NYC has normalized anti-semitism
If you asked me on October 8th if we had an antisemitism problem in NYC, I would have said no. There was an increase in hate attacks against Jews - but also against Asians, and it seemed to me very related to the overall rise in crime and deterioration of racial relations in our city.
Then, in early November, I was walking with my son toward Lincon Center one Friday night when he asked me, "What is Zionism, and why does it mean terrorism?" I explained what Zionism was, said it didn't mean terrorism, and asked, "Why would you ask me that?" He then pointed to a billboard truck on Broadway that just said, "Zionism is terrorism."
It was one of those moments when time stopped. I was so shocked that this truck was in a neighborhood full of Jewish people and insulting them right after the massacre of October 7th. I literally couldn't believe what my eyes were seeing. Who would pay for this truck and then drive on the Upper West Side on a Friday night? That night, I remember talking to my husband, "Is this how people felt in Germany in the 1930s?"
I thought a lot about that night last week. I was walking again with my son, and we saw the pro-Hamas protest in front of the Citibank building. Nothing shocked me. I was already expecting the chants for Intifada. I had already seen the videos of the protesters repeating what the leader says like zombies. I wasn't even shocked when fights almost broke out between the protesters and the small pro-Israel counter-protest. The massive number of NYPD anti-riot police on the street seemed normal and necessary.
We have now come to expect these regular protests in our city. I have seen them everywhere: near my son's school, near one of his after-school activities, near my house, in front of the Intrepid Museum, in the subway. I wasn't even surprised when attackers targeted Jewish restaurants or stores owned by Jews.
Every day, something a little more violent or disruptive happens in NYC. And we get used to the new actions of the protesters - they have now even vandalized the homes of Jewish board members of the Brooklyn Museum and asked Zionists to leave the subway. That limit will probably be broken again in a few more days and weeks - until what? How will the Mayor and our elected officials stop the clear path of escalation that now seems inevitable?
