Letter: Elected leaders pledge against hate
An undated photo at Camp Siegfried in Yaphank shows the swastika and the salute, familiar Nazi symbols, on display. In a federal lawsuit on Monday, Oct. 19, 2015, a Yaphank couple said that discriminatory covenant restrictions of the German-American Settlement League, which owns the former camp site, have prevented them from selling their home. Credit: UPI
The drawing of swastikas in Cedarhurst is only the latest in a string of anti-Semitic acts on Long Island [“Teen drew swastikas in front of houses, cops say,” News, March 22].
Last summer, South Shore beach-goers witnessed a small plane towing a banner that depicted a swastika inside a Jewish Star of David, like an advertisement for hate. Other scrawls, etchings and pamphlets featuring the swastika have been appearing with disturbing regularity in our neighborhoods.
Fortunately, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano, along with a growing number of mayors and town supervisors across Long Island, have signed onto the Mayors Against Anti-Semitism statement, an initiative by the American Jewish Committee.
They have joined with more than 300 U.S. municipal leaders and 60 mayors in Europe who recognize that the only way to combat this singular and despicable hatred is to take a stand village by village, town by town and county by county. We applaud their vigilance.
Robert Socolof, Melville
Editor’s note: The writer is Director of the American Jewish Committee Long Island.
