Antisemitic incidents seem to happen with disturbing regularity in South Florida and across the nation, a symptom of the times. The Anti-Defamation League tracks the incidents and they say ever since Oct. 7, when Hamas launched its barbaric terror attack and started the Gaza war, harassment of Jewish institutions and even random Jewish people has skyrocketed.
As an example, Surfside police are investigating a potential hate crime that occurred Friday night. They said a group of orthodox, visibly Jewish people were walking on the sidewalk along Harding Avenue. A car pulled up, and people inside shouted, “Free Palestine,” tossed a soda can and a cup of water at the people on the sidewalk, and then took off. No one was hurt physically, but attacks like this certainly create a sense of fear among the victims.
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“You have people on both sides of this issue that feel very passionately, but you know what? Once you get into the realm of physicality, all bets are off, and that’s where this issue went, and that’s not gonna be permitted,” said Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett. “We’ve got a very large Jewish community here that we care for, respect, and want to protect so we take that kind of stuff seriously, it’s unnecessary, it’s out of line, and we are not going to stand by while that goes on.”
“It is purely unfair to hold Jewish individuals responsible or in any way associated with what’s happening in the Middle East,” said Sarah Emmons, the regional director of the ADL.
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Recent incidents in South Florida include someone scrawling “Hitler was Right” on a sidewalk near a synagogue in Hallandale Beach, a white supremacist banner hung on the fence at the Homestead Jewish Center, and Jews being verbally harangued by pro-Palestinian demonstrators at a synagogue in Miami Beach.
“I think actions like this not only affect people targeted by that particular attack, but also the Jewish community at large, who has to live in fear that they may be targeted for something that’s happening around the world that they might not have any ties to,” Emmons said.
Emmons said now, in the aftermath of Iran’s attack on Israel, the ADL is expecting another uptick in harassment of Jewish people in the United States.
