Brooklyn Mezuzah-Burning Suspect Takes to Facebook: ‘I Don’t Hate Jews’
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
A man arrested for allegedly setting mezuzahs on fire in a Brooklyn apartment building addressed the accusations on his Facebook page.
Rubin Ubiles, 35, was taken in for questioning on Wednesday and later arrested.
Eleven mezuzahs were set afire on Monday afternoon – the day Israel observed Holocaust Remembrance Day – in public housing located in the predominantly haredi Orthodox section of Williamsburg. The next day, a mezuzah was found burned in another building in the same development.
Ubiles has 37 past arrests for robbery, drug possession, weapons possession and grand larceny, according to media reports citing the New York Police Department.
After being named as a suspect based on security camera footage, he wrote on his Facebook page, ”When Jews burn wood and garbage on ebery(sic) corner it’s ok to pollute the surroundings.”
Another post reads, in part, ”I don’t hate Jews. I’ve worked with them for years, so why create an unnecessary problem for me when I’m on the verge of finally grow as a person?”
New York Police have been treating the incident as a hate crime.
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
, editor-in-chiefSupport our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
