Boro Park Political Leaders Condemn Incitement and Violence at Local Protests, Promote Prayer Instead

By Yehudit Garmaise

   Although many Boro Parkers would like the city and state to amend Gov. Cuomo’s recently intensified restrictions intended to bring down the recent COVID spike in hotspots in the city, the violence that has unfortunately emerged from the streets of the protests of the past two nights have significantly hampered any efforts to make the concerns of Boro Park heard, said Assembly Simcha Eichenstein in a statement he issued after the first night of protest.

  “There is no one more disappointed than I am at this recent turn of events and I will leave no stone unturned in my quest to protect our constitutional rights. That is a bedrock principle of our democracy,” Assemblyman Eichenstein wrote.  “I fear, however, that this kind of behavior will do nothing to achieve that goal. I am asking, I am begging and I am imploring the handful of people within the community to end the violence. It will severely hamper our response. 

   Despite Eichenstein’s heartfelt plea, last night, unfortunately, instead of the beautiful and joyous videos of men in the community creating a spontaneous Simchas Ha Shuava with dancing and music, news sites and social media late in the night last night were dominated by videos revealing unfortunate physical attacks and shameful rhetoric that do not represent am Yisroel.

   Instead of protesting on the streets, Assemblyman Eichenstein beautifully asked Boro Parkers to put their energy into heartfelt davening.

    “Yes,” Eichenstein said, “let’s continue to use our voices in demanding what no one can take away from us -- our ability to gather in prayer.  That is fundamental to us as a people and we will never compromise on that. But we must do this peacefully because that’s what makes us who we are.”

    After engaging with protestors out on the street Tuesday night, Councilman Kalman Yeger went home and realized that the 13 Ave. protests had turned ugly when groups of boys and men attacked a Jewish photographer from outside the neighborhood and lit boxes of masks on fire, Yeger posted on Twitter:

   “I'm disgusted by the attack in the early morning hours on a member of our community. There is never ever a reason to raise a hand to a fellow human. We are better than that. I hope the attackers realize how wrong this was. NYPD will investigate violent crimes in our community.”

   After last night’s calm protest-turned-simchas beis hashuvua-turned-back into an ugly protest that, unfortunately, saw at least two Jewish men beaten, Councilman Yeger tweeted, “Second night in a row, a resident of our community was surrounded and assaulted.  THIS IS NOT WHO WE ARE.  The NYPD must investigate.  Enough is enough!”

   Helpfully, Boro Park political leaders are finally calling out a certain community activist, who although usually, merely speaks unfortunately and embarrassingly loudly as a provocateur, now has crossed the line by actually and shamefully inciting violence and causing physical harm to innocent people.

   For instance, in a widely viewed video, this person was clearly seen and heard telling a large group of impressionable and probably bored teenage boys that “We are at war,” and that the boys “are his soldiers,” shortly before a local man was beaten and sent to the hospital.”     

     “Threatening or inciting violence is wrong, illegal & an egregious act of communal sabotage. It is not who we are,” tweeted Chaskel Bennett, a well-known spokesperson for Agudath Israel and the community.”

   We can express ourselves, but no one should ever be hurt, all the Boro Park elected officials agreed.