Long Island's five Congress members respond to 'vile' anti-Semitic attacks

Long Island's entire congressional delegation joined together Friday to denounce a recent wave of "vile" anti-Semitic incidents across the region, including a violent attack at a rabbi's home during a Hanukkah celebration in Rockland County.

The five congressional representatives, three Democrats and two Republicans, were joined in Cedarhurst — which has a large Jewish population — by state and county officials who pledged unity and decisive action to combat anti-Semitism.

"These vile, targeted attacks on our Jewish community must be met with swift, strong and widespread condemnation," said Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-Garden City), who convened the news conference. "And that is why we must all stand up together and state unequivocally that anti-Semitism has no place here on Long Island, in New York or anywhere else in this country."

Rice pledged to fight to increase funding for a federal security grant program that helped religious organizations secure their facilities against a potential terror attack and to help pass a bill to expand Holocaust education training across the country.

Rep. Gregory Meeks, a Democrat from Queens who represents a slice of western Nassau County, called the steady increase of violence against Jews a "cancer" that needed "to be cut out. … When you see acts of anti-Semitism and hatred it's not just against the Jewish community. It's against all of us."

The news conference comes less than a week after five people were injured when a knife-wielding man stormed into the home of a rabbi in an Orthodox Jewish community in the town of Monsey. Grafton E. Thomas, 37, of Greenwood Lake, is facing five counts of attempted murder along with federal hate crime charges.

Last month, two gunmen opened fire inside a kosher market in Jersey City and killed three bystanders. The gunmen, who were killed by police, had earlier shot and killed a veteran Jersey City police detective at a cemetery about a mile from the market, authorities said.

And hate crimes are on the rise in Nassau County and in New York City, driven predominantly by anti-Semitic incidents, according to NYPD and county police. For example, last month law enforcement reported two swastikas had been spray-painted on property near the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center in Glen Cove.

"Anti-Semitism is not just an attack on Jews," said Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford). "It's an attack on all Americans. It's an attack on all humans. It's essential we stand strong as one."

Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) encouraged members of the media to publicly identify and "shame" suspects involved in bias and hate crimes.

"To anyone who is thinking of an act targeting a Jew, this is not going to be an isolated incident that no one will ever find out about," Zeldin said. "It will be something where you will be made an example of. That you will be punished. You will be used as a deterrent for others."

The news conference was the first event of its kind with the entire Long Island congressional delegation since June of last year, when lawmakers gathered in Hempstead to raise concerns about water contamination.

The five local House members also sent a letter Thursday to national security officials at the FBI, CIA, Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense seeking a probe into whether foreign adversaries are behind social media campaigns potentially fueling the recent rise in anti-Semitism and hate crimes across the region.

The letter notes that in February 2018, the Justice Department charged 13 Russians and three companies with using fraudulent social media accounts, online political advertisements and other tools to subvert the 2016 presidential election. 

"There is proven evidence that our foreign adversaries have tried to use social media and disinformation to try and stir up civil unrest in the United States of America," said Rep. Thomas Suozzi (D-Glen Cove). "They've done it before. And we need these agencies to investigate as to whether or not that is going on right now as we speak."

Last month, Nassau and Suffolk officials announced the formation of a bicounty coalition to coordinate a plan to combat and report acts of hate and bias incidents on Long Island.

"It's very important to reassure our Jewish communities that we have their backs and that we will not tolerate hatred and the hate crimes we are seeing in our region," said Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, who announced plans for a "March Against Anti-Semitism" on Jan. 12 in Mineola. 

Rabbi Kenneth Hain of Congregation Beth Sholom in Lawrence said the unity showed by lawmakers Friday indicates "this is a different time. This is an America that recognizes that every life matters."

On Friday evening, Democratic Albany lawmakers, including Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers), were scheduled to attend a "Unity Shabbat" event at Temple Beth-El of Great Neck to show solidarity with the region's Jewish population. The event is hosted by State Sen. Anna Kaplan (D-Great Neck).

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.