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The JTA Q&A with Curtis Sliwa: ‘I have a legacy with the Jewish community here’
Republican Curtis Sliwa believes New York City can tamp down rising antisemitism with a curriculum that brings “Jews of all types” to visit third- and fourth-grade classes in public schools.
“They’re all Jews, but they’re completely different in many instances, just like you. Don’t think they’re monolithic,” the New York City mayoral candidate said students should be taught.
Related: Catch up on Curtis Sliwa’s record on Jews, antisemitism and Israel
Sliwa made the suggestion in an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, conducted in person in August, in which he showcased some of the out-of-the-box ideas that his supporters say make him the best choice for mayor of New York City. A full Q&A, edited for length and clarity and covering Sliwa’s ideas for combatting hate crimes, personal and professional relationships with Jewish New Yorkers and favorite Jewish restaurant, is below.
JTA’s Andrew Cuomo Q&A | JTA’s Zohran Mamdani Q&A
Most Jews and most New Yorkers have tended to vote for Democrats. What is it about you that should get Jewish New Yorkers to vote for a Republican mayor?
The first thing is I have a legacy with the Jewish community here. During the Crown Heights riots [in 1991], the mayor at that time, David Dinkins, told the police to stand down. The only people that the Lubavitch could depend on were me and the Guardian Angels on the corner of Kingston and President.
We’re at a point now where we haven’t had a riot involving antisemitism, but it spreads throughout the city. And it’s clear that if you’re going to address it, you have to do something about it, not just have a slogan. It’s not going to resolve itself. If you look at the traditional Democrats … they have failed. And now it’s left to me. I happen to be the Republican.
You know where Curtis Sliwa’s been over the years, you know the positions that I’ve taken to protect the Jewish community.
Jews continue to be the most common target of hate crimes in New York City. You said in a recent interview that there’s “no mashiach” running for mayor who will protect Jewish communities, and that they should continue leaning into groups like Shomrim and Shmira. Is it enough to have security from those groups?
No, not enough. But I’ve worked with them for years, and they’re dedicated volunteers, as is Hatzalah, the ambulance service. And there’s this perception, because they’re predominantly Orthodox, they’re only going to help their own. No! I’ve been out on the front lines with them with the Guardian Angels. They help Jews, Gentiles, anybody in distress. I’ve seen them risk their lives and get involved in some very hairy situations, and they work in tandem with the police. So it’s a great, vital volunteer organization — but more needs to be done.
So what concrete steps would you take as mayor to address the rise in hate crimes against Jews?
There should certainly be mandatory courses in antisemitism in schools — the history, how it’s evolved, how evil it is — Islamophobia, all of the hate. I have no problem with that. It’s not like there’s one hate, and one hate alone. But clearly the hate that is rearing its ugly head in the city now, more than any other, is antisemitic hate.
I would be very neighborhood-centric. Your police commanders of the precincts, your deputy inspectors have got to have a finger on the pulse of what’s going on. [Sliwa has promised to add 7,000 NYPD officers.] Each precinct is different — Williamsburg is different than Borough Park, Borough Park is different than Crown Heights. And then you have a lot of Orthodox communities that are different. You have to be sensitive to what all the differences are. The growing Bukharian community in Queens, much different. I think that’s the role a mayor plays, but you let the police do their job. You basically back off.
You’ve said you would like to keep Jessica Tisch on as police commissioner, if she’ll stay on. You’ve also criticized her for not trying to impose a mask ban that you want to see as a safeguard against violent protesters. Why is she the right person for the job?
Now we have stability. So even though I have differences with Jessica Tisch, you never discuss them in public. If for some reason you can’t get along or you can’t agree that this is the direction we should go, then you go your separate ways! But you don’t do it in public.
You mentioned adding third- and fourth-grade classes to educate kids about antisemitism and other forms of hate. What might those classes actually look like?
You bring in Jews of all different types. You think all Jews are the same? No. This is a Hasid, this is Orthodox, this is Conservative, this is Reform, this is secular. They’re all Jews, but they’re completely different in many instances, just like you. Don’t think they’re monolithic.
Then you have to also discuss the term “Chosen People.” It’s misunderstood if you don’t fully explain it. The way I explain it to Gentile audiences is, “Look, are you Christians? Christ was lost in the desert 40 days, 40 nights. The Jews were lost 40 years, wandering around. Moses brought down like 200 commandments from Hashem, their God, God the father. We truncated it down to 10. We’re all the same! We’re all of the same people. Jesus died a Jew!”
You have two Jewish children yourself. Can you tell me a little bit about your relationship with them, and what you’ve learned about Judaism through that part of your family?
I know there’s some beliefs that Jews should not be with Gentiles, it should only be Jews with Jews. But it happens, and it happens a lot. And Melinda [Katz, Sliwa’s ex-partner] said, ‘You know, I want to raise them Jewish.’ I said, “I don’t have a problem.”
The only problem I had was when it came time for the bar mitzvahs of both boys. She was in a Conservative synagogue, and the synagogue would not let me stand up at the bimah while my sons read their lessons. I thought, ‘Oh, no, excuse me. I would like to be able to stand up there.’ So, in order to honor my wish, she went to a Reform synagogue. And I already knew the separate lines internally within the various divisions of the Jewish faith. So she accommodated me, and I appreciated that — I liked being with my boys on an important day in their life, and I had no problem with them being raised Jews. You know, they pick up on Christianity just because it’s the majority, but they’re proud Jews.
Who are the Jewish people in your circle, whether they’re officially part of your campaign or people you consult?
Without a doubt, the man that I’ve been through so many struggles over the years is Dov Hikind. First of all, politically, he was active 38 years running for elective office in Borough Park, going back and forth to Albany. He knew Eric Adams as state senator. Obviously had a lot of dealings with him up in Albany. He certainly knew Cuomo as governor and attorney general. So he knows everyone, and he is completely in support of me because he knows, whenever Jews have been in need, he says, “Curtis was always there.”
[Hikind issued a reluctant call a week before the election for voters to back Cuomo, saying he believed Sliwa could not win.]
Do you have a favorite Jewish restaurant?
Gottlieb’s in Williamsburg. I love the cholent. And I announce, “I’m having a bowl of cholent.” Remember, I’ve had ileitis, colitis, Crohn’s disease — yeah, like a lot of Jews. You know what cholent does to a stomach. “Curtis, please, don’t subject us to that.” “No, I’m going to eat. A bowl. Of cholent.”
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The post The JTA Q&A with Curtis Sliwa: ‘I have a legacy with the Jewish community here’ appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Jewish Democrats back Michigan AG Dana Nessel’s decision to skip state party convention
(JTA) — Local and national Jewish Democrats say they are sympathetic after Michigan’s Jewish attorney general, Dana Nessel, said she would skip the state Democratic Party’s nominating convention over concerns about antisemitism and harassment.
“I don’t blame AG Nessel for not wanting to go and basically put herself in situations that feel untenable in this moment of time and don’t add any value politically, personally,” Jessica “Decky” Alexander, the Michigan Jewish Democratic caucus chair, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on Friday.
Alexander’s comment came a day after Nessel announced during a televised antisemitism roundtable that she would be skipping the convention next month, where party leaders will finalize the state’s Democratic candidate for Senate following a divisive primary that has focused in part on Israel and antisemitism.
“I don’t feel safe going. I feel like my presence isn’t going to be welcome. I don’t want to get chased around. I don’t want to get harassed. I don’t want to get yelled and screamed at. I don’t want to get booed off the stage, irrespective of what I’m saying,” Nessel said during the roundtable. “And I believe that if I go, that is what will happen because it’s been happening to me.”
She said she had filed a formal complaint within the party about a party official who had called her a neo-Nazi because of her beliefs. “Why is this person more accepted in our party than me?” she asked without naming the official. Her office responded to a request for comment by referring to the recorded livestream of the antisemitism roundtable.
Nessel’s declaration comes in the final days of the primary between Rep. Haley Stevens, a pro-Israel stalwart, and Abdul El-Sayed, a democratic socialist who is deeply critical of Israel. El-Sayed is surging in polls despite a reported $30 million spent against him by AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby, and its supporters, whom he has made a target of criticism from the campaign trail.
Nessel’s comments also follow turmoil at the Michigan Democratic Party’s endorsement convention in April, where Stevens was booed by attendees. A third primary candidate who later dropped out of the race, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, said a convention attendee had targeted her Jewish husband with an antisemitic slur.
The incident has fueled alarm among Jewish Democrats, according to Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America.
“She’s not alone,” Soifer told JTA about Nessel on Friday. “We’ve heard from other Jewish Democrats who attended the Democratic Party convention earlier this year in Michigan, and there was a sense of discomfort amid what felt like a pro-Palestinian protest [that] may have even blurred the line for some into antisemitic sentiment — and it’s really concerning.”
Nessel has raised the alarm about antisemitism within the party for years, alleging in 2024 that Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a prominent pro-Palestinian voice, had been antisemitic when criticizing charges Nessel filed against pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of Michigan.
For her part, Alexander said she would be participating in the nominating convention and said she believed the chair of the state Democratic Party, Curtis Hertel, had been “very accessible and very open to making sure that we, including our Jewish elected officials, feel safe in that space.” But she said she understood why Nessel was staying away.
“It would never even occur to me, but I’m not an elected official,” Alexander said. “It’s a different stake for me than it is for Dana. I understand her completely.”
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Jewish Democrats back Michigan AG Dana Nessel’s decision to skip state party convention appeared first on The Forward.
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Maine rabbis call for peace, urge politicians to stop calling Gaza war a ‘genocide’
(JTA) — Every congregational rabbi in Maine has signed onto a statement calling for peace and urging the state’s political leaders to stop using the term “genocide” to describe Israel’s war in Gaza, following a Democratic primary in which several candidates used the label for the first time.
But the rabbis also indicated that they, too, were unsatisfied with conditions in the Middle East and called on Israeli and Palestinian leaders to work toward a peaceful future.
“We call upon Maine’s leaders, and particularly its political leaders, to reject the irresponsible usage of the term in describing the Israel-Hamas War,” said the statement released on Friday. “We also call upon Israeli and Palestinian leaders to end the cycle of violence and to create a better world for both Palestinian and Israeli children.”
The statement, titled “A Call for Peace and Responsible Rhetoric,” argues that using the term as a “political slogan does not advance peace in the Middle East.” The term “erases essential moral and legal distinctions, diminishes the meaning of genocide, and inflames hatred for the local Jewish community,” the rabbis say.
“Compassion for Palestinians does not require the adoption of hateful and misleading language,” they continue. “Advocating for peace does not require participation in a ‘Holocaust inversion’ against the Jewish community. And political leadership does not require demonizing one community in the service of another.”
The statement comes days after Troy Jackson, a former logger and state Senate president, secured the Maine Democratic U.S. Senate nomination Saturday at the party’s nominating convention to replace Graham Platner, a staunch Israel critic who dropped out of the race earlier this month. Platner faced a sexual assault allegation, which he denies. Jackson now faces Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins in November’s general election.
Platner’s romp to the primary victory featured routine use of “genocide” to describe Israel’s actions. And ahead of the convention to replace him, Jackson and several other Democratic hopefuls who later exited the race began using the term “genocide” to describe Israel’s war in Gaza for the first time, a shift that drew scrutiny from some Jewish leaders and voters in the state.
The use of the term has become a “currency for acquiring power and position in Maine’s Democratic party,” Rabbi Rachel Isaacs, the leader of Beth Israel Congregation in Waterville, who also signed the statement, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
“Too many Maine Democrats are cynically willing to trade in that currency at the expense of our safety and dignity,” she said in an emailed statement. “We decided we needed to say something collectively, both about the specious and dangerous nature of the claim, and about how much damage has been done to our families and congregants.”
The statement Friday was spearheaded by the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine and signed by every congregational rabbi in the state, including Rabbi Bill Siemers of the Conservative Congregation Beth Israel in Bangor and Rabbi Erica Asch of the Reform Temple Beth El in Augusta. (Rabbis affiliated with the Chabad movement in Maine did not appear on the signatory list.)
Zach Schwartz, the director of the Jewish Community Relations Council at the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine, said the federation hoped the “unity displayed here in Maine can inspire Jewish communities across the US to also unite against the extremist rhetoric harming our community and our children.”
Rabbi Josh Stanton, the associate vice president of interfaith and intergroup initiatives for Jewish Federations of North America, also hailed the joint statement.
“Maine’s Jewish clergy are setting an important example with their call to put aside inflammatory rhetoric and look to the common good,” Stanton said in an emailed statement. “At a time of rising polarization and declining civil discourse, the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine’s efforts to unify the community around this important message are a mark of true leadership.”
Isaacs told JTA that she hoped Jackson would “support, understand, and advocate for all of Maine’s citizens, including the totality of Maine’s diverse Jewish community.”
“Work with us to figure out how to express outrage and legitimate critique of Israel’s government without succumbing to language that you might not know is an ancient antisemitic trope, or dismissing the security needs of Israel’s citizens,” Isaacs said of her message to Jackson. “Please have the courage to forge your own path, and not follow in the footsteps of Graham Platner, a man who should have never been normalized, endorsed, or empowered.”
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Maine rabbis call for peace, urge politicians to stop calling Gaza war a ‘genocide’ appeared first on The Forward.
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Boy George cedes role of King Herod in ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ production after releasing pro-Israel song
(JTA) — Boy George has withdrawn from his run as King Herod in London’s West End revival of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” days before he was due to take the stage and 24 hours after releasing “We Will Dance Again,” dedicated to the victims of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on the Nova music festival in Israel.
The 80’s pop star was scheduled to appear at London’s Palladium starting Monday as part of the production’s rotating cast playing King Herod, the Judean king who is best known by Jews for his expansion of the Second Temple and to Christians for his efforts to stave off the arrival of a challenger — the story of which is reflected in the rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.
Boy George will be replaced by actor Richard Armitage in the London production.
In announcing the cast change, Paul Kelmsley, the singer’s manager, did not directly mention the blowback the former Culture Club frontman was receiving for releasing a pro-Israel song but alluded to it.
“George has never been afraid to stand by his personal convictions, and I have always respected him for that,” he said. ”In this instance, I felt it was right to step aside, allowing the production to remain the focus, while ensuring everyone involved can move forward with mutual respect and goodwill.”
Boy George is defending his decision to release the song, saying he believes artists should be free to express their views even when they are unpopular. In “We Will Dance Again,” the singer rejects claims of genocide against Israel and proclaims, “If you’re ever confused, I stand with the Jews.”
Earlier Friday, Boy George lashed back at the vitriol he was getting online. “What is most shocking is the amount of gay folk attacking me, ” he posted on X. “If you support terrorism you can in the words of Divine ‘Take your toolkit and go f—_ a garage,’” he said, referring to a quote attributed to the taboo-breaking transgender artist.
“When I say ‘they want to kill every last one of us’ I am also talking about us queers, not just the Jewish community,” Boy George said. “When will you wake up?”
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Boy George cedes role of King Herod in ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ production after releasing pro-Israel song appeared first on The Forward.
