Late Tuesday night New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, or maybe we should call him King Herod, issued a stern warning to Jews in his city. Amid apparent concerns that some of the Chosen People in Gotham weren’t abiding by his strict social distancing orders, he took to Twitter to single them out and threaten them with arrest for their disobedience. It was an act of anti-Semitism vile enough that the mayor should resign.
My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed. I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups. This is about stopping this disease and saving lives. Period.
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) April 29, 2020
We must be absolutely clear about something when considering the nature of this tweet. There is no chance, zero, zilch, that Hizzoner would have singled out any other minority group in such a way. De Blasio would never issue such direct threats at the black, Latino, or Asian communities. What’s more is that the mayor knows this and yet directed his ire at Jews anyway.
This is a problem that the Jewish community is all too familiar with. The success of Jews in America has put them in a precarious position in the progressive hierarchy of oppression. Not quite the dominant culture, but not quite an oppressed minority either. Therefore, they are fair game. And it’s a game de Blasio plays far too often.
If this was an isolated incident, then an apology and maybe a few sit-down sessions with the Jewish community could suffice, but it is not isolated. De Blasio has governed New York City over a period in which vicious attacks against the Ultra Orthodox communities have skyrocketed with little or no action from the mayor’s office. This has gone on for years now with horrible consequences.
A threat has been issued toward the Jewish community, but far from addressing the real roots of the problem, including cultural animosity towards Jews from some in the black community, the mayor haplessly blames Trump or his supporters. Confronted by the violence last year he said, “An atmosphere of hate has been developing in this country over the last few years. A lot of it is emanating from Washington and it’s having an effect on all of us.”
No, Mr. Mayor. This has nothing to do with Washington. This has everything to with your unwillingness to protect Jewish citizens of New York City. And now with this stunning tweet, the mayor is saying that while he won’t use police to protect Jews, he will use them to target Jews for arrest.
Enough is enough. The mayor’s willful disregard of the safety of Jews in New York, now coupled with his vile scapegoating of Jews as diseased and dangerous, makes it untenable for him to remain in charge of a city with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel. There must not be a mayor in office that so callously shows animosity to only group in his city.
The people of New York deserve a mayor who will work for all of us. Bill de Blasio has proven that when it comes to Jews, he is simply not that person. It is disgusting, it is disqualifying, and Mayor de Blasio should step down.
