“I vote yes because we must move on,” declared Councilwoman Elsie Foster-Dublin before joining five other members of the Highland Park Borough Council in voting unanimously to pass a hotly debated resolution condemning anti-Semitism.
The March 3 vote brought to an end a long-running effort, spurred by a series of racially motivated incidents—particularly a Jewish man who was taunted with anti-Semitic slurs while walking to synagogue last Passover—and the controversial reading of a children’s book at the Highland Park Library by a supporter of the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.
The raucous meeting drew about 150 supporters and opponents who filled the council chambers and spilled out into the hallway. The approved resolution, which over 11 months had gone through 10 revisions, ultimately included what had been a sticking point throughout the process: anti-Zionism as a form of anti-Semitism.
Although the BDS movement was not mentioned by name, it stated, “In contrast to legitimate protest movements that have sought racial justice and social change and promoted coexistence, civil rights and political reconciliation, movements that coopt legitimate means of social action to unfairly promote economic warfare against the State of Israel in an attempt to deny its legitimacy are another form of anti-Semitism and contrary to the essential values of government under which this council performs its obligations to the public.”
Foster-Dublin, an African-American immigrant from Jamaica, said that throughout the divisive ordeal she had received “racially laced emails, some of them from some of you sitting right here in this room.”
Yet, she said she hoped for a better day “where we can all be inclusive and civil to each other and live in peace.”
Stating that she “would stand on my head” to vote for a measure condemning anti-Semitism, Foster-Dublin cast an affirmative vote to loud applause.
In explaining the council’s decision to include anti-Zionism in the resolution despite a concerted effort by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and its supporters, Mayor Gayle Brill Mittler, a former president of the Highland Park Conservative Temple-Congregation Anshe Emeth (HPCT-CAE), said there was a need “to make our neighbors feel safer.” She noted the passage of the resolution was in keeping with previous council actions supporting immigrants and refugees. Such resolutions transmit the message, said Brill Mittler, to others in the community that “you have their backs.”
The meeting itself was marked by applause from those on both sides of the issue. JVP, a grassroots organization, according to its website is dedicated to the “security and self-determination for Israelis and Palestinians” but is considered by many to be anti-Israel. Many of its members are not Jewish and the Anti-Defamation League classifies it as an anti-Semitic organization.
Its supporters cited Israel’s alleged mistreatment of Palestinians in arguing against inclusion of anti-Zionism.
However, many stood to denounce the BDS movement as an attempt “to demonize and delegitimize” Israel by criticizing its supposed human rights abuses while ignoring Palestinian terrorism.
HPCT-CAE Rabbi Eliot Malomet told the council, “Just as anti-Semitism is a conspiratorial ideology pinning society’s ills on the Jew, anti-Zionism pins the world’s geopolitical problems on the world’s Jew, the State of Israel.”
He stressed that criticism of such things as the security wall with Gaza, which was cited by some opponents as a means to oppress Palestinians, were designed to bash Israel and disguise their true motivation, “not to change Israel’s policies but to dismantle the State of Israel completely.”
John Kovac held up photos he said were posted on Facebook by JVP depicting Jews as apes and pigs.
“We have heard plenty of free speech from those who claim their free speech is being suppressed…None of these people will be less vocal if the resolution is passed,” he said. “In fact, they are threatening aggressive future action. Let us not be deluded or intimidated; a BDS group targeted the Highland Park Library because of the large Orthodox Jewish community here similar to those recently targeted with assault, terrorism and murder.”
Sixteen-year-old Rafi Kornfeld said he had been “appalled” by what he had witnessed over the last several months and cited his grandfather’s military service in the Israel Defense Force during the 1956 Sinai War as well as cataclysmic events in Jewish history such as the Holocaust and Spanish Inquisition in urging the council to pass the resolution.
However, even if it didn’t, he assured the gathering, “God will protect” the Jewish people.
The resolution last came up for a vote on Oct. 29, at a more-than-four-hour meeting during which both sides squared off during the public session. Ultimately, the three non-Jewish council members acknowledged they felt too confused about BDS to vote in favor of including it in the resolution. With one voting against it and two to table—which legally counted as no votes—and the three Jewish members voting in favor, Brill Mittler, who only gets a vote in the case of a tie, was thrust into the position of voting no “for the good and safety of the community.”
Council President Philip George, who cast the lone council vote against the resolution, said he believed the governing body had reached a compromise knowing “it would not make everyone happy.”
However, he explained members felt a “problem that affects one part of the community affects all parts of the community.”
“If part of the community is unsafe we all share in that fear,” said George, adding it was time to respectfully come together and “not call each other names.”
As part of the resolution, in cooperation with the Human Relations Commission, a series of educational forums will be held addressing the recent rise in anti-Semitic acts. Additionally, the borough will embark on a communications campaign featuring different groups in Highland Park to demonstrate “how bias against any marginalized group” affects all minority groups.
However, some in the Jewish community told The Jewish Link they believed JVP would use those educational forums to continue to push its anti-Israel agenda.
Michael Gordon, an organizer of the Central Jersey Jewish Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel advocacy organization, produced social media posts demonstrating Highland Park had been deliberately targeted because of the anticipated reaction from its vocal Jewish community.
“This is not over,” he warned.
By Debra Rubin
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