Holocaust Center leaders condemn posts on community page as antisemitic

Leaders of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County in Glen Cove condemned posts made on a Facebook page for North Shore residents this week that they called antisemitic and hateful.

"This is where we’re located, it’s local, and it hits all the notes that it shouldn’t," said center chairman Alan Mindel in an interview. "It’s the way modern antisemitism flourishes. My hope is that people will recognize it and understand what is going on in our society, how their views are being shaped."

The center said the posts appeared on the Sea Cliff, Glen Head, Glenwood Landing, Glen Cove and Neighbors Group page. That group is private; a Newsday reporter was not admitted, and it was unclear Friday if the posts remained up.

Mindel forwarded a Newsday reporter a screenshot of a post disparaging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jared Kushner and inviting neighbors to a Thursday march from Manhattan’s Bryant Park to the United Nations, where protesters gathered as Netanyahu delivered a speech to the General Assembly. Another screenshot showed a post which said that "Israel has a stranglehold on the USA."

In a news release, center leaders said, "This is not criticism of a government. It is hate."

The comments perpetuate an old stereotype "that Jews control the world," the release said.

Newsday could not verify the authenticity of the posts or contact the person who posted the comments, who was identified by a handle, not a name.

Mindel said he learned of the posts from Andrea Bolender, his predecessor as center chair and a former member of the North Shore neighbors group.

In an interview, Bolender said she saw the posts on her Facebook page and asked a group administrator to remove them. The administrator refused, she said, and she was removed from the group. She said several neighbors made similar requests and that they, too, were removed.

Bolender, the child of an Auschwitz survivor, said she had been a member of the Facebook group for years, using it mainly to follow local news.

"This is a small neighborhood where most people know each other, so this is specifically disturbing," she said. 

Newsday reached the group administrator by phone, but he declined to comment. Newsday reached a person identified on the group page as group moderator, but he said he had no relationship to the group.

Bolender and Mindel said they had not reported the incident to Meta, Facebook's owner.

The press office for Meta did not respond to a request for comment, but Meta says on its website that it does not allow hateful conduct on its platforms. Meta’s Hateful Conduct policy says it removes "dehumanizing" speech and "harmful stereotypes" and that it treats content "targeting a person or group of people" especially seriously. This includes, among other kinds of speech, "claims that Jewish people control financial, political, or media institutions."

By Nicholas Spangler

nicholas.spangler@newsday.comspanglernewsday

Nicholas Spangler is a general assignment reporter and has worked at Newsday since 2010.