Anti-Semitic Banner Found In N.J. Town, Site Of Orthodox Welfare Fraud Arrests
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — A banner with an anti-Semitic slur and fliers left on cars in a New Jersey township are related to the arrest of several area Haredi Orthodox couples for welfare fraud.
The incidents occurred over the weekend in Lakewood, N.J., where at least seven Haredi couples in recent days were arrested for underreporting their incomes to receive government benefits, including a rabbi and his wife as well as his brother and his wife.
Brazen anti-Semitic hate on full display as #Holocaust memorial in #Lakewood is defaced pic.twitter.com/7CMCh2ivkl
— ADL New Jersey (@ADL_NJ) July 2, 2017
The banner was hung over a Holocaust memorial at Congregation Sons of Israel in Lakewood.
It reads “(((Heebs))) will not divide us,” using the anti-Semitic echo symbol popularized by the alt-right to highlight Jewish names. Heebs stands for Hebrews and is used as an ethnic slur against Jews. The banner also lists a website for a white supremacist group.
Anti-Semitic fliers referencing the arrests were placed on cars throughout the township as well, the Asbury Park Press reported.
The incidents are being investigated as hate crimes.
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.
— Alyssa Katz, editor-in-chief
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
