New York, NY, October 14, 2016 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today strongly condemned the assault of two visibly identifiable Jewish brothers in Brooklyn as they walked home from synagogue on Yom Kippur.

The two brothers were walking home from services at the Flatbush Park Jewish Center in Mill Basin on October 12 while wearing yarmulkes and prayer shawls, when they encountered three men who reportedly used anti-Semitic slurs and instigated a fight which left them requiring medical attention.

“This appalling act of apparently hate-inspired violence is a sad reminder that despite the unprecedented freedom of religious practice that Jews enjoy today in America, there remains much work to be done to combat the evils of anti-Semitism and bigotry, including right here at home in New York City,” said Evan R. Bernstein, ADL New York Regional Director.” The fact that this assault occurred at the most solemn time of the year for Jews makes the incident even more disturbing.

“We are confident that the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the attacks as a potential hate crime and that they will do their best to bring the perpetrators to justice,” Mr. Bernstein added.

ADL also voiced concern over other anti-Semitic incidents that occurred just before the start of Yom Kippur. On October 9, a Jewish cemetery was vandalized in the town of Warwick, Orange County with large swastikas, and on October 10, the League weighed in on inappropriate rhetoric and violence during a demonstration in Crown Heights, Brooklyn against the pre-Yom Kippur ritual of “kapparot.”

According to ADL’s annual Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents, which tracks both criminal and non-criminal acts of anti-Semitism, New York City experienced 132 incidents in 2015, including 59 in Brooklyn and 198 statewide.

 

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world’s leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.  Follow us on Twitter: @ADL_NY