{"id":531058,"date":"2026-01-21T01:02:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T01:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/531058\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T01:02:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T01:02:18","slug":"letitia-james-makes-it-quite-clear-there-are-no-limits-to-denouncing-or-harassing-jews-in-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/531058\/","title":{"rendered":"Letitia James makes it quite clear — there are no limits to denouncing or harassing Jews in New York"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the face of surging antisemitism<\/a> across New York state \u2014 fueled by incessant illegal demonstrations in support of terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah \u2014 Attorney General Letitia James jumped into the fray to prosecute . . . Jews.<\/p>\n

James\u2019 office announced last week that she\u2019s concluded an agreement with Betar \u2014 a small and obscure Zionist group<\/a> that advocates for Jewish safety and self-determination \u2014 forcing it to cease operations in New York.<\/p>\n

The AG says Betar engaged in a \u201ccampaign of violence, harassment, and intimidation against Arab, Muslim, and Jewish New Yorkers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the group\u2019s activities were counter-protesting at pro-Palestine demonstrations, bestowing mock beepers on pro-Hamas protesters to taunt them about Israel\u2019s pager attacks and making vulgar, slur-filled \u201cpublic and private statements.\u201d<\/p>\n

James\u2019 office subpoenaed Betar members\u2019 text messages and combed through them looking for nasty language, which the AG then proffered as evidence of the group\u2019s quasi-criminal profile.<\/p>\n

Worst of all, says the AG, Betar called on supporters to \u201cfight back\u201d at an anti-Zionist protest called \u201cFlood Boro Park\u201d last February.<\/p>\n

That demonstration, organized by Pal-Awda \u2014 the same group that chanted \u201cWe support Hamas here!\u201d outside a Queens synagogue<\/a> this month \u2014 was named in honor of the \u201cAl-Aqsa Flood,\u201d Hamas\u2019 code name for its savage Oct. 7 incursion into Israel.<\/p>\n

Borough Park is a well-known Brooklyn enclave of Orthodox Jews; more than half its population is Jewish: Organizing hundreds of people to head there specifically to protest Israel was no random act. <\/p>\n

That is, it\u2019s not like the \u201cFlood Boro Park\u201d event carried peaceable overtones or promised to be a love-in.<\/p>\n

Indeed, hundreds of pro-Palestine demonstrators gathered there to scream \u201cfilthy Zionist a\u2013holes\u201d at Jews on the street and threaten to kill them and chanted, \u201cThere is only solution, Intifada revolution!\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn), the House minority leader, denounced the protest as \u201cegregious behavior . . . clearly designed to intimidate and harass Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt should come as a shock to no one that the pro-Hamas mob targeting Jews and promising to \u2018flood\u2019 Boro Park has descended into violence,\u201d commented Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx).<\/p>\n

According to James, however, brawls that broke out at this event were entirely the fault of Betar \u2014 even though the one person charged with violent assault that night was on the pro-Hamas side.<\/p>\n

This state has seen literally hundreds of anti-Israel protests since Oct. 7<\/a> \u2014 displays marked by screaming activists blocking streets and bridges, taking over buildings, occupying campus quads and chasing Jewish students into hiding.<\/p>\n

They have staged protests outside synagogues, waved the flags of Hamas and Hezbollah, raised pictures of terrorist leaders and produced maps of \u201cenemy\u201d institutions.<\/p>\n

They have invaded memorial vigils for the victims of Oct. 7, using these occasions of sorrow to celebrate the attack and hoist signs reading, \u201cGlory to the Martyrs; Victory to the Resistance.\u201d<\/p>\n

These protests have contributed to a frightening, well-documented rise in antisemitic assaults and violence.<\/p>\n

Groups such as Within Our Lifetime, Code Pink, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, Students for Justice in Palestine, The People\u2019s Forum and many others have not been shy about promoting chaos and violence<\/a> and \u201cchilling\u201d the free expression of speech, as James complains about Betar.<\/p>\n

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But out of everything that\u2019s happened in New York in these last two years, the attorney general decided an obscure Jewish group is the real problem.<\/p>\n

Antisemites on social media are gloating and chuckling about the dissolution of Betar, saying it proves how peaceful and righteous the anti-Zionist movement has been.<\/p>\n

Take note: Betar didn\u2019t go to Muslim neighborhoods and start fights, or protest outside mosques; its members never harassed random Muslims in public.<\/p>\n

They only acted as counter-protesters at pro-Hamas demonstrations.<\/p>\n

James has been sitting on this agreement with Betar for months, and its release just two weeks after Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s inauguration is no coincidence: It\u2019s a gift to him, a sign that she\u2019s on board with his program of demonizing Israel.<\/p>\n

The AG has sent a clear signal that there are no limits to denouncing or harassing Jews in New York.<\/p>\n

You only risk trouble if you dare to push back.<\/p>\n

Seth Barron is a member of The Post Editorial Board. His next book, \u201cWeaponized,\u201d will be published in April.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the face of surging antisemitism across New York state \u2014 fueled by incessant illegal demonstrations in support…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":531059,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,12648,4292,4691,4527,99,24980,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,1269,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-531058","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-antisemitism","10":"tag-columbia-university","11":"tag-editorial","12":"tag-hamas","13":"tag-israel","14":"tag-letitia-james","15":"tag-new-york","16":"tag-new-york-city","17":"tag-newyork","18":"tag-newyorkcity","19":"tag-ny","20":"tag-nyc","21":"tag-opinion","22":"tag-united-states","23":"tag-united-states-of-america","24":"tag-unitedstates","25":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","26":"tag-us","27":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115930395227452384","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}