This week’s newsletter is dedicated to the 35th anniversary of Operation Solomon. On May 24 and 25, 1991, Israel carried out an intrepid rescue mission planned in secrecy, resulting in the largest airlift in Israeli history. Coordinating with the United States and American Jewish organizations, Operation Solomon was a mission straight out of a Hollywood film.
35 planes, 36 hours, 14,310 Ethiopian Jews, and 5 babies born mid-flight were airlifted out of Addis Ababa to safety in Israel. The city fell to rebel forces a few days later. Israeli Ethiopian Jews now number over 177,000 people, making it the largest Beta Israel community in the world.
Above the Scroll
JEWS PROTEST OUTSIDE OF GRACIE MANSION
In a large gathering on Tuesday evening, an estimated one thousand Jews and allies protested in front of the mayor’s residence. Organized by the group End Jew Hatred, protestors gathered to stand together against antisemitism, extremism, and a call to “take back our streets.”
At the root of the protest was the belief that Mamdani is not protecting Jewish New Yorkers. Protestors called for Governor Hochul to begin proceedings to remove the mayor from office.
They also called out Mamdani for what they deemed to be selective condemnation over antisemitism in the city.
"You can't pick and choose what you call out. You can't call out swastikas, but then not call out a Hezbollah flag being waved and 'Zionists must fall' being chanted.” — Michelle Ahdoot, End Jew Hatred
Photo Source: Times of Israel, Luke Tress
Counter-protesters were present, with members of Neturei Karta, an ultra-Orthodox fringe Jewish group, who often join pro-Palestine protestors. Neturei Karta is an anti-Zionist Jewish group that has approximately 100 members that participate in these protests, and is not representative of any mainstream or even progressive Jewish views. They believe no Jewish state should exist until the messiah comes, claim the Holocaust was divine punishment, and have met with IRGC and Hezbollah leaders.
Why is this relevant? It’s significant to recognize how fringe and extreme this group is considering their photos and images are used consistently in the media when showing counter-protests.
For a deeper dive, JTA published a comprehensive story on Neturei Karta and the Humans of New York Instagram account that chose to spotlight them last year.
This was a big story covered by multiple media outlets, including the NY Post, Times of Israel, AM NY, CBS, among others.
The Israel Day Parade is this Sunday and Mamdani is the first mayor in the history of the parade to not attend. In a press conference on Thursday, May 28, Mamdani made the following statement:
“I said on the campaign trail that I wouldn’t be attending the parade, and I’ve made my views on the Israeli government abundantly clear. While I will not be attending, our administration has been preparing for weeks to ensure the parade is safe for all those who take part.”
Why is this relevant?
In just five months of being in office, the divide between the majority of the Jewish community and the mayor was grown deeper and more factious. Mamdani claims he is not attending because of his views on the current Israeli government, however the Israel Day parade is not a political or partisan event. It is a six decade celebration of Jewish and Israeli pride put on by the New York Jewish community, one which Mamdani claims to cherish and defend.
UJA NY issued this statement:
PARK SLOPE FOOD COOP BOYCOTTS ISRAELI GOODS
This is a long and continuing story that has been covered in prior Above the Scroll newsletters (here and here).
The same evening as the End Jew Hatred protest outside Gracie Mansion, the Park Slope Food Coop had a meeting wherein the BDS activists were successful in boycotting Israeli products, including those made in Israel and occupied territories.
Photo Source: Linewaiter’s Gazette
The boycott affected nine products, some of which are made by Arab-Israelis, and is unlikely to have any significant economic impact. However, the longterm consequences for the community are monumental.
Park Slope has long been known as a progressive neighborhood, although many Jews have reported rising antisemitism in liberal neighborhoods like the slope, where “antisemitism is on the ballot” was a key issue in recent local elections.
A longtime Jewish member of the Coop spoke to the New York Times:
“Voting yes on this boycott is voting against genocide, voting against apartheid and voting yes to getting our co-op back on the right side of history.” - Alyce Barr
Rabbi Rachel Timoner, the head rabbi at Congregation Beth Elohim, a reform synagogue known for its social justice, condemned the boycott and said she will be leaving the Coop.
“This was not a vote for peace or justice or humanity. It was disguised as one, but B.D.S. is a movement for eliminating Israel, and I think a lot of Jews who are my congregants are going to feel that antisemitism has infected a really important local institution at a time when there is so much antisemitism growing everywhere.” - Rabbi Timoner
For a Deeper Dive, I felt moved to write this personal essay on Above the Scroll upon hearing the news of the boycott.
Below the Scroll
MORE IN NYC NEWS
NYC COUNCIL MEMBER POSTS
Shahana Hanif, the NYC Council member representing Brooklyn’s 39th District, posted this comment on her X account in response to Anila Ali, a muslim peace activist fighting against extremism and antisemitism.
Ali is the founder and president of the American Muslim and Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council, and will be marching in the Israel Day Parade this Sunday in a sign of solidarity with the Jewish community.
The NY Post covered this story
“It’s not just that Mamdani criticizes Israel and policy, a lot of Jewish people criticize Israel’s policies. It’s that he targets the Jewish people and the one Jewish state in the world.” — Anila Ali
Why is this relevant? Hanif is a sitting NYC Council member and is a staunch pro-Palestine advocate. She chose to use her social media account in her official capacity as a council member to tell a peace activist “May Allah condemn you to Jahannam” (Jahannam is Arabic for hell). Hanif’s salary is funded by NYC tax dollars.
NY LAWMAKERS PASS 50-FOOT BUFFER ZONE
State lawmakers enshrined into law a 50-foot buffer zone around houses of worship. It is now illegal to block or instill fear in someone from entering a house of worship within a 50-foot radius, be it a church, mosque or synagogue.
“Every New Yorker should be able to enter their house of worship and practice their religion without fear.” — Governor Hochul
Individuals breaking the law will be charged with a misdemeanor criminal charge.
The New York Civil Liberties Union opposes the bill, claiming it chills activism and is a gift to the Trump administration.
“This effort to trade away New Yorkers’ rights was needless and reflects the worst kind of governance.” — Donna Lieberman, NYCLU
Photo Source: Times of Israel, Luke Tress, NYC synagogue
ANTISEMITISM IN AMERICA
DOJ SUES UCLA. AGAIN.
The Department of Justice filed a second Title VI lawsuit against UCLA this week alleging a "hostile educational environment" towards its Jewish and Israeli students.
This lawsuit stems back to the 2024 pro-Palestinian campus encampments where Jewish students were physically and verbally assaulted, and blocked from campus facilities, resources and the ability to move freely across university grounds.
Photo Source: KTLA (above), Reuters (below)
Part of the DOJ lawsuit seek a repayment from UCLA for federal grants received during the period of time that it is alleged the university violated Title IV civil rights.
The prior lawsuit the DOJ filed earlier this year was related to an “antisemitic and hostile environment” at UCLA towards Jewish and Israeli employees.
UCLA Chancellor pushed back, issuing a statement that the university has taken multiple measures to protect students under Title IV and to combat antisemitism.
"Let me be direct: the suggestion that UCLA has been passive in the face of antisemitism is simply wrong. Combating antisemitism is a moral imperative - one rooted, for me, in personal history that makes indifference unthinkable.”
ANTISEMITISM AROUND THE GLOBE
Britain — The British Museum postpones an event for Jewish Culture Month because of the threat of protestors.
Over 150 events are scheduled throughout the United Kingdom for Jewish Culture Month, with the goal of “less oy and more joy.” After numerous terrorist attacks and fear in the community, organizers want to celebrate Jewish life, from food, to art, to fashion, in the UK. A giant pickle has been seen walking down city streets and riding the tube.
Photo Source: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian
One of the events for Jewish Cultural Month was a talk about the ancient history of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, scheduled this week at the British Museum. This secular event at a cultural institution was cancelled because of the threat of protest. The museum issued this statement:
“We were informed that a significant proportion of registered attendees were individuals intending to deliberately disrupt the event, preventing others from participating in good faith and undermining the purpose of the program.”
Why is this relevant? It is significant on a societal level that a talk that had been planned and curated for months by a secular institution had to postpone because of individuals who intentionally targeted an event simply because the topic involved Jewish history.
Italy - The Rome Pride Parade is three weeks away, but the organizers have barred Keshet Italia, Italy’s only Jewish LGBT group from the parade. The reason? Keshet Italia did not condemn Israel’s actions in Gaza enough for the liking of the organizers.
Photo Source: Keshet Italia Float, via The Jewish Agency
Why is this relevant? The fact that Keshet Italia is neither a government entity nor responsible for the actions of a sovereign state does not seem to bother the organizers of the parade, who indicate they distinguish between the Israeli government and the Jewish community. Yet they issued a statement saying:
“We do, however, hold Keshet Italia responsible for having failed, and continue to fail, to distance itself from the ongoing genocide in Gaza.”
Keshet Italia strongly condemns the actions taken by the organizers of Roma Pride. They claim organizers created a “political exam” requiring participants to unconditionally pass their test on Gaza or be barred from participating.
“Our crime? To be Jewish. This is just the last step in a hostile path. Last year, during the parade, we received explicit antisemitic attacks, and the Roma Pride chose to remain silent, refusing to condemn them. Today, that silence has become active complicity.”
Roma Pride’s Facebook page posts an image of the Gaza flotilla, which translates roughly to “We are all on board the flotilla.”
UN Watch released a 2022 report finding Hamas and the Palestinian Authority torture the LGBTQ community. Testimony from Palestinians that managed to escape provide horrific stories of physical torture, forced marriage, ostracism, and death threats.
“They arrested me, hanged me from the ceiling, beat me up and interrogated me for five days” —- Gay Gaza Palestinian now living in exile in Turkey.
“Everyone is afraid of everyone. Some have been punished, some have been killed. Others killed themselves” — Gay man from Gaza.
Canada - A Montreal pro-Palestine protest this week had effigies of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, politician Ben-Gvir, and President Trump in nooses.
A hate crimes investigation has been opened and Jewish groups expressed outrage at the openly antisemitic tropes and images that surfaced from the protest. The mayor of Montreal said she is in the process of speaking with police about how to limit protests without infringing on democratic rights:
“What we saw this weekend is unacceptable. It’s a clear act of antisemitism that we saw in Montreal,” Soraya Martinez Ferrada
Montreal4Palestine, the organizer of the protest, issued a long statement on Instagram, claiming they stand:
“firmly against all forms of hate, including antisemitism,” “rejecting false accusations, defamations and all forms of hate while defending freedom of expression.”
Most significantly, the group says they are “deeply concerned by efforts to falsely characterize a side-profile image of an effigy as depicting “a man in a kippah.””
Why is this relevant? Other than the deeply troubling antisemitic tropes of a man in a kippah hanging from a noose, the claims by this group that this is a peaceful protest rejecting all forms of hate is questionable at best. The statement by the group claiming it is a false characterization “depicting a man in a kippah” is nonsensical given that the image very clearly depicts an effigy in a kippah hanging from a noose.
Photo Source: The Gazette via Montreal4Palestine/Instagram
Good Jewish News
GOOD JEWISH READS…
Reading , and specifically Danielle’s piece Emptying my Pockets, detailing the deep betrayal she has grappled with in her progressive community as a Jewish Israeli-American. A brief excerpt but I highly recommend you read and share this deeply moving story.
I feel deeply heartbroken by the rabid antisemitism and anti-Israel extremism that have taken hold among many progressive people I once considered dear friends. I feel the left has become consumed by an ideological framework that flattens complexity into simplistic moral binaries completely disconnected from history and lived reality.
And in the process, people like me and my family have been turned into the enemy.
Thank you to her husband Adam for reaching out on Substack to share his wife’s writing.
GOOD JEWISH NEWS…
It’s Never Too Late to Get Bar Mitzvah’ed
86-year-old Barrie Davey celebrated his bar mitzvah this past Thursday at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, a retirement home for British Army veterans. Because Davey’s mother had to hide her Judaism, Davey did not grow up leading a Jewish life. He told the Jewish Chronicle he only started exploring his faith and identity two decades ago when his son married a Jewish woman.
Upon visiting his son and daughter-in-law, who were traveling in Israel, Davey said:
“the minute my foot set down in Haifa Airport was the most magic moment of my life. I was back where I belonged. I had been searching all my life for that.”
Photo Source: The Jewish Chronicle
Miami Kosher Restaurant Becomes the First to Get a Michelin Star
Mutra, a Miami kosher restaurant, opened last year by Israeli chef Raz Shabtai, just received a Michelin star. Named after the chef’s Jerusalem-born grandmother, Mutra became the first kosher restaurant to achieve this coveted award.
“It’s not just about Mutra getting that star, but it’s about the entire Jewish community getting that, and I felt a lot of responsibility…Be proud of where you’re coming from, get connected to those roots that you have…but believe in yourself. Don’t ever compromise, and don’t let other people compromise you.” — Chef Raz Shabtai
Michelin announces its stars in a live-streamed ceremony. Shabtai and his team’s joy-filled emotional reaction quickly went viral.
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