Last week in Teaneck, four people in a car used water pistols to spray Jews with liquid. The gang also yelled anti- Semitic comments at the Jews while they were leaving their synagogue. This anti- Semitic incident happened on July 12th right outside the Young Israel of Teaneck. Deputy Mayor Elie Katz reported that the car was a silver Honda Accord, and that it sped up to the building as the occupants squirted the Jewish worshippers with liquid. Katz also reported that the gang members also took videos of the Jews while taunting and insulting them. He said that, “When asked to stop, they yelled [anti-Semitic] comments.
The Teaneck police reported on Monday that they have identified three out of the four people in the car and they are not minors. Kats said that “There is an ongoing investigation,” and that “The police will be working with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office to determine how this should be classified and any relevant charges. The Teaneck Police Chief Glenn O’Reilly said that there were no reported injuries and that no other incidents have happened since the water gun incident. In late April, the Anti-Defamation League disclosed in their annual report that ever since Donald Trump’s victory in the elections, anti-Semitism has grown sharply.
In addition, they reported that New Jersey is the third to most anti- Semitic state in the nation, with over 200 incidents last year. Within the 200 incidents there were 94 harassment incidents, 104 acts of vandalism, and two accounts of assault. The harassment charges include bomb threats against Jewish institutions as well as a Jewish cemetery. The vandalism happened mostly in public places, however there was still 17 accounts of anti- Semitic vandalism on private property, which included swastikas that were found on homes, cars and apartment buildings. The second to most anti-Semitic state is New York with 340 incidents occurring last year.
The state with the most anti- Semitic incidents is California who had 341 incidents last year, only one more than New York. Overall, anti-Semitism rose exponentially after the tragedy in the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in October of 2018. Over the past two years Jews all over the world have witnessed an alarming escalation of anti-Semitic incidents. Additionally, the topic of anti-Semitism has been dominating the headlines as of late in the national discourse as President Trump has publicly castigated four Democratic congresswomen who have made a number of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements since their election to the House of Representatives in November of 2018.
(Ezra Ashkenazi is currently an intern in the Jewish Voice Student Journalist Initiative)
