Park East Synagogue Targeted Again. Mamdani Still Won't Condemn the Protestors. Queens Community Graffitied, More News from the Park Slope Food Coop, and a Life Sentence for the Boulder Firebomber.

In honor of Mother’s Day, this week’s post is dedicated to all the mamas out there. May you be cherished, doted on, and appreciated for all the love that you give to your family, friends and community.

And to my Jewish mother. You are a lioness that would go to the ends of the earth for her family. You love beyond measure, have no boundaries in the best way possible, make the best latkes, and always end every telephone call with “I love you more.” Today mama, I love YOU more.

Photo Source: Kveller via Kevin Winter/Getty Images

• PROTESTERS TARGET PARK EAST SYNAGOGUE AGAIN. THE MAYOR STILL WON’T CONDEMN THE PROTESTERS.

  • Park East Synagogue was targeted by several hundred pro-Palestinian protesters on Tuesday, May 5. They were protesting an event at the synagogue that marketed real estate in Israel, including property in the West Bank. The protesters claim the event markets what they deem as stolen land in the West Bank. Six months ago, a large protest outside the same synagogue was spurred by a Nefesh B’Nefesh event that helped North American Jews moving to Israel navigate the immigration process. That protest was the catalyst for the buffer zone bill.

    • Video footage emerged on Wednesday showing protesters shouting “Israel should not exist.” Protesters were seen displaying Hamas terrorist signs and waving the Hezbollah flag. They chanted: “We don’t want no two states, we want all of it,” “End the settler Zionist state,” “Death to the IDF,” and, “There is only one solution, intifada revolution.”

      

      Oliya Scootercaster 🛴@ScooterCasterNY

      BREAKING: Barricades clashes continue between anti Israel protesters and the NYPD during the march from Park East Synagogue "Land Sale" event.

      12:58 AM · May 6, 2026 · 293K Views

      309 Replies · 663 Reposts · 2.4K Likes

    • This is one of the first large protests outside a house of worship after the buffer zone bill was passed.

      • This was a significant story this week covered by the New York Times, NY Post, Wall Street Journal, NBC, New York Jewish Week, Times of Israel, the Forward, among others.

        

  Photo Source: NY Post, Yoav Ginsburg

  • The Department of Justice is investigating the protest. Some counter-protestors reported the pro-Palestine protesters threatened to slit their throats, while protestors claim the NYPD made them feel unsafe.

  • Mamdani and City Council Speaker Julie Menin both praised the NYPD response. However, their reactions to the protestors differ.

    • The mayor was asked if his personal opinions on Israel were stoking the flames of antisemitism. He responded:

      "I think critique of the policies of the Israeli government are very much separate from bigotry towards the people of a specific religious faith. And there is no tolerance for antisemitism, there is no tolerance for hatred of Jewish New Yorkers.”

    • However, the mayor also condemned the event at Park East Synagogue:

      “I’ve also been clear about the fact that when we have a real estate expo that is promoting the sale of land, settlements that are a violation of international law—that is something I firmly disagree with.”

    • Speaker Menin’s response to the protest differed from Mamdani’s:

      “I’m deeply disturbed by the hateful rhetoric heard last night outside Park East Synagogue. Calls for the destruction of Israel and the glorification of Hezbollah are horrific, intimidating, and only fuel the flames of antisemitism.”

    • Micah Lasher, a Democrat running for assemblyman in 12th district that includes Park East Synagogue, responded to the mayor:

      “This is part and parcel of the rising antisemitism that we are facing. Whatever your politics, whatever your views, this is not the New York way and should be condemned.”

      

    Photo Source: Times of Israel, Luke Tress

  • Why is this significant?

    • The ongoing protests, rhetoric, and open display of support for designated terrorist groups are evidence that it was never about the war in Gaza for these hard-line protesters. The language they use - “intifada revolution” and “Israel should not exist” - supports the argument that it was always about targeting the existence and support for the only Jewish state.

    • What’s more concerning is that the mayor of New York will not condemn the violence and intimidation these protesters are bringing upon Jewish New Yorkers, not to mention non-Jewish New Yorkers that simply want to walk peacefully down their streets. Mamdani is the mayor of the largest Jewish diaspora outside of Israel and his rhetoric in defending the protesters speaks to his credibility to serve the people of New York City. The mayor of New York does not set foreign policy. His opinion on the policies of a sovereign country that is not in his political purview appear, per his own statements, a priority above serving and protecting the needs of the New York Jewish community which he claims he “cherishes.”

      • Daniel Rosenthal, vice-president of government relations for UJA-NY said the mayor “ignores the protesters’ violent rhetoric,” and ADL-NY said: “the mayor had a responsibility to de-escalate. He did the opposite.”

      • UJA (and multiple other New York Jewish groups) issued a joint statement in November 2025 after the mayor was elected, stating:

        “We recognize that voters are animated by a range of issues, but we cannot ignore that the Mayor-elect holds core beliefs fundamentally at odds with our community’s deepest convictions and most cherished values.”

        • Mamdani’s inability to condemn the rhetoric and violence of the protesters to an Israel-related event at a synagogue goes to the very heart of the concerns raised in this statement.

• ANTISEMITIC GRAFFITI TARGETS QUEENS HOMES, COMMUNITY CENTER AND SYNAGOGUE

  • Five Jewish locations were targeted with antisemitic graffiti in Queens, NY on Monday, May 4. The perpetrators spray painted swastikas and the word “Hitler” on a synagogue, the Rego Park Jewish Center, as well as private homes.

    • City Council Speaker Julie Menin, as well as several other council members, visited Congregation Machane Chodosh and other locations targeted in this latest act of antisemitic vandalism. A plaque at the synagogue honoring the victims of Kristllnacht was graffitied. Menin denounced the hate and stated the city council is in touch with the NYPD who are searching for at least four individuals responsible for these crimes.

      

  Source: Julie Menin X account

  • Mayor Mamdani denounced the attack with this statement on X:

    

MORE NEW YORK CITY NEWS

• PARK SLOPE FOOD COOP

  • In a follow-up to last week’s newsletter, general manager Joe Szladek of the Park Slope Food Coop has issued a written rebuke to last week’s meeting where a member, Michael Huarachi, said “Jewish supremacism is a problem in this country” and compared Jews to Nazis.

    

    Photo Source: NY Post, Helayne Seidman

    • New York Jewish Week reported that Szladek emailed members of the Coop condemning the statements and the applause from some members at the meeting, stating it hurt the community and is reflective of “widely recognized antisemitic tropes.” He also said the member would be investigated.

      • A group called Park Slope Food Coop Members for Palestine conceded Huarachi’s statement could be harmful, but also tried to frame it contextually around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Specifically, they claim “Jewish supremacism” is a relevant and fair term to use around this conflict because “this term is used by Israeli and Palestinian scholars, human rights experts, and political leaders to describe the racist belief that Palestinian people are inferior or less than human, which motivates Israeli apartheid (including the 2018 Nation-State Law and the 2026 death penalty for Palestinians) and the Israeli genocide of Palestinian people in Gaza.”

        • Per their social media account, the group compares their boycott efforts to those that helped end South African apartheid.

        • As reference, the Linewaiter’s Gazette, the Coop’s online publication had this information taken from July 2024 sales data provided by Szladek. As of January 2025, less than ten Israeli items were carried by the Coop, with occasional fresh fruits and vegetables making the list. Average weekly sales at that time for the Coop were approximately 400,000 units. Based on the numbers below, the Israeli products represent 0.00086% of the weekly units sold.

          

    • Why is this relevant?

      • What any of the terminology and contextualizing about “Jewish supremacism” in reference to Israel and Gaza brought by Park Slope Food Coop Members for Palestine has to do with grocery shopping in a Brooklyn neighborhood where the median sale price of an apartment is $1.7 million is ambiguous at best. The effort going into the boycott at the Coop does not appear to help or impact Palestinians in any way.

        • In their quest to rid a grocery store on the other side of the world from the Middle East of a handful of Israeli products, Park Slope Food Coop Members for Palestine have definitively achieved one objective: breaking apart a community whose founding mission is rooted in a commitment to diversity, equality and opposing discrimination.

  An Above the Scroll Deep Dive

  One of the targeted products at the Park Slope Food Coop is Al Arz Tahini. Al Arz was helmed by Julia Zaher, who became one of the few Arab Israeli women to run a global Arab-owned company until she sold it in 2022 to the Sugat Group.

  In 2020, Zaher, a major philanthropist, faced backlash from the Arab community in Israel because she made a donation to a gay rights group to establish a hotline for LGBT Arab speaking Israelis. Arab grocery stores pulled her products and videos circulated showing grocers throwing jars of tahini in the garbage.

  The reason? Supporting gay rights did not align with the values of the Arab community. The New York Times, among other publications, reported on this story, with members of the Arab community calling for a boycott because Zaher’s donation went against their values and normalized a cause that was “unnatural.”

  Al Arz Tahini is targeted as an Israeli product at the Park Slope Food Coop.

• THE MAYOR’S WIFE GIVES MISS ISRAEL THE COLD SHOULDER

  • Melanie Shiraz, Miss Israel 2025, posted on social media that she was sitting next to Rama Duwaji, Mamdani’s wife, at a Brooklyn cafe last Sunday. Shiraz says the two took a selfie together but her demeanor changed once she told Duwaji that she was Miss Israel.

  • The NY Post reported on this story. Duwaji, who the mayor says is a private citizen, did not comment. Shiraz says initially Duwaji was warm to her but when she told her who she was:

    “She was polite but clearly changed her tone. I told her what I think about the stuff she has said online, and that I believe that it’s important to engage in dialogue in which you don’t dehumanize the other side. And she politely brushed me off and then refused to engage anymore.”

  • Duwaji has a history of anti-Israel activity on social media, including liking multiple posts glorifying the October 7 massacre. If you missed that story, Above the Scroll covered it here.

ANTISEMITISM IN AMERICA

• MAN THAT FIREBOMBED BOULDER HOSTAGE WALK PLEADS GUILTY AND RECEIVES A LIFE SENTENCE

  • Mohamed Sabry Soliman, the man who firebombed a walk advocating for the release of hostages held by Hamas , pled guilty this Thursday, May 7.

    

    Photo Source: The Times of Israel (Lisa Turnquist via AP)

    • Soliman, an Egyptian immigrant who authorities indicate was in the United States illegally after overstaying his visa, attacked a peaceful weekly gathering on June 1, 2025. He yelled “Free Palestine” while throwing Molotov cocktails and a homemade flamethrower to attack civilians walking to raise awareness for the hostages held in Gaza. He was sentenced to life without parole.

      • Soliman pled guilty to 101 charges and 68 sentence enhancers, including first degree murder, 52 counts of attempted murder, among multiple other charges. He also faces federal hate crime charges for which he could face the death penalty.

        • The Boulder District Chief Judge Nancy W. Salomone sentenced Soliman. During his sentencing hearing she said:

          “You chose to victimize these people because they were members of the Jewish community…You chose to victimize the elderly, to victimize children, to victimize people that were gathered in peace to grieve together and to heal together and to help together. You chose a time and a place and a set of circumstances and weapons that were designed to inflict the most pain that you could and that you indeed did inflict the most pain and fear that anyone possibly could. The court finds that your choices were acts of terror, and that they victimized an entire community and made everyone in it feel unsafe.”

      • His actions caused the death of Karen Diamond, 82, whose family said she suffered for weeks from the severe burns caused by Soliman, until she ultimately succumbed to her injuries. A dog was also burned and died from his injuries.

      • Axios reported at his sentencing hearing. Soliman apologized to the community, claims he did not intentionally target the Jewish community yet voiced his opinion on Israel and said “"End Zionism before it ends you."

• REPUBLICAN DON BACON WARNS OF ANTI-ISRAEL ANTISEMITIC SENTIMENT IN CONGRESS

  • The Republican from Nebraska and co-chair of the House Antisemitism Task Force had strong words for his colleagues on both sides of the political divide:

    “My colleagues across the aisle on the Democrat side, what I see right now is a very anti-Israel dominance on the Democrat side and that scares me because it used to be bipartisan. I got a lot of friends on the Democrat side that are pro-Israel, but right now the anti-Israel tone is dominant.”

    • Bacon warned his party of what he sees as growing antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment on the Republican side. He is retiring at the end of his term.

      • Bacon spoke at Israel Advocacy Day, a conservative leaning event that brought together rabbis and pastors to combat antisemitism and support Israel. He emphasized the partnership between Israel and the United States, specifically the nature of the military benefits, technology, and intelligence that America receives from its ally.

GLOBAL ANTISEMITISM

• Canada - Thursday, May 7 - A moving SUV shot at three people standing in front of Chasidei Bobov Synagogue in North York, Canada. This comes on the heels of an incident on April 30 when someone in an SUV also shot at three visibly Jewish people.

  • An arrest of an 18-year-old male has been made who faces multiple counts of assault with a weapon and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.

    

  Photo Source: CBC News

• London - a week after the terrorist attack in Golders Green, James Agius, 50, was arrested on Thursday, May 7, after threatening Jews on a city bus. The suspect claimed he had a knife (although one was not found when he was arrested) and shouted “shame Hitler didn’t kill you” and “you should all go in the gas chambers,” to visibly Jewish people, including children, on the bus.

  • Given the threat level against the Jewish community in the United Kingdom, Metropolitan Police in London launched a new unit called the Community Protection Team. The unit will be comprised of 100 officers including those already working in Jewish neighborhoods, as well as additional officers assigned to the team.

• Australia - The mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, cancelled an event called “Globalize the Intifada” from being held at a city council-owned building. Moore said “it is essential that public events do not contribute to hostility and fear".

  • The event is organized by a group called Stop the War on Palestine. Their spokesperson issued a statement claiming:

    “The slogan, and other chants including the word ‘Intifada’, have been common at demonstrations for Palestine. But there is nothing violent or antisemitic about these demonstrations. It is not a call for violence — it is a call to end the violence of Israel’s occupation.”

  • Why is this relevant?

    • Intifada means uprising or rebellion in Arabic. The claim that there is nothing or antisemitic about the use of the word belies logic and history.

      • The First Intifada took place from 1987 to 1993. The Second Intifada from 2000 to 2005 was marked with suicide bombings and a crackdown on the West Bank and Gaza as a result of the violence.

      • An article from the Washington Institute Fikra Forum for Near East Policy provides an explanation of the long-lasting effects of the violence of the Second Intifada:

        “For Israeli adults, the second intifada is remembered as a period of pervasive fear for their children after dropping them off at school, never knowing whether their child’s school was the target of a suicide bomber when they heard warning of attacks through the media.”

• Norway - Professor Calls October 7 “the most beautiful thing that happened this century.”

  • Professor Bassem Hussein, an engineering professor at the Norweigian University of Science and Technology, spoke at a school event praising the October 7 massacre. He is Palestinian with family in Gaza and has led pro-Palestinian protests on campus.

    • Eytan Halon, the Israeli chargé d’affaires ad interim in Oslo, responded to the video.

      

      Eytan Halon@eytanhalon

      Shocking glorification of terror by Prof. Bassem Hussein from Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The 7/10 attack was the "most beautiful thing that happened this century", he said last week. This Hamas supporter cannot continue teaching Norway's students @NTNU

      1:19 PM · May 2, 2026 · 40.1K Views

      78 Replies · 257 Reposts · 937 Likes

Highlighting important reads on Substack and beyond this week:

• Yair Rosenberg article, No One Knows What to Do About Britain’s Exploding Anti-Semitism in The Atlantic is a nuanced dive into free speech, long-standing anti-Jewish prejudice, more security…and the fact that the problem is not being solved.

• Miranda Lapides ✡️💧 The Shabbat Drop is all about Jewish experiences and exploring spirituality that hits your inbox every Shabbat. The article Jewish Women Who Understood the Assignment is a perfect read for Mother’s Day.

• Currently reading Ben Schulman Tel City, a Substack that examines the history of the Jewish diaspora through the lens of cities they inhabit and build communities in. If you’re interested in history, architecture, culture, and more, this is the Substack for you.

IN POSITIVE JEWISH NEWS…

• EUROVISION IS COMING UP AND NOAM BETTAN LEADS WITH LOVE

  • For the third year in a year since the October 7 terrorist attack, Israeli singers have had to contend with antisemitism and discrimination at Eurovision. Multiple countries including Spain, Slovenia, Ireland, Norway and the Netherlands are not participating in the pop song contest because Israel is being allowed to compete.

    • This year, Eurovision is taking place in Vienna, Austria. The FBI is supporting local police with a task force designated to thwart cyber and terrorist attacks. The Israeli delegation has special local and Israeli security. The Jerusalem Post reports there is heightened tension because Nakba Day and the final of the singing competition fall on the same weekend.

  • Despite all of this, Noam Bettan, the French Israeli singer competing in Eurovision 2026, says he is honored to represent his people and his country and just wants people to dance and be happy:

    “I’m not here to talk about anything other than music.

    “I have a chance to spread love and light people and give hope to people and give an amazing moment to make them feel like they’re not alone.”

Photo Source: Jewish News, Shai Franco

• MOROCCO MAY SOON GIVE JEWISH DESCENDANTS A PATHWAY TO CITIZENSHIP

  • A petition has been submitted to Morocco’s House of Representatives to grant Moroccan citizenship to all Jews, their children and grandchildren, who had previously lost or relinquished their Moroccan nationality.

    • The petition highlights Moroccan Jewish identity and contributions to the country, while also noting they could maintain dual citizenship if the legislation passes.

      

    Photo Source: Haaretz via Bettmann Archive, Getty Images. Jewish Quarter, Rabat, Morocco, 1940.

  • Some members of the Jewish community say this legislation is unnecessary as it is not difficult for Jewish descendants to obtain citizenship. However, given that there are only an estimated 2,000 Jews left in Morocco (the community previously had over 250,000 Jews in the 1950’s), the fact that this petition will make the process easier and more streamlined is a net positive in Jewish news.

• LA SCHOOLS RECOGNIZE JEWISH AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH

  • Los Angeles, the second largest public school district in the United States, approved a resolution marking May as Jewish American Heritage Month.

    "Los Angeles is home to one of the largest Jewish populations in the entire world and the second largest concentration of Jewish-Americans in the United States. LA Unified celebrates the diversity of its student body and the cultures and heritages that contribute to our lives. I am also proud to co-sponsor this resolution that reiterates the district's commitment to combating hate in all its forms, including antisemitism." — Scott M. Schmerelson, President of the LA Unified School District

  • The school district will use educational materials and curriculum to teach students about Judaism and Israel provided by activist Noa Tishby. The curriculum is focused around a series called “What Is?” and will cover subjects ranging from what is the Holocaust, antisemitism, Judaism, and more.