Last week, Brooklyn was a dangerous place to be an observant Jew.
On Tuesday in Crown Heights, a neighbourhood with a heavy Chasidic presence, a 64-year-old rabbi was bloodied by a brick to the head. On Thursday, also in Crown Heights, another rock broke the window of a delivery driver’s vehicle, injuring him in the eye. On Saturday in Flatbush, another Brooklyn neighborhood with a large Jewish presence, a Jewish man was struck in the face by a belt.
Three attacks in one week. The question is if this was an aberration, or has violence against Jews become normalised? Can we expect more of this, especially after the massacre in Pittsburgh?
While I’ve never been an alarmist when it comes to American antisemitism, it seems undeniable that the Brooklyn attacks, while individually random, are not unusual.
The NYPD’s own statistics show that Jews are disproportionally targeted in New York City. In 2017, out of 325 reported hate crimes, 151 were anti-Jewish. In comparison, 40 were anti-gay, and 34 anti-black.
The numbers last year were depressingly similar: 353 total reported hate crimes, with 186 directed against Jews. 45 were anti-black, and (surprisingly, given the ugly climate for Muslims in America) 16 were anti-Muslim.
It may be tempting to blame the problem on the resurgence of ugly American nativism unleashed by Donald Trump and his followers. While I’m happy to blame Mr Trump for anything, the disproportionate targeting of Jews is part of a longstanding trend in American life.
According to FBI statistics, since 2000, around 10 per cent of hate crimes in America have been directed at Jews. Black people are overwhelmingly targeted, with nearly a third of total hate crimes defined as “anti-black”, but at the same time, black Americans comprise 12 to 14 per cent of the total population. Jews are two per cent.
I don’t believe that the violence in Brooklyn will continue with such regularity. But I do believe that the hate crimes, including violent ones, will continue.
This leads us to two questions: what’s causing it, and what can we do about it?
The cause seems to go deeper than Trumpism. There is no doubt in my mind that he is a racist, and that he has encouraged the worst aspects of the American personality, and that his rhetoric is undeniably linked to antisemitism and violence.
Similarly, some may be tempted to blame the left for the antisemitic hate crimes, such as the dubious rhetoric of congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
But the statistics demonstrate in 21st century America that Jews are overwhelmingly disproportionate victims of hate crimes. This was the case under George W. Bush, under Barack Obama, and now under Mr Trump.
So it’s not a problem of the American left or the American right. It’s an American problem, full stop.
As for what we’re supposed to do about it, I don’t have any easy answers. I was curious what law enforcement might have to say on this point, so I called the 77th precinct, which covers much of Crown Heights.
I asked the officer who answered the phone if there was any news about the attacks, or if anyone could speak about hate crimes in general.
“They’re not gonna give you any information about that,” she said, and hung up.
