New York is combatting anti-Semitism with a new ad campaign featured in Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish print and digital outlets, in addition to social media.
The New York City Commission on Human Rights launched a campaign to fight religious harassment and discrimination and to emphasize the city’s support for its Jewish population. The commission said in a release that the campaign was in response to rising anti-Semitic incidents in the city, the surrounding area and the country.
One of the new ads reads, “Jewish New Yorkers belong here. Anti-Semitism does not.”
The advertisements will be featured in Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish print outlets such as Hamodia, Jewish Press and Mishpacha, as well as online at The Jewish Week and in the NYC Human Rights Commission’s social media.
Carmelyn Malalis, the chair and commission of the NYC Commission on Human Rights, called the increasing number of anti-Semitic incidents and violent attacks such as those in Jersey City, N.J., and Monsey, N.Y. “unacceptable.”
“Every New Yorker has the right to practice their religion, celebrate with loved ones, and be who they are proudly and without fear of harassment, discrimination, or violence,” Malalis said.
“New York City is a city for all of us. Its strength lies in its diversity, in how we come together to celebrate and look out for one another,” she added.
One full-page ad opens by saying, “Anti-Semitism has no place in New York City” before detailing how people could report harassment and discrimination.
Human Rights Commissioner Jonathan Greenspun cheered the organization for “sending a strong message.”
“We will never tolerate a climate where wearing a yarmulke in public makes anyone a target,” Greenspun said.
The commission relaunched its Bias Response Team in December 2016 after a jump in the number of reported incidents.
Concerns about anti-Semitism have increased sharply in the wake of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh that left 11 people dead in October 2018.
In December, New York and New Jersey faced a slew of anti-Semitic incidents, including the shooting in a kosher grocery store in Jersey City that killed three people and an officer and the stabbing of five people at a Hanukkah celebration in Monsey.