Following a month of increasingly violent antisemitic attacks on Jews in the New York area, police are looking for a man who attempted to enter Siach Yitzchok yeshiva in late December.
The attacker was unable to enter the building on Central Avenue in Far Rockaway and then approached a nearby car, used antisemitic language, and spat at the female driver.
The Rockaway Nassau Safety Patrol has beefed up patrols in and around the community. If anyone sees or hears anything suspicious, RNSP urges them to call its 24-hour hotline at (516) 858-7300.
Ayyash Saleh, who owns a shop across the street, told CBS, “Who would do that? Some things don’t make sense. Who would do that?”
“Hope the police catch them. I don’t know, things like that, no one wants to hear it,” he added.
Another resident, Maria Ascensio, expressed fear of an atmosphere of racial hatred and violence, saying, “I feel like it’s not only the Jewish community. It’s the world that we live in. It’s in every community, black, Spanish, so people are being out of control.”
“I feel like we all should help each other, respect each other in a way that, today I help you but tomorrow, I don’t know if you will need my help so I’m going to be there,” she added.
The past month has seen a series of antisemitic attacks culminating in a bloody shooting at a kosher deli in Jersey City and a brutal machete attack on a group of Orthodox Jews in Monsey, New York.