OPINION: Brooklyn rises to condemn hate groups’ activity
The widespread condemnation by most local officials of several anti-Muslim hate incidents in southern Brooklyn shows how Brooklyn’s tradition of tolerance rises to the fore whenever such isolated incidents take place.
As Brooklyn Daily Eagle staffer Paula Katinas mentioned, some unknown persons left anti-Islamic flyers in Shore Haven, a Bensonhurst apartment complex, on July 26. The flyers read, in all capital letters: “Islamists go to your country. USA hates you. You are terrorists and bastards.”
Earlier this month, Katinas reported, a group of people threw eggs at worshippers at the Bayba Islamic Center at 2165 Coney Island Ave. for Ramadan services. And in front of the Islamic Society of Bay Ridge, a car pulled up with flashing lights and loud sirens and sat outside for several hours, intimidating congregants.
While these incidents are definitely cause for concern, far more typical of Brooklynites is the response from local officials and community leaders of all ethnic backgrounds, as well as clergy of all faiths. The attacks were condemned by Douglas Jablon, vice president of Maimonides Medical Center; Councilman Vincent Gentile (D-Bay Ridge-Dyker Heights), Assemblyman Nicole Malliotakis (R-Bay Ridge-Staten Island), Mayor Bill de Blasio, Linda Sarsour of the Brooklyn-based Arab-American Association of New York, and others.