New York Mayor Bill de Blasio Slams BDS in Speech at Long Island Synagogue
Image by Getty
By Ari Feldman August 23, 2016
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio reportedly decried the BDS movement as not “consistent with progressive values in a speech at a prominent Long Island synagogue.
“There are plenty of people who support BDS who have advanced degrees and who call themselves progressives,” de Blasio said to the congregants of Hampton Synagogue in Westhampton Beach, reported Jewish Insider.. “I look forward to challenging them, because it’s ahistorical.”
De Blasio has repeatedly rallied against the BDS movement, saying at the Celebrate Israel Parade, “As long as I am mayor, we will always stand by Israel.”
De Blasio went on to say that the city was focusing attention on protection for Jewish community centers as well as for Muslim centers.
“The NYPD will be seen in the front of Jewish community centers, in front of schools,” de Blasio said. “In the wake of an attack – whether it occurs in Jerusalem, or Tel Aviv, or Buenos Aires, or Brussels – we have one mission – to send a message – to anyone who will do ill to the community that we put up a wall of protection.”
The Hampton Synagogue is a popular synagogue for many of New York’s wealthiest Jews. Synagogue-hosted fundraisers have raised millions of dollars for Israel over the years.
Contact Ari Feldman at feldman@forward.com or on Twitter @aefeldman.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
