Park Service and human rights group tackle Queens anti-Semitism
/
The Simon Wiesenthal Center, the National Park Service and Ortega National Parks discuss the hateful anti-Semitic vandalism found in Breezy Point and Belle Harbor. Photo courtesy of The Simon Wiesenthal Center.
By Jonathan Sperling
A national human rights group has partnered with officials from the National Park Service to launch an action plan in response to a series of anti-Semitic hate crimes that were reported at a Breezy Point surf club and in Belle Harbor.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center, the National Park Service and Ortega National Parks gathered to announce the plan on Nov. 25 at the Silver Gull Beach Club, where hateful vandals scrawled anti-Semitic messages and racial slurs nearly three months ago.
Representatives from the groups unveiled a jointly developed plan that they say can serve as a model program for a no-tolerance policy toward such displays of hatred. More than 130 members of the Breezy Point community were also in attendance to discuss the implementation of the plan.
“We hope that this plan serves as a national model and springboard for other community spaces around the country to proactively enforce a no-tolerance policy toward any incidents of anti-Semitism and hatred. There is no room for this kind of bigotry in our parks—or anywhere,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean and director of global social action at the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
The plan seeks to tackle anti-Semitism in Breezy Point through education and community involvement. Beginning this winter, a joint delegation of NPS, U.S. Park Police and Ortega officials will meet at the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles to engage in a multi-day “train the trainer training” that will enable them to better prepare seasonal employees on diversity, cultural sensitivity and combating hate in park facilities and properties.
In addition, the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Courage to Remember exhibit, which details the timeline of the Holocaust, will be on display at Silver Gull Beach Club and Breezy Point Surf Club during the opening weeks of the 2020 season.
There will also be a town-hall style meeting organized by Ortega National Parks, NPS, and U.S. Park Police for all Silver Gull Members with a Simon Wiesenthal Center facilitated dialogue that will advise members the joint approach and seriousness of response to the hate attack, and to allow for members and Ortega staff the forum to discuss their feelings on what occurred and their expectations moving forward.
Vandals scrawled “gas chamber,” anti-Semitic messages and other racial slurs on the walls and playground at the Silver Gull, a private beach club, during Labor Day Weekend. The graffiti, smeared in red paint, forced the Silver Gull to close its playground.
Two days after the incident at Silver Gull, beachgoers in nearby Belle Harbor encountered more anti-Semitic messages dug into the sand. The messages included specific white nationalist slogans, including “white pride” and “14/88.”
Local Assemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato commended the organizations for their response to the attacks.
“The fact that these images were discovered means that there is a systematic attempt to intimidate this community. We must continue to demonstrate that our love and commitment is stronger than any attempt [to] instill fear and promote hate. I look forward to standing with all of these organizations against bigotry and intolerance,” Amato said in a statement.
