Muslim Public Affairs Council: Cuomo’s COVID-19 ‘red zones’ are ‘scapegoating’ Jews
People walk past closed stores in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn, on October 9, 2020, the day state restrictions on “red zones” went into effect. Image by Getty
By David Ian Klein October 28, 2020
The Muslim Public Affairs Council filed an amicus brief Tuesday morning in support of Agudath Israel of America’s lawsuit challenging policies of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo which have imposed harsh restrictions on several predominantly Orthodox neighborhoods in response to spiking coronavirus cases.
On Friday, Agudath Israel of America, brought a case to the U.S. Court of Appeals after an unsuccessful attempt in lower courts to have Cuomo’s executive order overturned on the grounds that it is unconstitutional and discriminatory.
MPAC is a national non-profit group representing American Muslims; Agudath Israel is an umbrella group which represents the Haredi, also known as ultra-Orthodox, community.
“Since ancient times, peoples around the world have symbolically vested the perceived wrongdoings of their community onto ‘scapegoats,’ who are sacrificed in the hope that those wrongdoings will be expiated, and the hard times will pass,” reads the MPAC brief in support of Agudath Israel’s case.
The Governor’s orders impose restrictions on predominantly Jewish communities that are harsher than those on neighborhoods with similar COVID-19 rates, the brief says.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews have reacted strongly to the governor’s policies, believing that they unfairly target the Jewish community. Earlier this month mass demonstrations against the rules in Brooklyn even turned violent.
“IRF believes that the Islamic faith teaches Muslims to want for others what they want for themselves, and that supporting the Jewish community in this case is in the interest of the common good,” the group said in the brief.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
