We Must Show
Up in Court
Dear Editor:
The man accused of attacking Rabbi Shushan, Eric Zafra Grosso, is scheduled to appear in Queens Supreme Court on Thursday, July 30, at 9:30 a.m. in Part QECP-2, Room 126, before Justice Germaine Auguste. Assistant District Attorney Zebo Fattoyeva informed us that a date for a hearing is expected to be set at Thursday’s appearance.
Raul Morales, who allegedly stabbed two people in Manhattan on July 23—including a kippah-wearing Jewish man leaving his synagogue—is scheduled to appear Thursday, July 30, in New York City Criminal Court at 100 Centre Street, Part F, Room 219. He has been charged with attempted murder as a hate crime. His case is expected to be presented to a grand jury following this appearance.
Once a felony indictment is issued, the case will move to New York State Supreme Court and be assigned to a justice. When that happens, the justice overseeing this case must see members of the Jewish community in the courtroom.
This latest attack came shortly after another of Mayor Mamdani’s campaigns demonizing and delegitimizing Israel. UJA-Federation of New York said that Mamdani had “used his official platform to viciously attack Israel, the only Jewish state.”
The organization added: “We cannot ignore the dangerous climate created when elected leaders relentlessly portray Israel—and, by extension, the many Jewish New Yorkers who feel a deep connection to it—as uniquely evil and illegitimate.”
Silence is not an option, and neither is inaction.
Lynne Bursky Tammam
Please, No More Mamdani
Dear Editor:
I was very disturbed to see Mamdani’s picture prominently displayed on the front page of the Queens Jewish Link over Shabbos. I found it so upsetting that I had to turn the paper upside down in order to avoid seeing his image.
I respectfully ask that, if you choose to cover him or write about him in the future, you please consider not including his picture. Many readers of a Jewish publication do not want to be confronted with the image of someone whose views they find deeply troubling and hurtful to the Jewish community.
I look forward to receiving the Queens Jewish Link every Shabbos and truly appreciate the wonderful publication you provide. My request comes from a place of respect for the paper and its readers.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
RF
Jewish Solidarity Must Prevail
Dear Editor:
Powerful, focused, and inspiring: Sunday’s rally, attended by hundreds on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, decried the antisemitic stabbing of Moshe Grunhaus and pointed a finger at NYC Mayor Mamdani for promoting an atmosphere of anti-Jewish hate.
Disgusting: The 15 members of Neturei Karta who stood across the street from the rally, holding anti-Israel signs, tramping on faux Israeli flags, and bellowing pro-Palestinian and pro-Mamdani slogans throughout. (See my photo below.)
My hope is that Jewish solidarity will win out and sinas chinam (baseless hatred) will lose.
Glenn Richter
We Need to Tell Our Story
Dear Editor:
I read Jonathan Tobin’s article, “The Lies Behind Mamdani’s Netanyahu Stunt Are the Real Threat,” with great interest. However, he’s not totally honest because we are also at fault. First of all, at the beginning of the war, some Israeli officials proclaimed to the media, with extremely stupid bravado, that they would embargo food, water, and electricity to Gaza. When I heard that three years ago, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The fact that Israel didn’t end up doing that did not totally erase that first impression.
Secondly, if Israel is keeping what it is doing on the warfront secret by not allowing foreign correspondents to be there, it must document the warfront itself. How does the saying go? “History abhors a vacuum”? It’s not enough for us to say that we cannot rely on Hamas’s figures. We should have our own figures, meaning that Israel should provide the world with a count of how many Hamas combatants it killed or took into captivity. To the best of its ability, Israel should analyze and present its findings to the world, especially if it has film footage that would show the casualty count and why, whatever the count is, it had to come to that.
If Israel remains quiet, then everyone will fill the vacuum according to the narrative that serves them best. It’s up to Israel to stand up and proclaim and illustrate its narrative as best it can. I’m sure Israel knows much more than the world does about the Hamas war. If that’s the case, either Israel is hiding something or it’s not providing information that the world should know. I hate to think that Israel is hiding the truth. It must be that Israel is not savvy enough to present its narrative to the world.
I thought Jews were great storytellers! Do they have to hire Steven Spielberg to show them how to present this to the public? How is it that there’s no great movie or documentary about the Hamas war? Are we saying there’s no great conservative documentarian who would do that for this cause? It’s about time they showed, either with direct footage or at least with dramatization, what this war situation was like. Why are we acting so ignorant, as if there’s nothing to say about this?
Tobin talks about social media. I’m talking about regular film, like what they had when they made the movie Exodus. This is 1960s technology. Let’s not act as though we can’t do this. We just have to admit that if we don’t fill the vacuum, all these clowns will do it their way. If we don’t tell our story, how can we blame others for making it their story? Those are the ABCs of damage control and PR. I thought Jews were good at that. Come on, people—someone step up!
Abe Fuchs
Oh, Canada!
Dear Editor:
Oh, Canada! What’s with the haze and poor air quality that you’re sending our way? It’s not as though New York had the cleanest air to breathe before. What have we done to you to deserve this retribution? It’s true that Donald Trump has imposed tariffs on whatever we import from you and that he wanted to annex you, but I think he’s more interested in Greenland—or was it Iceland?
In addition to the poor air quality, the Nine Days were rough. Drinking decaf coffee was akin to drinking boiled water. (I’m now back on regular coffee, which might explain my jumpiness.) I’m also not a big carnivore, but considering that I don’t eat cheese, a lot of milchig food is eliminated. Then there’s the lettuce issue. I know it’s mostly in Michigan, but how long does it take to creep to New York? I could eat a tuna steak, but it’s nowhere close to eating the real thing.
I have pleasant memories of all the siyumim that were made in camp during the Nine Days. These enabled us to sink our teeth into hamburgers and hot dogs rather than fish sticks. By the way, I have two questions: Does anyone really like fish sticks, and how many of them come in one box? However, the advantage of the Nine Days in camp was that I finally had a legitimate excuse for not swimming.
When the Nine Days are over, we can finally look forward to taking a real vacation and counting the days until the kids return to school. It’s only about 50 days, but who’s counting?
Debbie Horowitz
Your People or Your Party?
Dear Editor:
Eight fake “Jewish” Democrats voted recently to stop aid to Israel. In total, over 100 Democrats voted in favor of the measure. Alan Dershowitz has already left the party. Now, Senator John Fetterman, who is not Jewish, has said that Israel is his red line. The Democrat Party and the Islamist-Marxist alliance have turned their backs on the Jewish people. You see keffiyehs and the Palestinian flag at every protest. They scream, “Free Palestine.” The attacks on AIPAC by Bernie Sanders and his comrades are utterly ludicrous. Mr. Hecht, do you stand with your people or your party?
Some of the DSA agenda is a pipe dream. It would take multiple amendments to actually abolish Articles I and II of the Constitution. However, there is real momentum on the left to do away with law enforcement. On the federal level, they want to abolish ICE. This goes hand in hand with granting amnesty to every illegal immigrant in the country. This would ensure new Democrat voters, and they would never lose an election again. On the local level, they want to defund the police and let criminals roam free. It would mean the end of civil society.
The Democrats want to close our overseas military bases and defund the Department of War. They want to end sanctions on our enemies, Cuba and Iran. This would be catastrophic not just for our country but for all of Western civilization.
The Democrats want healthcare for all. Housing for all. Public ownership of all major corporations. The confiscation of private property. The imprisonment of political enemies.
Mr. Hecht can lament all he wants that not enough Jews showed up in the primary in KGH. New York State has closed primaries. Only registered Democrats can vote for Democrat candidates. I don’t care that Brad Lander’s election drew national attention. Unless you are insinuating that there was fraud, it doesn’t matter that people outside New York City knew about his race. More people showed up for him than for Grace Meng in Queens. The fact of the matter is that the Democrat Party is becoming more and more anti-American and anti-Jewish. Even those who were born Jewish have completely abandoned their fellow Jews.
I will give credit where credit is due. Kudos to Mr. Hecht for writing a very nice tribute to the late Senator Lindsey Graham. I admire his courage in publicly admitting that he would have voted for him had Graham won the 2016 nomination for president.
Shalom Markowitz
