Friday, October 12, 2007
Jew attacked in Lakewood, New Jersey
Orthodox rabbi beaten with baseball bat in New Jersey town
By The Associated Press
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/912277.html
Fri., October 12, 2007
LAKEWOOD, New Jersey - A man wielding an aluminum baseball bat attacked an Orthodox Jewish rabbi walking to synagogue last week, critically injuring the 53-year-old man and threatening to strain the already tense ethnic relations in a New Jersey city, officials and residents said.
The beating of Mordechai Moskowitz, reportedly at the hands of am African-American man, has put residents on edge in Lakewood, a diverse city of 70,000 near the Jersey Shore that is home to a large Orthodox Jewish population, as well as black and Hispanic communities.
An Orthodox Jewish middle school teacher was found not guilty this summer of assaulting a black teenager. And a few weeks ago, a group of Orthodox Jews was pelted with eggs by teenagers from another town, The New York Times reported Thursday.
Authorities have arrested no one and have no motive in the beating of the rabbi, police Lt. Joseph Isnardi said.
There's a very, very strong feeling of revulsion and horror that this attack happened here, said Rabbi Moshe Zev Weisberg, who belongs to the council of local Jewish leaders called the Vaad.
Witnesses told police they saw an African-American man walk by Moskowitz and without saying a word turn on the rabbi, beating him in the head and body with the baseball bat. Moskowitz remained in critical condition Thursday, his face disfigured.
Lakewood has seen large growth in its Orthodox Jewish and Hispanic communities, while the black population has shrunk, officials said.
"We have a very large population of Orthodox Jewish residents. And we get our share of spray painting, people riding down the road yelling epithets - all kinds of different things like that," Isnardi said.
Some Jewish residents said Thursday they feared the latest attack would exacerbate long-standing tensions between ethnic groups in the town.
Abraham Sasson, 15, was with a friend who quickly pulled out a flier critical of the police department's handling of safety. Sasson recounted how a woman at an area store had asked him the night before to walk her to her car only about 30 meters from the store.
"She was very scared to walk out by herself. That's part of the reaction of the township against the horrifying attack that took place two days ago," Sasson said.
As he pushed a stroller with his son down the street, 25-year-old Alexander Spira said residents were horrified by the attack. But he also noted there were places in the world that are less safe "People are going to Israel, where people are blowing up buses," Spira said.
By The Associated Press
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/912277.html
Fri., October 12, 2007
LAKEWOOD, New Jersey - A man wielding an aluminum baseball bat attacked an Orthodox Jewish rabbi walking to synagogue last week, critically injuring the 53-year-old man and threatening to strain the already tense ethnic relations in a New Jersey city, officials and residents said.
The beating of Mordechai Moskowitz, reportedly at the hands of am African-American man, has put residents on edge in Lakewood, a diverse city of 70,000 near the Jersey Shore that is home to a large Orthodox Jewish population, as well as black and Hispanic communities.
An Orthodox Jewish middle school teacher was found not guilty this summer of assaulting a black teenager. And a few weeks ago, a group of Orthodox Jews was pelted with eggs by teenagers from another town, The New York Times reported Thursday.
Authorities have arrested no one and have no motive in the beating of the rabbi, police Lt. Joseph Isnardi said.
There's a very, very strong feeling of revulsion and horror that this attack happened here, said Rabbi Moshe Zev Weisberg, who belongs to the council of local Jewish leaders called the Vaad.
Witnesses told police they saw an African-American man walk by Moskowitz and without saying a word turn on the rabbi, beating him in the head and body with the baseball bat. Moskowitz remained in critical condition Thursday, his face disfigured.
Lakewood has seen large growth in its Orthodox Jewish and Hispanic communities, while the black population has shrunk, officials said.
"We have a very large population of Orthodox Jewish residents. And we get our share of spray painting, people riding down the road yelling epithets - all kinds of different things like that," Isnardi said.
Some Jewish residents said Thursday they feared the latest attack would exacerbate long-standing tensions between ethnic groups in the town.
Abraham Sasson, 15, was with a friend who quickly pulled out a flier critical of the police department's handling of safety. Sasson recounted how a woman at an area store had asked him the night before to walk her to her car only about 30 meters from the store.
"She was very scared to walk out by herself. That's part of the reaction of the township against the horrifying attack that took place two days ago," Sasson said.
As he pushed a stroller with his son down the street, 25-year-old Alexander Spira said residents were horrified by the attack. But he also noted there were places in the world that are less safe "People are going to Israel, where people are blowing up buses," Spira said.
Labels: Bias attack, race crime, violence
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Attacks on Jews rise during 2006
'Alarming' rise reported in attacks on Jews in 2006
By Yigal Hai
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/848737.html
Mon., April 16, 2007 Nisan 28, 5767
The number of physical attacks on Jews worldwide last year was more than double those that occured in 2005, according to an annual report released yesterday by Tel Aviv University's Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism and Racism.
The 270 assaults recorded took place primarily in schools, in the work place and near Jewish institutions, according to the report, which classifies the rise as "perhaps the most alarming finding that emerges from the 2006 data." Compiled in coordination with the World Jewish Congress and released to the public on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, the report states that crime-scene evidence indicates that Muslims constitute a disproportionately high amount of the perpetrators.
Some 590 acts of violence and vandalism against Jewish targets around the world took place in 2006, compared to 400 in 2005 - marking a record high in anti-Semitic incidents since October 2000, the report found. It said 19 of the incidents were classified as major attacks perpetrated with a weapon and involving intent to kill, an increase over the 15 such incidents recorded in 2005. The total number of anti-Semitic incidents in 2005 totaled 400.
Prof. Dina Porat, who heads the institute for the study of anti-Semitism and racism, cited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Holocaust denial and this summer's war in Lebanon as the major factors spurring anti-Semitic violence.
The greatest increase in the incidence of such violence, according to the report, took place in Australia, Canada, Britain and France. Of the 442 incidents in Australia, 47 were violent attacks targeting individuals and community facilities, while Canada saw the number of violent incidents rise from 44 to 74.
The report found that anti-Jewish sentiments have been increasing particularly in the French-speaking areas of Canada.
The level of anti-Semitism in South Africa hit a peak in 2006, when it recorded the highest number of related incidents since officials began keeping detailed records two decades ago, according to the report.
It said 79 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded there last year, compared to 20 in 2005 and 37 the previous year, and that they reached a peak during and after this summer's war in Lebanon. The number of major incidents of violence and vandalism also rose, from three in 2005 to 15 last year, the report found.
By Yigal Hai
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/848737.html
Mon., April 16, 2007 Nisan 28, 5767
The number of physical attacks on Jews worldwide last year was more than double those that occured in 2005, according to an annual report released yesterday by Tel Aviv University's Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism and Racism.
The 270 assaults recorded took place primarily in schools, in the work place and near Jewish institutions, according to the report, which classifies the rise as "perhaps the most alarming finding that emerges from the 2006 data." Compiled in coordination with the World Jewish Congress and released to the public on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, the report states that crime-scene evidence indicates that Muslims constitute a disproportionately high amount of the perpetrators.
Some 590 acts of violence and vandalism against Jewish targets around the world took place in 2006, compared to 400 in 2005 - marking a record high in anti-Semitic incidents since October 2000, the report found. It said 19 of the incidents were classified as major attacks perpetrated with a weapon and involving intent to kill, an increase over the 15 such incidents recorded in 2005. The total number of anti-Semitic incidents in 2005 totaled 400.
Prof. Dina Porat, who heads the institute for the study of anti-Semitism and racism, cited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Holocaust denial and this summer's war in Lebanon as the major factors spurring anti-Semitic violence.
The greatest increase in the incidence of such violence, according to the report, took place in Australia, Canada, Britain and France. Of the 442 incidents in Australia, 47 were violent attacks targeting individuals and community facilities, while Canada saw the number of violent incidents rise from 44 to 74.
The report found that anti-Jewish sentiments have been increasing particularly in the French-speaking areas of Canada.
The level of anti-Semitism in South Africa hit a peak in 2006, when it recorded the highest number of related incidents since officials began keeping detailed records two decades ago, according to the report.
It said 79 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded there last year, compared to 20 in 2005 and 37 the previous year, and that they reached a peak during and after this summer's war in Lebanon. The number of major incidents of violence and vandalism also rose, from three in 2005 to 15 last year, the report found.
Labels: 2006, Anti-Semitic acts, violence
