The following is an extended version of the story that appears in our latest print edition.

 

On Jan. 15, an 11-hour standoff at the Colleyville Congregation in Texas ended when the gunman was distracted by Rabbi Charlie Cytron Walker, allowing the Rabbi and three others to escape. Once alone in the synagogue, Malik Akram was killed by an FBI hostage team. The incident ushered in a new year of national attention on the rise in antisemitic crimes.

 

Figures released by the FBI reveal that more than half of all religious bias crimes target Jews according to the American Jewish Committee, a global Jewish advocacy organization. Locally, District 11 Councilman Eric Dinowitz, chair of the Jewish caucus at City Council, moderated a recent roundtable to address the growing number of antisemitic crimes.

 

“Antisemitism harms all of us and we must come together to combat it,” Dinowitz said. “Anti-Jewish crime and any crime that targets a specific group, it’s not just about that individual experiencing the hate, but those types of crimes terrorize our entire community.” Joining Dinowitz at the forum on Jan. 26 was Bronx Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Avi Posnick, northeast director of Stand With Us an organization fighting antisemitism, and Josh Kramer, director of the American Jewish Committee New York. The forum was held, significantly, on the day before International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

 

Before his election to Congress, Torres represented City Council District 15, which includes the neighborhoods of Bedford Park, Fordham, Mount Hope, Bathgate, Belmont, East Tremont, West Farms, Van Nest, Allerton, and Olinville. Now, in Washington D.C., he serves as vice chair of the Homeland Security Committee. Although his current congressional district 15 spans much of the Bronx (including Norwood), as reported, in his current role on the committee, Torres hears, on a regular basis, the threats facing the nation as a whole.

 

“Even though the Jewish community is about 2.5 percent of the American population, according to the FBI, half of all hate crimes related to religion are directed against the Jewish community,” Torres said. “I sense [a] growing anxiety about the spread of antisemitism and it’s a function of both perception and reality.”

 

He added an alarming observation on what the real rates might actually be.  “Keep in mind the FBI’s statistics are an underestimation of the epidemic of antisemitism because not every police department reports hate crimes to the FBI and the majority that do report claim they have no hate crimes within their jurisdiction, which is implausible.”

 

The gap between reality and perception was addressed by Kramer who shared some findings published by his group, entitled, The State of Antisemitism in America Report. “90 percent of American Jews say that antisemitism is a problem. Only 60 percent of the general American population says so,” Kramer said. “A quarter of American Jews have experienced or witnessed antisemitism in the last year, with many changing their behavior, hiding their Jewish identity in various settings, as a result of that perceived increase in antisemitism.”

 

As reported, Dinowitz, District 13 City Council Member Marjorie Velázquez, and Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, representing parts of Queens, announced on Thursday, Jan. 27, Holocaust Remembrance Day, that a New York City Council resolution in support of Rozic’s bill A472A would be introduced in the City Council. The bill directs the commissioner of State education to audit Holocaust education in New York. The councilman also spoke to Norwood News previously as part of a profile story about his work in schools in terms in terms of raising awareness about antisemitism.

 

More recently, the councilman’s father, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (A.D. 81) has been on the receiving end of a very public display of what some describe as antisemitic behavior. Protestors showed up outside his home and outside his constituency office in late 2021 and some in attendance displayed swastikas and other antisemitic imagery, as seen in the accompanying photographs. The display was widely condemned by elected officials and others across the State.

 

Norwood News previously reported on a series of attacks on a number of Jewish centers and synagogues in the Northwest Bronx last year. We have also reported on other hate crimes committed against the Trans community in Norwood.

 

A fine point was addressed by Avi Posnick on how antisemitism can be defined. Questions sometimes arise on whether criticizing political actions by the State of Israel should automatically be construed as antisemitic. “There actually is something out there that should be adopted which is the IHRA (The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) working definition of antisemitism,” he said. “Because antisemitism sometimes can be difficult to identify, consistency and clarity are crucial.”

IHRA gives the following non-legally binding working definition of antisemitism: “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

 

Although the hatred fueling antisemitism should concern everyone, it is especially concerning in a community where a quarter of the population is Jewish. The Bronx’s Riverdale neighborhood, which is generally described as west of Riverdale Avenue, below West 238th Street, and west of Van Cortlandt Park to the Hudson River for the northern section, has been known as a Jewish enclave for decades. It’s also inclusive of zip codes 10463 for the southern section and 10471 to the north.

 

The last two census figures from 2000 and 2010 reveal the percentage of households identifying as Jewish to be 26 percent and 25 percent, respectively.  This breakdown includes parts of Kingsbridge. For 2010, that meant there were 12,000 Jewish households containing 22,200 people, of whom 20,100 were Jewish. This is according to published data in the Jewish Community Study of New York: 2011 Geographic Profile, organized by the UJA-Federation of New York.  Final numbers from the 2020 Census are set to be published in 2022.

 

Meanwhile, Dinowitz and the other panel members agreed that “Israel is not a perfect state” and can and should be held up to criticism at times. Torres expressed his position bluntly, “No one would ever claim that criticism of Israel is in and of itself antisemitic…. The antisemitism arises when you question Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.”

 

A more nuanced point was made by Posnick. “You can have critiques of Israeli policies, you can have critiques of Israeli leaders; we, as Americans, have critiques of our own leaders and policies,” he said. “But, like was said before, when it’s being used to attack Israel and single Israel out and attack Jews, that is antisemitic.” Dinowitz provided a link to where the roundtable can be viewed on Facebook: https://fb.watch/byzuE7xvu2/.

 

To report a hate crime in progress or any emergency, call 911. Non-emergencies should be reported to the local precinct.

 

For general questions about the work that the New York City Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes is doing, New Yorkers can email OPHC@cityhall.nyc.gov or visit nyc.gov/stophate.

 

The NYPD previously provided us with the following hate crime statistics for the City as a whole.

 

Hate Crimes Statistics Summary from January 1, 2020 – September 27, 2020

 

They said these statistics represented the time period January 1 – September 27 for 2019 and 2020.

	2020	2019	+/-	%
Asian	3	3	0	0%
Black	31	28	+3	+11%
Disability	0	1	-1	-100%
Ethnic	0	5	-5	-100%
Gender	6	11	-5	-45%
Hispanic	0	5	-5	-100%
Muslim	2	11	-9	-82%
Other	20	11	+9	+82%
Other Corona	23	0	+23	***.*
Religion	11	7	+4	+57%
Semitic	81	163	-82	-50%
Sexual Orientation	19	39	-20	-51%
White	10	24	-14	-58%
TOTAL	206	308	-102	-33%

 

According to the NYPD, the Hate Crime Task Force statistics contained above are subject to change as “Active Possible Bias” cases can be reclassified to “Non Bias” and removed from counted statistics upon investigation. As a result of a “Possible” to “Non Bias” classification, statistical percentages may fluctuate beyond assumed percentage calculations from week to week reporting periods.

 

According to the latest published hate crime data from the department, year-to-date hate crimes are up 140 percent across The Bronx, as a whole, compared to the same timeframe last year, with 12 crimes reported versus 5 last year. We’ve asked the NYPD for the latest breakdown of hate crime data in terms of the reason for the hate crime.

 

In the 50th precinct, which serves Fieldston, Kingsbridge, Marble Hill, Riverdale, Spuyten Duyvil, Wave Hill, and Van Cortlandt Park, year-to-date hate crimes are up 300 percent, versus last year (4 versus 1).

 

In the 52nd precinct, which serves Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham, Kingsbridge, Bronx Park, and University Heights, they are up 100 percent versus last year (2 versus 1). In the 46th precinct, which covers the Fordham, University Heights, Morris Heights and Mount Hope neighborhoods, they are also up (2 versus 1) compared to last year.

 

In the 47th precinct, which serves the northern Bronx sections of Woodlawn, Wakefield, Williamsbridge, Baychester, Edenwald, Olinville, Fishbay, and Woodlawn Cemetary, year-to-date hate crime data remains the same as last year (0 reported).

 

*Síle Moloney contributed to this story.