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Tuesday, December 21, 2004

War on earth, good will toward no one
Posted by Jill | 10:42 PM

Even the blue states are not immune from the frenzy against Jews and secularists being whipped up by the likes of Bill O'Reilly:

Hours after residents, local officials and clergy gathered at Veteran's Park to attend a rally against the recent vandalism to a Hanukkah menorah, the menorah was vandalized again.

Eight of the nine bulbs were ripped out of the menorah, which sits next to a Christmas tree and a nativity scene, and one was left hanging out of its socket, said Orangetown Police Sgt. Jim Brown.

Police were notified of the damage at 8:30 a.m., and detectives were at the scene taking photographs soon after, Brown said.

"We have been keeping an eye on the menorah," he said. "But officers were extremely busy Sunday night with the weather-related accidents."

Detective Lt. John McAndrew said police also were still investigating the first vandalism attack on the 9-foot-tall menorah that was discovered damaged just before a Dec. 11 Hanukkah ceremony.

"The only link between them is that the damage is the same," he said.

He said the menorah was still intact after the 4 p.m. ceremony Sunday, and the bulbs most likely were broken between midnight and 8 a.m.

Orangetown police have not classified either incident as a bias crime, but McAndrew said they would if the investigation led in that direction.

Rabbi Chaim Ehrenreich, director of Chabad of Chestnut Ridge, which sponsored the display, called the act "shameful and sad."

"There's nothing to say," he said. "It hurts. I don't know how that person can wake up in the morning and look at himself in the mirror."

Ehrenreich, who replaced the bulbs after the first attack, said the menorah was kept up for the rally even though Hanukkah ended last Wednesday. He said the menorah was to be taken down today.

Mayor John Shields, who organized the rally with the Nyack Clergy Association, said he was "horrified."

"I am speechless," he said. "Now, I'm wondering if people are just trying to gain attention."

Along with other recent incidents, the vandalism has caused concern in the town.

Two Orangetown men have been charged with hate crimes in connection with vandalism at four homes — three were painted with swastikas.

Swastikas also were found at Pearl River schools this year, and anti-Semitic pamphlets were distributed in Orangetown. A menorah in Pearl River was heavily damaged last year.


I know Veterans Park very well. I drive past it every day, in fact. This particular area of Rockland County isn't far from Monsey, which has a very large Hasidic Jewish population, one often at odds with its neighbors. Pearl River still has a very large Irish Catholic population. And yet, the overall impression of that area is one that's relatively polyglot, for New York suburbs.

Still...it's pretty clear that a lot of anti-Semitism has been lurking under a thin veneer of civility -- and people like O'Reilly are tearing it off and making it acceptable to act out against Jews and any other non-Christians again.
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