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Montreal nightlife fixtures explain how anti-Israel sentiment has impacted their passions
The burlesque performer
Yael Perez, a.k.a. Miss Meow, is no wallflower. Shaking her feathers, her curvy silhouette strutting deftly across a stage under the gaze and leers of 100 adoring sets of eyes, she smiles, almost sneering-like, into the dark space filled with tables of hollering fans, before offering a coquettish spin, shedding her gloves to a rhythmic drumbeat.
With her curvy silhouette, black hair, and fiery red lipstick, she once captivated audiences as a popular burlesque performer in Montreal.
But after Oct. 7, 2023, her career, like parts of her elaborate costumes, fell south.
Perez started modelling a decade ago and later embraced burlesque. It was a hit—she performed every weekend, with a steady social media following. Her late parents supported her career, but it was the burlesque community that turned its back on her.
An office manager for a property management firm, she had been up late when news of the attacks broke. “I freaked out,” she recalls, and while her family in Israel was safe, she quickly realized that many of her friends were unaware of the scale of the attack. As media coverage was slow to pick up, Perez began sharing screenshots from sources she trusted.
At first the reaction was of sincere interest, “but I noticed all these people looking at my posts and not a single one messaged me to ask if I’m OK, or about my family.”
Perez isn’t alone. Jewish and Israeli artists have watched as the progressive arts community turned their back and lost the support of their friends in the industry and seen projects and bookings be cancelled.
Even Montrealers whose art might not be their day jobs, but rather side hustles and occasional gigs have seen opportunities dry up.
Social media has been a powerful force since the attacks, starting with the live-streamed atrocities and continuing efforts to spread propaganda, solidarity, or division. Perez, who uses social media “authentically” in both her personal and professional life, says, “I’ve always been clear—I’m not just a ‘pretty person’ online. I’m a whole person, and I was open about being terrified and traumatized.”
What people didn’t realize was that this wasn’t just ‘news’ to her—she was worried for her family staying in bomb shelters. The lack of support from friends and colleagues in the progressive burlesque community felt dehumanizing. “No one checked in, and I noticed something else,” she recalls, her voice betraying a surge in emotion. “Some people began sharing antisemitic content right away. On Oct. 7, they were posting about ‘liberation.’ The same goddamned day.”
Performers she’d worked with for years, with whom she’d never discussed the Middle East, began retweeting pro-Palestinian accounts that were clearly part of a coordinated narrative. “They were celebrating, saying ‘Amazing job.’ I couldn’t believe they were justifying the attacks.” She tried explaining the impact on her family, but people doubled down, saying it didn’t matter.
Colleagues, including one scheduled to perform in her show, posted increasingly extreme comments. Perez called them out gently, only to hear, “I’ve watched documentaries, I have a nuanced view. Palestinian resistance is justified.” Perez could accept opposing views, but “you’re saying what happened to my people was deserved?” She felt horrified and unsafe, questioning if she could continue working with such people.
The concert reviewer
Amir Amozig also felt a shift after Oct. 7, though more subtly. While he didn’t face direct hostility or “Free Palestine” shrieks, he noticed a change in the atmosphere while continuing his decade-long gig reviewing local bands in Montreal’s west end.
By day, the 51-year-old works in accounts receivable for a telecommunications company, but at night, he and his pen and notepad are a staple at local bars, reviewing bands with his encyclopedic knowledge of rock, blues, and pop. “I was extremely traumatized by Oct. 7,” he said. “There was a deafening silence around me.”
Some musicians did make public statements minimizing the atrocities, which outraged him, and overall, he felt isolated in an industry that leans far left, even though he considers himself liberal. His mistrust led him to consider leaving, but Israeli family and musician friends reminded him of his passion for music. “If you let life’s challenges rob you of your passions, you’re giving in to what terrorists intended from the start,” they said.
Mindful of cancel culture, Amozig navigated it with care. He was shocked to see anti-Israel propaganda in some venues, including one that seemed a “pro-Hamas shrine” post-Oct. 7. “I never set foot there again.”
Though he felt isolated, he stayed in the music scene, feeling distanced from the Jewish activist community as it shifted right, but remained committed to traditional liberal values.
#WATCH: “We have a responsibility to be a voice for all the hostage families,” says Amir Amozig, as Montrealers gathered on Sunday to honour those who were killed in Israel during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. @swiddarassy reports.#Montreal #Quebechttps://t.co/9hiRkZ6iTI
— CityNews Montreal (@CityNewsMTL) October 6, 2024
Long before Oct. 7, he says, the arts community was strongly left-wing on issues like workers’ rights, racism, First Nations, women’s rights, the environment, and LGBTQ concerns. “The prevailing view framed the Middle East as an oppressor versus underdog conflict. While I disagree with some of their views on world events, I know many have a good heart, rooted in altruism, anti-militarism, and anti-nationalism,” which are core leftist values.
He severed ties however, with anyone justifying the events of Oct. 7, particularly those framing it in terms of oppressor and oppressed. “Some responses were reprehensible, while others came from a genuine concern for humanity.”
The flamenco dancer
Laurence Elmoznino, a 55-year-old public school teacher, was infuriated by the lack of knowledge and empathy she encountered after Oct. 7. “It was sheer stupidity,” she says, recalling the derision towards Israelis and the indifference to Jewish suffering that overshadowed one of her greatest passions.
A lifelong dancer, Elmoznino spent over a decade in ballet and has practiced flamenco for more than 20 years. Her first visit to Granada, Spain, felt like coming home, with flamenco’s connection to Jewish traditions through the shared history of persecuted Jews and Roma. “There was something very Jewish about it.”
Flamenco, with its intense footwork and lyrical expression, conveys raw emotions, from sexuality to passion, “but it’s not about being sexy,” she said. She loved the intensity and solidarity among the women she danced with.
“Flamenco here has a tight-knit community. We see the same faces everywhere—dancers from Spain for stages and shows. It’s intense with classes, practices, and performances.”
Fifteen months ago, she was performing with her group, loving every grueling moment. Then came Oct. 7. She watched the news, and “I thought my knees were going to buckle. In an instant, everything changed.”
As days passed, Elmoznino grew despondent, overwhelmed by pain for her community. “I couldn’t do anything. I didn’t want to dance. Many were still dancing, but I was in mourning.” Supported by a close-knit group of dancers and friends, she returned after weeks, receiving concern for her and her family. “But outside that small group, I’m still angry.”
After the Hamas attacks, she posted on social media about the slaughter, supporting Israel and sharing a photo from a volunteering mission. A dancer told her they could no longer be friends, saying she couldn’t support someone who “justifies terrorism.” Elmoznino was stunned. “Terrorism? Genocide? I had no idea she thought like this. I danced with her, she taught me, I saw her shows.” She responded firmly, calling her out: “How dare you? My family was in Gaza. You don’t get to lecture me about my people.”
This was coming from people she had known for 20 years, who knew her as a dedicated supporter and fundraiser for causes like helping fellow Montrealer Steve Maman working to free Yazidi women from ISIS captivity and supporting a Syrian refugee family. “I did the work—what have you done?”
She was furious and avoided classes. “I just couldn’t. It wasn’t just one teacher, but others voicing pride in seeing Tunisians shouting for resistance in Arabic or calling Gaza an open-air prison. It was too much.” This limited her dance opportunities and combined with knee injuries and the painful loss of a close friend, her flamenco career began to unravel. “I missed dancing, but my connection to Israel is deeper than anything, even flamenco. Every hostage, soldier, and family felt personal.”
It reaffirmed her deepest self-identity, with family roots in Spain as deep as her attachment to her Jewishness. In Granada, she met the late flamenco legend Mario Maya, who tapped her with his cane, asking, “Where are you from?” “Canada,” she replied. “No,” he laughed. “Where are you from?”
“When I shared my origins were in Córdoba, he said I resembled the local women, strengthening my sense of connection to the culture.” It reminded her that she was “La Sefardita.”
Yael Perez was proud of her achievements in burlesque, curating successful shows at Montreal venues like the Wiggle Room and Café Cleopatra, often selling out spaces for 100-120 people. But everything unraveled after Oct. 7.
“Burlesque isn’t a community, I always insisted. It’s a business,” she said, feeling vindicated “in a sick, painful way.”
Post-Oct. 7, many of her peers across Canada posted antisemitic content. “The worst was, ‘You deserve it.’” The idea that Israelis deserved to be pulled from their beds and slaughtered was mind-boggling. Perez had always supported causes like Black Lives Matter and Stop Asian Hate, even paying festival fees for performers of colour. “I knew some people face barriers I didn’t. I felt a responsibility to help.” Yet, among the hundreds she supported, no one publicly voiced support for her. “A few privately reached out, but within weeks, they were sharing pro-Palestinian posts and calling me a genocide supporter who should be shunned.
“I was the only Israeli. There were a few Jewish performers, but in a progressive, woke space, a couple who shared my views stayed silent to avoid what I was dealing with.”
It started with artists bailing on shows, rumours spreading that she supported genocide. Even an Arab-Jewish performer she had supported told her, “I can’t be associated with you. I have to quit all your bookings. No hard feelings.”
The final blow came that December, when dancers at Café Cleo told her that nearly all of them had been harassed for working with her. “This was after about 20 people had already quit,” almost half the talent pool.
“I shed so many tears,” she recalls. “I found out nearly every artist who worked with me was harassed. I had a breakdown backstage and cried myself to sleep. That show made me realize I couldn’t stay in this industry anymore. I couldn’t keep giving to an industry that doesn’t appreciate me.”
She began receiving harassing messages, with her social media stories prompting waves of Palestinian flags and responses of “Fuck Israel! Fuck you!” and threats to protest her shows. Anti-Israel posters were plastered backstage, and she knew people brought Palestinian flags to disrupt other events in the city. She worried about how to keep the audience safe when people were using such aggressive, threatening language.
Her last pre-booked show was in May, but her final performance came in February 2024, at Café Cleo. There, a stack of postcards urging Trudeau to stop the genocide and support Gaza sat by the bar.
It was all devastating for Perez. “It turned my life upside down. Being a performer, producer, and model was central to my identity—now it’s all gone. I lost almost all my friends—people I’d planned futures with, thrown birthday parties for. Losing my career was huge, but losing friends was worse. It felt overwhelming, but I realized I need new, more meaningful connections—especially more Jewish friends.”
Did she err by quitting? “No. It’s unfortunate and sad, and I’m still grieving that loss, but it was the right thing because nobody deserves to be treated that way, to be bullied by peers, and harassed. I had the ability to remove myself. They’re going to be assholes forever. I don’t have to be there for it.”
Pivoting their perspectives
Music reviewer Amir Amozig found his voice for advocacy attending rallies after Oct. 7. His tight-knit circle remains strong, and now when covering a band with a Jewish performer, he feels a deeper connection. “If I know a musician is Jewish or Israeli, and shares my trauma, the bond is stronger.” He mentions a recent show by Israeli saxophonist Tevet Sela in Montreal. “There’s a bond you don’t have with others, and it makes you feel safe.”
Though quieter on advocacy than some, Amozig says no musician is unaware of his stance in Israel’s war. “They know where I stand, and so far, no major backlash. But I’m always aware of stories of cancellations, that chill in the air.”
For flamenco enthusiast Laurence Elmoznino, seeing fellow dancers celebrate murder and “Free Palestine” posters appearing around a studio dulled the shine on the art form she saw as her heritage. “I can’t get away from it anywhere, not even in my feel-good place. There’s even still a lot of antisemitism in Spain, where I got comments from indoctrinated types. I had a landlord who refused to believe I was Jewish, and a Spanish teacher asked me if a Palestinian child was standing in front of me, ‘would you shoot him’?”
Back in Montreal, she’s eyeing the calendar of flamenco events. “This stage I want to take, I know some of these women will be there. So fuck them, I’m going. I’m wearing my Magen David and standing right in front of your face.” Looking at it through a rear-view mirror, she says, “Their lack of intelligence repulsed me. I couldn’t get them to donate or support anything, and now they’re out picketing and protesting, denying rapes. They’re too far gone.”
These classes and events may be “much more their space than mine, but it is still my space because of my ancestry. This very much belongs to me.”
The post Montreal nightlife fixtures explain how anti-Israel sentiment has impacted their passions appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Trump Withholds Another $450 Million From Harvard University Coffers
US President Donald Trump attends a press conference in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, DC, US, May 12, 2025. Photo: Nathan Howard via Reuters Connect.
The Trump administration has impounded another $450 million in taxpayer funded research grants and contracts previously awarded to Harvard University, citing the school’s history of fostering anti-Zionist extremism and practicing racial preferences in admissions and hiring.
“Harvard University has repeatedly failed to confront the pervasive race discrimination and antisemitic harassment plaguing its campus,” the multi-agency Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, created by US President Donald Trump in February, said in a statement. “This is just the latest chapter in Harvard’s long standing policy and practice of discriminating on the basis of race as recognized by the Supreme Court in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, where the court rebuked Harvard for its unlawful race discrimination in admissions.”
The task force went on, coupling the issue of racial preferences with anti-Zionism in higher education, which conservative activists have said is necessary for reforming what they describe as a hub for far-left radicals who name both Israel and Western civilization as targets for subversion and deposition.
It said, “Harvard’s campus, once a symbol of academic prestige, has become a breeding ground for virtue signaling and discrimination. This is not leadership; it is cowardice. And it’s not academic freedom; it’s institutional disenfranchisement. There is a dark problem on Harvard’s campus, and by prioritizing appeasement over accountability, institutional leaders have forfeited the school’s claim to taxpayer support.”
Harvard University continues to draw criticism over its campus culture.
Earlier this month, a new “preliminary” report published by nonprofit watchdog NGO Monitor said the institution has ties to anti-Zionist nongovernmental organizations and other entities acting as proxy organizations for terrorist groups that warrant scrutiny and reproach.
Titled, “Advocacy NGOs in Academic Frameworks: Harvard University Case Study,” the report presents copious evidence that Harvard’s academic centers, including Harvard Law School, have come under the influence of Al-Haq and Addameer — two groups identified by the Israeli government as agents and propaganda manufacturers for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), an internationally designated terrorist organization. The NGOs, the report added, influence research and institutional culture, tilting the ideological balance of the campus toward anti-Zionism.
“The report demonstrates the major contribution from prominent advocacy NGOs to the atmosphere of propaganda and antisemitism at Harvard, particularly through frameworks claiming human rights agendas,” Professor Gerald Steinberg, who authored the report alongside Dr. Adi Schwartz, said in a statement. “The close cooperation between prominent NGOs and Harvard academic programs warrants urgent scrutiny. The blurred lines between scholarship and advocacy threaten academic integrity and risk further inflaming campus tensions.”
In April, the Trump administration impounded $2.26 billion in Harvard’s federal funds following the institution’s refusing to agree to a wishlist of policy reforms that Republican lawmakers have long argued will make higher education more meritocratic and less welcoming to anti-Zionists and far-left extremists. Contained in a letter the administration sent to Harvard interim president Alan Garber — who subsequently released it to the public — the policies called for “viewpoint diversity in hiring and admissions,” the “discontinuation of [diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives],” and “reducing forms of governance bloat.” They also implore Harvard to begin “reforming programs with egregious records of antisemitism” and to recalibrate its approach to “student discipline.”
Since then, Harvard has admitted to being irresponsive to the concerns of Jewish students and the public.
Several weeks after sparring with the Trump administration, as well as suing it in federal court, Harvard released its long anticipated report on campus antisemitism which said that one source of the problem is the institution’s past refusal to afford Jews the same protections against discrimination enjoyed by other minority groups. Garber apologized for the inconsistent application of policy.
“I am sorry for the moments when we failed to meet the high expectations we rightfully set for our community. The grave, extensive impact of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas assault on Israel and its aftermath had serious repercussions on campus,” Garber said in a statement which accompanied the report. “Harvard cannot — and will not — abide bigotry. We will continue to provide for the safety and security of all members of our community and safeguard their freedom from harassment. We will redouble our efforts to ensure that the university is a place where ideas are welcomed, entertained, and contested in the spirt of seeking truth; where argument proceeds without sacrificing dignity; and where mutual respect is the norm.”
Harvard’s contrition has not changed Trump’s opinion about the institution. After the report’s release he announced plans to revoke Harvard University’s tax exempt status, which it enjoys as a nonprofit entity.
“It’s what they deserve,” Trump said.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Trump Vows ‘Most Destructive Force’ Iran Won’t Get Nuclear Weapon as Tehran Defends Enrichment Program
US President Donald Trump attends the Saudi-US Investment Forum, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday denounced Iran as the “most destructive force” in the Middle East, accusing Tehran of fueling regional instability and vowing that Washington would never allow the country to acquire a nuclear weapon.
During his visit to Saudi Arabia, Trump also accused Iran of causing “unthinkable suffering in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq, Yemen, and beyond,” just two days after US and Iranian officials held a fourth round of nuclear talks in Oman.
Trump’s comments came as Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, described the recent round of talks between the adversaries as productive, but criticized Washington’s new sanctions as undermining the ongoing diplomacy.
“In recent days, they [the Trump administration] issued sanctions on Iran; this is completely incompatible with the process of negotiations,” the Iranian diplomat said. “This will definitely affect our positions.”
This week, the US imposed sanctions on an Iranian oil smuggling network accused of facilitating billions of dollars in crude oil sales to China.
As part of the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran — which aims to cut the country’s crude exports to zero and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon — Washington has been targeting Tehran’s oil industry with mounting sanctions.
The fourth round of nuclear talks between Iranian and US officials concluded in Oman on Sunday, with additional negotiations scheduled as Tehran continues to publicly insist on advancing its uranium enrichment.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian declared in Tehran on Tuesday that Iran “will not retreat from its inalienable right to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.”
Earlier this month, Iran accused the Trump administration of “contradictory behavior and provocative statements” following remarks by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who warned the country of severe consequences for supporting Yemen’s Houthi militia, an internationally designated terrorist organization.
The Iran-backed group, which controls northern Yemen, has been targeting ships in the Red Sea since November 2023, disrupting global trade, while justifying the attacks as acts of solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.
In April, Tehran and Washington held their first official nuclear negotiation since the US withdrew from a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal that had imposed temporary limits on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanction relief.
The first and third rounds of talks were held in Oman, while the second round took place in Rome at the residence of the Omani ambassador.
Tehran has previously rejected halting its uranium enrichment program, insisting that the country’s right to enrich uranium is non-negotiable, despite Washington’s threats of military action, additional sanctions, and tariffs if an agreement is not reached to curb Iran’s nuclear activities.
However, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said that any deal with Iran must require the complete dismantling of its “nuclear enrichment and weaponization program.” Witkoff’s comments came after he received criticism for suggesting the Islamic Republic would be allowed to maintain its nuclear program in a limited capacity.
Trump indicated last Wednesday during a radio interview that he is seeking to “blow up” Iran’s nuclear centrifuges “nicely” through an agreement with Tehran but is also prepared to do so “viciously” in an attack if necessary. That same day, however, when asked by a reporter in the White House whether his administration would allow Iran to maintain an enrichment program as long as it doesn’t enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels, Trump said his team had not decided. “We haven’t made that decision yet,” Trump said. “We will, but we haven’t made that decision.”
Despite Iran’s claims that its nuclear program is solely for civilian purposes rather than weapons development, Western states have said there is no “credible civilian justification” for the country’s recent nuclear activity, arguing it “gives Iran the capability to rapidly produce sufficient fissile material for multiple nuclear weapons.”
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New York City Mayor Establishes First-of-Its-Kind Office to Combat Antisemitism
New York City Mayor Eric Adams announcing the formation of the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism at a press conference at City Hall on May 13, 2025. Photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced at a press conference on Tuesday morning the creation of the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, the first office of its kind to be established in a major city in the US.
The first task of the new mayoral office will be to immediately establish an inter-agency taskforce that will focus on tacking “all forms of antisemitism,” which include monitoring court cases and outcomes in the justice system, cooperating with the New York City Law Department on cases to bring or join, and advising on executive orders to issue and legislation to propose to address antisemitism. The office will also liaise with the New York City Police Department (NYPD) to take action against antisemitism, and it will have the authority to ensure that city-funded entities, taxpayer-funded organizations, and city agencies do not promote antisemitism.
“Anything funded by the city, there are rules and regulations of how you can contract with the city and behave when you contract with the city, and we’re going to make sure that is taken care of in the proper way,” Moshe Davis, the inaugural executive director of the Office to Combat Antisemitism, told The Algemeiner. He explained that the new office will make sure “that these [city-funded] agencies are not doing the wrong thing and if they are, and we have the legal ability, we are going to make sure they are not going to be able to continue doing that.”
“By establishing the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, our administration is taking immediate and concrete steps to address antisemitism at every level of city life,” Davis added during the press conference.
Adams made the announcement about the new initiative amid an unprecedented uptick in antisemitism in New York City and across the nation. In 2024, the NYPD reported that 54 percent of all hate crimes in New York City were against Jewish New Yorkers. During the first quarter of 2025, that number rose to 62 percent.
Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League’s latest Audit of Antisemitic Incidents revealed a record number of 9,354 antisemitic incidents across the US in 2024. The highest number of incidents were in New York.
New York City has the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, and Jews make up 10 percent of the population, according to the mayor. New York has 960,000 Jewish residents.
Adams said it is “imperative” to address the increase in antisemitism in New York City.
“We can’t move on with business as usual when we have a population in your city that is overwhelmingly being targeted merely because of their religion or way of life,” Adams said on Tuesday at the press conference. He added that the new Office to Combat Antisemitism will help “send a very clear message in this city that antisemitism cannot live and most importantly cannot grow – cannot grow on our college campuses, cannot grow in our schools, in our work environments … And let’s be honest, it’s not a Jewish issue. Any hate on a group is an issue that we should address. This administration will not remain silent while our Jewish brothers and sisters are targeted.”
“As we continue to see the rising tide of antisemitism here at home, and across the country, this moment calls for decisive action,” the mayor further said in a released statement. “The Office to Combat Antisemitism … will tackle antisemitism in all of its forms, working across city agencies to ensure Jewish New Yorkers are protected and can thrive here in the five boroughs. Antisemitism is an attack not only on Jewish New Yorkers, but on the very idea of New York City as a place where people from all backgrounds can live together.”
Davis’s first course of action as the executive director of the new office will be to form a commission of Jewish leaders from across the city to oversee and advise on the office’s work. The mayor described Davis in a press statement as “a tireless advocate on behalf of Jewish New Yorkers, and he is exactly the right person to lead and build this office.”
Davis joined the Adams administration in November 2022 as Jewish liaison in the Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs. He formerly managed the city’s first Jewish Advisory Council, which the mayor established in June 2023.
“Combating antisemitism requires a sledgehammer approach: coordinated, unapologetic, and immediate,” Davis said. “Mayor Adams has been a modern-day Maccabee, standing up for the Jewish community, and, with the establishment of this office, he is strengthening his resolve to ensure Jewish New Yorkers thrive in our city. I look forward to working closely with Mayor Eric Adams and First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro to continue our forceful response against anti-Jewish hate and discrimination.”
Davis was previously the rabbinic leader at the Manhattan Jewish Experience, a program for young Jewish professionals. He also founded New York Jews in Politics, an initiative that connects Jewish professionals who work in government, advocacy, and nonprofit sectors, and received his ordination from the Rabbinical Council of Jerusalem. As executive director of the Office to Combat Antisemitism, he will report directly to First Deputy Mayor Mastro.
“We are a city that will not tolerate antisemitism,” Mastro said at the press conference on Tuesday.
“The rise in antisemitism in our city, in our country, and around the world is both alarming and intolerable,” Mastro added in a released statement. “Today, Mayor Adams is taking a stand — that in the city with the largest Jewish population in the world — antisemitism is unacceptable, and we have to do more to address it. So, New York City will lead the way as the first major city in America to establish an office dedicated solely to combatting antisemitism.”
New York City also has an Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, which was launched in 2019 and is still active, and the NYPD has a Hate Crime Task Force that addresses bias-motivated threats, harassment, discrimination, and violence throughout New York.
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