NYC Mayor Adams signs executive order, proposes legislation to define antisemitism
Sunday marked one week since a firebomb attack in Boulder, Colorado targeted people at a rally who were calling for the hostages in Gaza to come home.
Thousands showed up in solidarity not only in Boulder but also in New York City, where Mayor Eric Adams took action to protect Jewish New Yorkers.
Codifying the IHRA definition of antisemitism in NYC
At a synagogue in Tribeca, the mayor signed an executive order to combat antisemitism.
"I am signing an executive order to implement the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition," Adams said.
The definition would include accusing Jews of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust, and blaming Jews for Israel's actions.
"If a city-funded organization denies the right of the Jewish people, the right to self determination, this definition gives us tools to crack down," Adams said.
Given the fact that the Jewish community makes up 10% of the city's population, yet half the hate crimes are antisemitic, the mayor also called on the City Council to immediately codify the definition into law.
The New York Civil Liberties Union released a statement in response Monday, reading in part, "Mayor Adams is weaponizing the critical fight against antisemitism to suppress protected political speech he doesn't like. Advocates have warned for years that the IHRA definition of antisemitism recklessly conflates criticism of Israel with hate and violates the Constitution's free speech protections. It's yet another example of the Mayor twisting to do Trump's bidding."
Rally held in Boulder, Colorado
Shofars were blown in Boulder, Colorado, marking the start of a new kind of strength bringing thousands together for Sunday's Run for Their Lives. A heavy police presence, including snipers on rooftops, watched over the crowd one week after an attack injured 15 people, including a Holocaust survivor.
They gathered peacefully to call for the release of the hostages taken from Israel into Gaza. Manhattan resident Moshe Lavi, whose brother-in-law, Omri Miran, is one of the people being held in captivity, flew to the rally on behalf of all hostage families. He told the crowd, "We will demand Hamas to let our people go."
"It's a laid-back community. It was shocking," Denver resident Idi Jackson said. "I just felt that I wanted to be part of the community."
"I got teary eyed. I got choked up. It's just an amazing outpouring of both community support and law enforcement," another person said.
New Yorkers cannot be silent, UJA Federation CEO says
There was a similar rally held in Central Park, with attendance three times the size of its usual number, according to organizers.
"The fact that that could happen in this country makes it all the more important for us in New York, the largest Jewish community in world outside of Israel, to not be silent," said Eric Goldstein, CEO of the United Jewish Appeal Federation of New York.
To mark 611 days in captivity, attendees held up the number 55, representing the remaining hostages. Around 20 are believed to be alive.
Released hostage Raz Ben Ami told the crowd her husband, who was freed by Hamas a few months ago, lost nearly half is body weight from starvation.
"Once in three weeks they let him see TV and they saw the rallies and that's what kept them strong," Ben Ami said.
