Jewish Ledger
NY lawmaker draws fire over tweet erasing Israel off map
(JNS) Claiming that she was misunderstood, a New York state assemblywoman deleted a controversial tweet that replaced a map of Israel with Palestine and adorned with flowers. “I deleted a previous tweet that led to misunderstandings about my position,” said Phara Souffrant Forrest, 32, who’s also a nurse. “I stand against apartheid because I believe that all people deserve to live under equal rights, regardless of ethnicity or religion.” The map, however, was just one of several anti-Israel tweets by Souffrant Forrest, who touts support from Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on her website. Serving her first term in office, Souffrant Forrest also posted: “It is a moral stain on our country and all who live here to have our government and elected officials continue to prop up an Israeli state dedicated to apartheid. We must change that. #BDS #FreePalestine.”
Regional
By Reuvain Borchardt
NEW YORK -
Wednesday, May 12, 2021 at 6:02 pm | א סיון תשפ א
Andrew Yang (R) receiving the endorsement of Satet Sen. Jeremy Cooney of Upstate New York, at an event in Astoria on Tuesday. (Yang campaign)
Six thousand miles from the rockets and the riots, the violence flaring in Israel and Gaza is roiling the New York City mayoral race.
Candidates for Hizzoner of The Big Apple tweeted solidarity with Israel this week, drawing praise from Israel supporters and condemnation from Israel opponents.
At 6:11 p.m. Monday night, as Israelis cowered under a Hamas rocket barrage, Ray McGuire, a longshot Democratic candidate for New York City mayor, tweeted, “In the last 24 hrs, over 100 rockets were fired at Israel by terrorists in Gaza. Millions of Israelis are currently under threat. The United States & the entire international community must stand unequivocally with Israel. On this Yom Yerushalayim, I stand proudly with Israel,” and
Community
By Reuvain Borchardt
NEW YORK -
A poster from Klal Vote urging voter turnout in Tuesday’s election.
A City Council special election is being held Tuesday in Far Rockaway, and Jewish community leaders are working on an intense get-out-the-vote effort, following a similarly successful push in another Queens special election earlier this month.
Former Councilman Donovan Richards’ election last November as Queens Borough President left an open seat in the 31st City Council District in Southeast Queens, which includes Far Rockway, Arverne, Brookville, Edgemere, Laurelton, Rosedale and Springfield Gardens. The special election features nine candidates, one of whom, Pesach Osina, is an Orthodox Jew. The other eight candidates, all black or Latino, are Latanya Collins, Nicole Lee, Manny Silva, Selvena Brooks-Powers, Nancy Martinez, Shawn Rux, LaToya Benjamin and Sherwyn James.
Community
By Reuvain Borchardt
Updated Tuesday, February 23, 2021 at 12:19 pm
NEW YORK -
Updated Tuesday, February 23, 2021 at 12:19 pm
Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein
An executive at a voter- and government-reform organization is coming under criticism for referring to the Orthodox Jewish community in New York City as “an extremist bloc.”
Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, made the comments to Gothamist for an article posted Friday about mayoral candidate Andrew Yang’s surge in support among the Orthodox Jewish community for his opposition to government interference in yeshiva education.
The Gothamist article noted that “the introduction of ranked-choice voting this year may play a complicating factor in the mechanics of the ultra-Orthodox bloc vote,” and paraphrased Lerner that ranked-choice voting “is likely to reward candidates who can build strong coalitions and may ultimately reduce the influence of the Orthodox voting bloc.”