NYPD has reported an alarming increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the city in recent days.
New York police said Saturday they were investigating a suspected anti-Semitic attack last week by a man who assaulted a 63-year-old walker after he mumbled anti-Semitic slurs and referenced Kanye West while shouting “Kanye 2024!” . The Washington Post reported that the incident occurred Wednesday night as the victim was walking in Central Park. The attacker, a man in his 40s, struck him from behind and knocked him to the ground before fleeing on his bicycle. The victim, who has not been identified, suffered a broken tooth and hand. She was hospitalized in stable condition, according to the New York Police Department.
Police say the attacker made “numerous” anti-Semitic comments including a reference to Kanye West, author of numerous anti-Jewish rants and a praise of Adlof Hitler these last few weeks. He said she was looking for the alleged attacker, who was last seen around Washington Square Park, as the police department’s Hate Crimes Task Force tweeted a still from CCTV footage of the suspect.
Wednesday’s attack came as New York City police reported an alarming increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the city in recent days, in line with the trend across the country. In November, 45 anti-Semitic hate crimes were recorded in the metropolis, marking a 125% increase over the same period last year.
According to an April report from the Anti-Defamation League, 2021 saw the highest levels of reported anti-Semitic incidents in the United States since the organization began documenting the phenomenon in the 1970s. , Christopher Wray, recently stated that America’s Jewish community ‘has been hit from all sides’ and that he “desperately” needed more support from the agency amid a spate of anti-Semitic attacks. He pointed out that about 63 percent of religious hate crimes were motivated by anti-Semitism, “while American Jews make up only about 2.4 percent of the country’s population.”
On Monday, the White House announced the creation of an interagency committee aimed at combating anti-Semitism, responding to calls from US lawmakers and leading American Jewish organizations who have called for a “whole government approach” to escalating the phenomenon.
