A machete-wielding man attacked a Hanukkah party in a rabbi’s home in suburban New York City Saturday night, sending five Hasidic Jews to the hospital to be treated for stab wounds, according to CBS channel 2 reporter Tony Aiello. New York Governor Cuomo has directed his Hate Crimes Task Force to investigate the attack that left two in critical condition. This is no isolated incident. Anti-Semitism has been increasingly rearing its ugly head in a variety of ways including attacks at synagogues. Discussing this issue is former Shiloh, Israel mayor David Rubin, author of Trump and the Jews.
Q&A:
1) Do you feel this multi-person stabbing was random or specifically targeting Jewish people?
Answer: Since it wasn’t robbery or vandalism, it didn’t have a profit motive. So, when you see someone specifically targeting a Hanukkah party or a synagogue, you can pretty well safely assume it is an anti-Semitic hate crime. We’ve seen similar hate crimes against Jews recently that have included the shooting attack in a kosher grocery store in Jersey City, and beatings of people on the streets of New York City, simply because they were Jewish. Sadly, in many of those recent street attacks, as in the suspect in the Monsey attack, the perpetrators were African Americans.
2) Are there any factors that you believe could be contributing to an increasing number of Anti-Semitic attacks?
Answer: When leading figures in the Democrat party, including rising stars, as well as some presidential candidates blatantly call for anti-Semitic embargoes against Israel or equate Israel with terror organizations, it further emboldens the haters to wage attacks against Jews.
3) Any word from New York City mayor Bill Blasio on this attack?
Answer: Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted that some of his longtime friends are fearful to show outward signs of their Jewish faith. I’m glad that he finds that disturbing, but I must point out that many of these recent attacks have occurred on his watch in his city. This is a sad state of affairs to see such occurrences in a country whose first Amendment is supposed to protect religious liberty.
4) Can you give some other examples of anti-Semitism?
Answer: The most pernicious form of modern-day anti-Semitism is anti-Zionism. Zionism is the term that defines the return of Israel as a sovereign nation in our times. The canard that one can deny Israel’s moral right to exist in its ancient homeland where we were sovereign for many hundreds of years without being anti-Semitic is one of the most malicious lies in our times. In fact, the French Parliament recently acknowledged that indeed anti-Semitism=anti-Zionism.
5) You have been a resident of Israel for many years, but you were born and raised in the United States, am I correct?
Answer: Yes, you are. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York where many of the recent attacks have occurred.
6) Isn’t it true that the liberal bail reform laws in New York State have made it difficult to stop these hate crimes?
Answer: Absolutely. The immediate problem is the ridiculous New York State bail legislation reform that requires arraignment judges to set free suspects in any non-sexual assault that doesn’t cause a clear physical injury, even in cases of hate crime attacks. Therefore, of the eight Chanukah-linked attacks, only one of the suspects remains in jail. Until the politicians stop coddling these miscreants, things will only get worse.
7) New so-called bail reform legislation in New York that goes into effect January 1, 2020 requires judges to set free suspects in any non-sexual assault that doesn’t actually cause a physical injury, even in cases of hate crime attacks. It’s been referred to as a “get out of jail free.” What do you know about that?
Answer: Regardless of how foul profane the language a person uses against a Jew, as long as there is no physical injury, a judge is not allowed to impose any monetary bail against the accused combatant. This includes anti-Semitic language and there are not even hate crime law exceptions.
8) How did this new law impact last week’s spree of anti-Sematic bias crimes in New York?
Answer: 7 out of 8 of them got one of the new get-out-of-jail-free cards, even though the law doesn’t’ go into effect until 2020.
9) Any other examples of leniency against assailants?
Answer: Yes. No bail was given to purported assailant Ayana Logan who reportedly shouted obscenities to a Jewish mom while she was holding the hand of her 3-year-old son. The New York Post reported these blistering words in that unprovoked attack: “You F—king Jew, the end is coming for you!”
10) You and your son were victims of an anti-Semitic attack by Muslim terrorists that would be considered a hate crime. Would you mind telling us about the terror attack that left your son badly wounded, leading to your founding of Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund. Tell us about that and your charitable organization.
Answer: I was driving home from Jerusalem with my three-year-old son when our car was ambushed by Muslim terrorists who were perched on the side of the road with AK-47 assault rifles. I was shot in the leg and my son was shot in the head. In fact, the bullet that went into his head and through his neck missed his brain stem by one millimeter. In short, I eventually managed to restart the car, to get away from the terrorists and to get to the hospital where we had several operations over a span of several months, but the psychological trauma that my son experienced caused me to start the Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund for the purpose of creating integrative therapeutic-educational programs to heal the trauma of thousands of Israeli children and to restore some of the lost innocence of childhood to their young lives.
11) Where can we find out more about Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund and about your book, “Trump and the Jews” and how can we get a copy?
Answer: Two websites – for the Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund – www.ShilohIsraelChildren.org and for my book, “Trump and the Jews”, and any of my other books, go to the website www.DavidRubinIsrael.com
Bio: David Rubin, former Mayor of Shiloh Israel, is the author of the book, “Trump and the Jews” and five other books. Rubin is the founder and president of Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund, established after he and his then three-year-old son were wounded in a terror attack. He can be found at www.DavidRubinIsrael.com or at http://www.ShilohIsraelChildren.org
