The Sullivan County Legislature, the executive director of its Human Rights Commission and the Sullivan County Coalition of Antisemitism condemned reported antisemitic attacks against Orthodox Jews in that section of the Catskill Mountains in New York.
Local media wrote that assailants threw eggs at Orthodox Jews. The coalition said that one attack was against a rabbi outside a synagogue in Woodbourne, and others were targeted at Jewish individuals walking in South Fallsburg.
The Town of Fallsburg Police Department is still searching for those responsible, according to a local government press release.
“It is outrageous that in Sullivan County, Jews are being attacked at or near their house of worship solely because of their religion,” said Jacob Billig, an attorney and representative of the coalition. “We commend the Fallsburg Police Department and other local law enforcement for their swift action to investigate these horrific incidents of hate and bigotry.”
The Catskills, part of the “Borscht Belt,” have long attracted Jewish tourists during the summer, as well as throughout the year, to resorts that catered to them.
“These assaults were clearly antisemitic in nature, inexcusable in every way, and instilled fear in the Orthodox Jewish community, whom we are proud to call neighbors,” stated Sullivan County Legislature chair Nadia Rajsz. “This legislature will not minimize, nor stand for, such displays of hate in Sullivan County, and we fully support local law enforcement’s efforts to expose and prosecute the perpetrators.”
In a letter to Billig and the coalition, Ramone Wilson, executive director of its Human Rights Commission for Sullivan County, stated that he “unequivocally” denounces such “hateful actions.”
“No one in our community should live in fear or be subjected to violence and harassment based on their faith,” according to the letter. “These violations of human dignity are wholly incompatible with the values we uphold as a county and as a commission committed to justice, equality and respect for all.”
