NEW YORK — Why are Jews under attack?
It’s an uncomfortable question plaguing the people responsible for keeping them safe, and there doesn’t appear to be a clear answer.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio called it a “crisis,” and the New York Times reported police are increasing patrols in the city’s Jewish neighborhoods.
Now, the NYPD is searching for a group of young people who attacked a 23-year-old Hasidic man on Christmas Eve. He was just walking down a sidewalk in Brooklyn.
Surveillance video showed one hitting him in the head with a chair, then police say another chased him down the street and punched him in the face.
NBC New York reported the same group is suspected of sucker-punching a 56-year-old Jewish man 30 minutes earlier, but these assaults are just a minor part of a larger – and much more violent – anti-Semitic trend.
On Dec. 28, a man is accused of storming into a rabbi’s home during a Hanukkah celebration in Monsey, New York, with a machete, stabbing and slashing five people.
Grafton Thomas is charged with federal hate crimes.
Prosecutors said the 37 year old searched “Why did Hitler hate the Jews” on his cell phone – four times – in the weeks leading up to the attack, according to the Washington Post.
A reporter for CBS New York tweeted a statement from Thomas’ family that said if he’s the person who did it, “a long history of mental illness” is to blame.
The attack followed two deadly shootings at Jewish temples across the country.
In Oct. 2018, Robert Bowers was accused of killing 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh.
In April 2019, John Earnest was accused of gunning down a woman and injuring three other people at Chabad of Poway outside San Diego.
So – why are Jews being attacked?
Elected leaders are giving political answers.
The day after the Hanukkah stabbings in New York, Mayor de Blasio appeared on Fox News and pointed to President Trump.
"An atmosphere of hate has been developing in this country over the last few years. A lot of it is emanating from Washington and it's having an effect on all of us," de Blasio said.
Representative Eric Swalwell from California tweeted, “Anti-Semitism is on the rise in America. And it’s being stoked by [President Trump].”
However, the day after the attack, Trump tweeted, “We must all come together to fight, confront, and eradicate the evil scourge of anti-Semitism.”
Regardless of who or what is to blame, the hatred is a painful reality for Jews who have called New York home for generations.
"You just have to live with it," Eli Eisenberg told NBC News.
"There have been incidents ever since we've lived in New York," he said. "It's been happening for 30 years."
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