor activities, and scouting-centric events for tens of thousands of attendees and volunteers.
Non-Jewish volunteer groups helped setup the shabbat tent.
“That cooperation is emblematic of scouting.” - Ricky Mason, Chair of Scouting America’s national executive board
Photo Source: Jewish Insider
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