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Crown Heights Jews and Blacks Talk, Urging Calm After Attack

NY Daily News

CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn — More than two dozen Black and Jewish community leaders gathered in Crown Heights on Thursday to urge calm following the alleged beating of a black college student by two Jews.

“We use this ugly incident … just to bring us together even more,” said Tzvi Lang, chairman of the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council, after the two-hour sitdown at the local community mediation center.

More in the Extended Article.

The center was set up in the aftermath of the 1991 Crown Heights riots that exploded after a young black boy was run down by a rabbi’s motorcade and a group of blacks set upon and killed a rabbinical student.

“We have been dormant because we have taken for granted the peace in Crown Heights,” said City Councilwoman Letitia James (D-Crown Heights).

The new tension arises from an attack on Andrew Charles, a black 20-year-old college student, who was tear-gassed and beaten with a nightstick on April 14 while walking on Albany Ave.

His assailants were wearing yarmulkes, Charles said, and are believed to be young Jews. Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes has empaneled a grand jury to probe the attack, drawing praise from Charles’ family.

But at least one official criticized the Hynes probe as special treatment. “There’s got to be one standard for everybody. What makes this case different from all the others?” asked Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Borough Park).

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19 Comments

  • are they actually doing something?

    are they gonna tell us what they spoke about?
    are there any results from this?
    or is this another show?

  • wtvr

    tear gas and nightstick? wow, shmira is a lot more sophisticated than i thought. lol.

  • RACE card

    There is something wrong with the way this unfortunate bias violence is being labelled. When non-Jews attack Jews in Crown Heights, is it Black against White or ANTI-SEMITE against JEW?!!!
    I think the latter.

    So please make this distinction, and correct the way this is discussed and reported. I would like to think that most Blacks are appalled by ANTI-SEMITIC violence done by their people.

  • David

    What rep. James says, is downright offensive. After all the attacks on Jews in the past 2 years, including the Klein Murder, now that a black was ALLEGEDLY attacked by a Jewish guy, she says “we have taken for granted the peace in Crown Heights”. Does that mean that when all the attacks against Jews were going on, Crown Heights is still peaceful, and now that there is one alleged incident in the opposite direction, the peace has now evaporated?

  • Good question

    The 5th question:

    “What makes this case different from all the others?”

    Avodim hoyisem B’eretz America, Vayishma Abraham Lincoln es Za’akosom Vchulu… U’leficoch yesh lohem “Rights” yoser me’anachnu.

  • Rabbi Abe

    What a biased article.
    “The center was set up in the aftermath of the 1991 Crown Heights riots that exploded after a young black boy was run down by a rabbi’s motorcade”. RUN DOWN???????

    “The new tension arises from an attack on Andrew Charles, a black 20-year-old college student, who was tear-gassed and beaten with a nightstick”.
    Where are the words ALLEGEDLY????

  • Heat Zich

    Thank G-d for Dov Hikind. Thess 20 year old colledge students were throwing rocks first. One of them is a police offiser’s son. Thats why.

    THE Main Story:

    4 police then unlawfuly broke down a yidisher door without a warent where they terrorized a whole family with guns at 3:00 am and held a teenage kid for 5 houres with abusive language and not allowing him to go to the bathroom. Then said oops.

    We may have to go on the offense by filling federal Civil Rights charges.

    WE have to have more achdus and stop moisering on each other. In light of the cops aquital Jews are once again the scapcoat. Be careful out their.

  • Ossie

    Leticia James was saying that Project Care has been dormant, not that there has been nothing going on.
    She often waffles and listens to Sperlin and says whatever comes to her mind, but I give her the benefit here.

  • A CALL TO ACTION !!!

    Look at this BS! our community is being stepped on and we are letting it happen. Our “vaad hakol” are a bunch of spineless morons who are to concerned about getting their picture in the news and don’t give a damn about whats right! stand up for our community ! 4 arrests were made withing a day of the attack! but when a jew gets beaten up??? NOTHING !!! where is our justice? That racist sharpton sends his goons into our neighborhood to incite riots while he gets his face on the news fighting something else. where was he when our people were being attacked? barry sugar did some good, but were is he now? NYPD is meeting with him and now he kisses their butt !!! WE MUST TAKE A STAND TOGETHER A FIGHT FOR WHAT IS RIGHT !!! LET OUR VOICES BE HEARD!!! LET OUR SO CALLED COMMUNITY LEADERS DO SOMETHING !!!!

  • sheesh

    to “A call to action”:
    woooah!
    we get ur point, but coool it a little bit! dont get all worked up…take ten deep breaths and then go rant to the wall, not to us.

  • Charm

    Until we start feeling a sense of community, we will all fail our children terribly. Enough.really…enough. Collectively…we must do better.

  • Deborah

    Things like these do not happen in Williamsburg or Boro Park.They have weapons and goim aware, so they stay away.Pogrom in 1991 should have tought us all a huge lesson: we must learn to protect and defend ourselves. And be smart about it-so no childish beatings of AA kids and things like that-these tactics make us look just as bad as the goim.I am not saying that everone should get a gun, but we need an organized system (Shomrim plus…)that is very strong, powerful, armed if needed (lawfully)so everone is aware and attacks WILL stop.