Hate Crime Charges Brought Against Attacker Who Stabbed Two Men on the Upper West Side. Jewish Leaders Say Mamdani is "Fanning the Flames" with his Anti-Israel Rhetoric.

This week’s newsletter is dedicated to the intrepid Jews that set sail on the SS Exodus in July 1947. An estimated 4,500 Holocaust survivors and displaced persons boarded the ship in Sète, France and set sail for British Mandate Palestine. Previously an American freight passenger ship, it was bought by the Hagana (a Jewish military organization) in an effort to circumnavigate the British blockade on Jewish immigration to what was then an effort to establish a Jewish state.

Photo Source: i24 News

Days into their journey, the British Navy seized the SS Exodus and transferred the passengers in Haifa to ships bound for France. The Jews aboard, many of whom were orphaned children who had survived the camps, refused to disembark and a 24-day hunger strike ensued. They were eventually brought to British controlled camps in Hamburg, Germany. Global outrage ensued and diplomatic pressure pushed the creation of a Jewish state. On November 29, 1947, just several months after the SS Exodus’ ill-fated journey, the United Nations voted to divide British Mandate Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states.

“The dream of arriving in Israel helped us overcome the difficult conditions on board the boat. passengers would be forcibly shoved into bunks where they would remain for up to a week without the opportunity to get out. We were asked to watch over them we sat on the bridge and we would sleep on top of one another. It did not frighten the young or the old who managed to escape the Holocaust, for the most part, because all that mattered was our arrival in the promised land.” - Yosef Bajor

• TWO MEN STABBED BY ATTACKER WHO SHOUTED ‘ALLAHU AKBAR’

  • A visibly Jewish man and an Asian man were stabbed near Central Park on the Upper West Side this Thursday afternoon. The attacks were unprovoked. The Jewish victim was stabbed with a screwdriver in his chest as he stepped out of his synagogue. The Asian victim was stabbed in the torso. Both were hospitalized and are reported to be in stable condition.

    • Thursday was the holiday of Tisha B’av, a solemn day of fasting and commemoration of the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem.

    • A volunteer civilian watch group in Orthodox Jewish communities, Manhattan Shomrim, responded to the scene. Michael Jacobs, a member of the group, spoke to the New York Post about the Jewish victim:

      “He was fully identifiable as Jewish. He was wearing a skull cap, a yarmulke, a kippah, and he lives here in the neighborhood. He’s known in the neighborhood. He’s a respected person in the neighborhood. Minding his own business, just going to pray.”

  • The assailant, Raul Morales (51), reportedly shouted ‘allahu akbar,’ an Arabic phrase meaning ‘God is Great’ at the time of the attack. This was confirmed by the victims and witnesses.

    

    Photo Source: NY Post via Shomrim Manhattan

    • Morales has been charged with multiple hate crimes, including two counts of attempted second-degree murder, first and second-degree assault, and attempted first-degree assault.

  • Political leaders including Mayor Mamdani and Governor Hochul have condemned the attack. Jewish and Asian community leaders and elected officials held a press conference on Friday, demanding Mamdani turn the temperature down. These attacks came days after the mayor made his speech that went viral about arresting the Prime Minister of Israel when he comes to New York City for the United Nations General Assembly.

    • The mayor has no legal right to arrest Netanyahu but his speech has had a far reach on social media, viewed 113 million times on Instagram, 95 million times on X, and 40.6 million times on TikTok.

      • The mayor cited Palestinian deaths, the destruction of hospitals and facilities in Gaza, and doubled down on his assertion that Israel has committed genocide. He failed to mention the October 7 terrorist attack that ignited the war, the Israeli death toll, or the fact that Hamas held Israeli citizens hostage for over two years.

    • Mamdani has been criticized for a singular focus on the state of Israel and creating an environment that demonizes Jews and Israelis. Jewish leaders have accused the mayor of amplifying rhetoric that leads to hate crimes against Jewish New Yorkers.

      “This is no longer simply about Prime Minister Netanyahu. It reflects a broader pattern in which Mayor Mamdani repeatedly singles out Israel while using the prestige of his office to legitimize rhetoric that further isolates the Jewish state and deepens division here at home.” - The Simon Wiesenthal Center

      “When the mayor of New York repeatedly uses his platform to relentlessly single out and demonize Israel, the world’s only Jewish state, and calls those who support it ‘monsters,’ he contributes to a climate in which Jewish New Yorkers are increasingly targeted. Mayor Mamdani, stop fanning the flames of hatred and division. The consequences are not abstract. They’re playing out on our streets.” - Eric Goldstein, UJA-Federation of New York

• MS RACHEL CONTRIBUTES TO CAMPAIGN OF MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE ABDUL EL-SAYED

  • Ms. Rachel, the childhood educator and popular YouTuber, contributed $3,000 to the campaign of Abdul El-Sayed. He is running for the Michigan Senate and has been accused of making antisemitic and anti-Israel statements.

    

    Photo Source: Social Media

    • El-Sayed has called Israel a “rogue state” that commits genocide and apartheid, and equated the Israeli government to being as “evil” as Hamas, a designated terrorist organization. In an early July CNN interview, he repeatedly refused to answer the question that Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish state.

    • El-Sayed showed sympathy for Ayman Ghazali, the terrorist that attacked Temple Israel in Michigan this past March. A preschool filled with children was in session at the time of the attack. In a statement on his campaign website, he says there is no justification for violence but also says to “imagine if his [the terrorist’s] family had never died.” His statement is devoid of any information referencing the fact that Ghazli’s family were members of Hezbollah and that it appears he was inspired by Hezbollah content to carry out this attack.

    • El-Sayed has said he is not antisemitic but he has campaigned with Twitch streamer, Hasan Piker, who is openly antisemitic and has said America deserved 9/11.

  • Ms. Rachel, whose given name is Rachel Griffin Accurso, is a resident of New York and cannot vote in Michigan.

    • Above the Scroll covered Ms. Rachel extensively in this prior newsletter. She has been criticized for promoting Hamas propaganda, outwardly focusing her advocacy and social media on Gaza and not children affected by other conflicts around the world, and liking antisemitic posts on social media.

MORE IN NYC NEWS

• 9/11 FAMILIES PETITION TO BAR MAMDANI FROM ATTENDING 25TH ANNIVERSARY CEREMONY

  • This September will mark 25 years since the 9/11 terrorist attack, the worst attack to occur on American soil. 2,977 people were killed that day and thousands injured.

    

    Photo Source: Reuters

  • The families of 9/11 victims have joined in a petition citing their concerns of Mamdani attending the ceremony. They have provided a list of reasons as to why they believe the mayor should not attend, including but not limited to:

    • failure to “unequivocally condemn phrases such as “globalize the intifada;”

    • “The mayor’s own father, whom he has acknowledged as having shaped his views, penned a book shortly after 9/11 in which he argued that suicide bombers should be “understood as a feature of modern political violence rather than stigmatized as a mark of barbarism.” He also argued that there was a moral equivalence between the United States and al-Qaeda;”

    • His appointment of Ramzi Kassem, NYC’s chief counsel. Kassem represented a terrorist convicted in an al-Queda bombing plot;

    • Endorsing candidates that have minimized 9/11, like Aber Kawas, who described 9/11 as an attack “a couple of people did in the context of U.S. capitalism, racism, white supremacy, and Islamophobia,” or made anti-American statements like Darializa Aria Chevalier, who was recently elected and tweeted “I forgot to get napkins so I just wiped my hand on the American flag behind me.”

  • 3,634 people have signed the petition, an excerpt of which is included below:

    “For 9/11 families, this is not simply a public ceremony—it is a deeply personal day of mourning. The presence of individuals whose words or associations are perceived as conflicting with the solemn purpose of the event risks detracting from that focus and causing additional pain. Given these concerns, we respectfully ask that the organizers carefully consider whether Mr. Mamdani’s participation would align with the intention of the ceremony and the expectations of the families most directly affected by the tragedy.”

  • Giovanni Galante, one of the organizers of the petition, lost his 29-year-old wife, Grace Catherine Galante, on 9/11. He and other family members insist this is not a political issue but a personal one for the victims families.

    “Our objection is based on his public record — his failure to meaningfully acknowledge the horror of that day, and his employment of, support for, or association with individuals who have minimized 9/11, defended terrorists, or even suggested America ‘deserved’ the attacks.” - Giovanni Galante

    

    Photo Source: New York Post

ANTISEMITISM IN AMERICA

• CORNELL STUDENT WHO’S “NOT INTERESTED IN WORKING FOR A JEW” CLAIMS NO REPERCUSSIONS FROM THE UNIVERSITY

  • In June, Above the Scroll covered Cornell University student Austin Franco (right, below) who posted an antisemitic message on a job platform to founder Gabe Einhorn (left, below). When Einhorn messaged France to arrange an interview for a summer internship, Franco replied that he was “not interested in working for a Jew.” The story went viral when Einhorn posted it online, blacking out Franco’s name. Franco doxxed himself on social media, and despite his efforts to not identify him, Einhorn received death threats and his business was attacked.

    

    • In June, Cornell said they were initiating a bias investigation. The New York Post reports that Franco says the school has reached out to him and he claims he is returning to campus in the fall. Cornell has not commented on this claim.

      “As of now, they said there’s not anything going on on their back end. I think it’s because I didn’t say anything that could be classified as hateful.” - Austin Franco

    • The 19-year-old made statements to an undercover investigator who was working for the conservative watchdog Accuracy in Media. He shows no remorse for his actions and blames his economic situation on Jews.

      • He claims he was “being nice” by telling Einhorn he didn’t want to work for a Jew as the reason he did not wish to proceed with the interview process.

      • At the same time that he mocked Jews and claimed Jewish employers did not want to hire white applicants, he also said he’s received internship offers from Jews. In the video, Franco also depicts Jews as having too much power, a longstanding antisemitic trope.

        “That’s the problem I’m having. I’m going to Cornell. I’m applying for all these jobs. The only thing I’m getting is unpaid internships working for Jews. Yeah, pretty much only Jews actually.” - Austin Franco

• FRANCE - Jewish DJ Forced Off Stage by Pro-Palestinian Activists

  • Barbara Butch, a Jewish LGBT+ DJ, was forced off stage from a concert in Grenoble, France this week. Pro-Palestinian protestors yelled and threw objects (including glass bottles) at Butch, who had to be escorted off the stage. The protestors appear to be affiliated with a far-left political party, France Unbowed, whose leader is Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Mélenchon is running on a pro-Palestinian platform and dismisses antisemitism as being a problem in France.

  • Butch claims this violence was incited against her because she is Jewish and signed a petition backing antisemitism legislation in 2024.

    • Politico reports France Unbowed issued leaflets against Butch, saying she “censored Palestinian voices” and calling to boycott and protest the DJ.

    • Butch says she has consulted with her lawyer and a complaint will be filed against the political party citing “incitement to hatred and violence.”

• ITALY - ‘Zionist Tourism’ Document Taken Down and Holocaust Mural Depicting Anne Frank and Primo Levi Defaced

  • A Google document reminiscent of 1930’s Nazi activity was taken down by Italy’s National Coordinator for the Fight Against Antisemitism. The document urged users to record “Zionist tourism, property purchases, and, more generally, Zionist neo-colonization.”

    • In layman’s terms, it was a document intended to track Jews and Israelis visiting Italy, through hotel and tourist visits.

    • The information collected was to be used by the Global Sumud Movement (GSM), who are associated with the Gaza flotillas. GSM says "Zionism is one of the issues we work on, but we do not hunt Jews, and we know nothing about this questionnaire.”

  • A Holocaust mural honoring Anne Frank and Primo Levi was defaced with the words "Coloni Sionisti Nazisti,” which translates to Zionist Settler Nazis. The mural had been painted for Holocaust Remembrance Day at a site where a prior antisemitic incident had occurred.

    • Primo Levi was a Jewish-Italian chemist, writer, and partisan who was part of the Italian resistance movement. He was arrested in 1943 and deported from Turin, Italy to Auschwitz. He survived the concentration camp and went on to write several books about his experience.

    • Anne Frank was a German-born Jewish child that hid in an attic with her family in Amsterdam for two years until the Gestapo arrested them. She died at Bergen-Belsen at the age of 15, along with her mother and sister. Her father, Otto Frank, was the only surviving family member. Anne’s diary, written in her captivity, was saved by Otto Frank’s secretaries. It is one of the most well-told stories of a Holocaust victim, selling millions of copies and translated into over 70 languages.

      

      

Photo Source: Combat Antisemitism

• ‘Somebody Feed Phil’ Special Episode Drop

  • If you’re a fan of Phil Rosenthal, the Netflix star of the food-travel show ‘Somebody Feed Phil,’ you’re in for a treat as the show is releasing a special episode this Monday, July 27, before the show moves to its new home on Youtube. Season 9 will premier in 2027.

    • The special episode will be an inside look at Max and Helen’s, the diner he opened last year with chef Nancy Silverton in Los Angeles. Max Rosenthal escaped Germany after Kristallnacht and Helen Rosenthal survived a concentration camp in France. The restaurant is an ode to Phil’s parents who appeared at the end of nearly all of the show’s episodes until they passed away.

      

  Photo Source: Netflix

• New Documentary on ‘Operation Arnon’

  • Operation Arnon, the hostage rescue mission that freed four Israeli hostages (Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv) on June 8, 2024, is explored in a new documentary. Filmmaker Hannah Puder, a 2025 fellow at Palladium Pictures, directed, wrote and produced the film. It is streaming on YouTube.

    

• ‘Being Jewish’ with Jonah Platt is What you Need to be Listening and Reading This Weekend

  • Jonah Platt podcast Being Jewish is a nuanced and informative space for dialogue, diversity and conversations with Jewish guests and allies. Some favorite episodes of this Substack are interviews with Harley Finkelstein, President of Shopify, three Iranian-Americans in the ‘Voices of Iran’, comedian Yohay Sponder, and most recently music mogul Scooter Braun.

  • If there’s one article you should send to your friends and family that have not spoken up, it’s his recent Substack The Sound of Silence.

    

    Photo Source: Forbes via Jonah Platt