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Proposed legislation would expand number of hate crime-eligible charges in New York
(New York Jewish Week) – When three Upper East Side synagogues and one Hatzalah ambulance were tagged with antisemitic graffiti earlier this year, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg found that the act couldn’t be prosecuted as a hate crime. According to state law, graffiti isn’t eligible as a hate crime charge.
But new state legislation introduced on Monday afternoon, the Hate Crimes Modernization Act, would increase the list of hate crime-eligible charges in the state from 66 to 97 to include crimes such as graffiti, gang assault, aggravated murder and sexual abuse.
“As New Yorkers we can and should exercise our First Amendment rights to voice our opinions and petition the government about foreign policy and any other matters. We can disagree vigorously about policy,” Bragg said. “What we cannot do, and what we will not accept, is engaging in violence, harassment or property destruction against our fellow New Yorkers based on religion or ethnicity or any of the other protected categories specified in the statute.”
Jewish New Yorkers are protected from discrimination and hate crimes under the New York City Human Rights law. Classifying more crimes as hate crimes would make the consequences more severe for the perpetrator. When a specific offense is classified as a hate crime — that is, a charge that the person committing the offense was motivated by hatred of a person in a protected class — the crime and sentence can become more severe.
Bragg noted that antisemitic incidents have skyrocketed in the month since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Since that date, the Anti-Defamation League has reported 646 antisemitic incidents across the country, a 400% increase over the same period last year.
Antisemitic incidents have similarly spiked in and around New York City in the same time span, according to data from the NYPD and a regional Jewish security agency.
And yet, Bragg said, he believes such crimes remain underreported and hopes that a broader definition of what constitutes a hate crime will aid in prosecuting more hate-based violence.
“I want to make it crystal-clear that harassment or violence against Jews here in Manhattan or against Muslims or Arab Americans here in Manhattan is plainly not acceptable,” Bragg said. “My office will, and does, investigate and prosecute hate crimes vigorously. And with the help of the state legislature, we hope to ensure that the scope of what we do, the scope of our hate crimes law, becomes sufficient to protect all of New York’s diverse communities.”
Despite graffiti itself not being included in the definition of a hate crime, Bragg was able to indict Lenny De La Rosa, the alleged perpetrator of the antisemitic graffiti, with four counts of criminal mischief as a hate crime on Oct. 31.
The legislation is sponsored by State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, whose district includes much of Manhattan’s West Side, and State Assemblymember Grace Lee, whose district includes Chinatown and the Lower East Side. Both are Democrats.
“We haven’t seen the level of hate crimes in New York as we’re seeing right now,” said Hoylman-Sigal, who is both gay and Jewish. “Hate fueled attacks are on the rise, targeting almost every racial and ethnic group.”
Last week, Gov. Hochul announced up to $75 million in grants for local police departments and religious institutions to prevent and prosecute hate crimes, as well as to increase security.
“This legislation will make law what any New Yorker knows: If a crime is motivated by bias or bigotry, then it’s a hate crime, plain and simple,” Hoylman-Sigal said. “Let’s protect New Yorkers. Let’s fight the rising tide of bigotry. Let’s send a message to those who might perpetrate hate crimes: New York does not welcome you.”
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The post Proposed legislation would expand number of hate crime-eligible charges in New York appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
The post Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
The post Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
The post Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.