After Swastika Found, Westfield Takes Step To Hike Bias Crime Fine To $2K

WESTFIELD, NJ — After a Nazi symbol was found at a Westfield park earlier this month — following several similar incidents at the park and in local schools over the last few years — the Town Council voted last Tuesday to introduce a measure to increase fines for bias crimes from $200 to $2,000.

[Westfield area weather: flood threat Thursday night; read more here.]

"Last week, a swastika about 5'' in diameter was found on the back of a piece of playground equipment in Mindowaskin Park, which was promptly removed by the DPW after the police were notified," said Mayor Shelley Brindle a week ago. "...I cannot state often and unequivocally enough how hate or discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated in our community." READ MORE: Swastika Found At Park

The council will have to hold a hearing and final vote at a future meeting before the measure is adopted.

In conjunction with the introduction of the increase, the council also voted Tuesday to authorize a resolution recognizing, Brindle said, "the growing problem of antisemitism in America and calling for the adoption of educational tools to address it — specifically endorsing and adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitisim in full."

The Working Definition of Antisemitism is: “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

Brindle said Tuesday that a 2020 report found that more than one in three American Jews (37 percent) say they have been victims of antisemitism over the past five years.

"Incidents here in Westfield, including the etching of swastikas on playground equipment and other public property, are wholly unacceptable and must be addressed both through words and actions," she said.

Westfield's Human Relations Advisory Commission has posted a list of anti-Semitic terms.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Metrowest New Jersey found in 2012 that at least a third of its members came from many of the towns in and near Westfield: "The following seven zip code areas contain 34 percent of [our] Jewish households: Livingston, West Orange, Westfield, Short Hills, Morristown, Springfield, and Maplewood."

However, from 2008-2012, Union County lost more than 800 Jewish households, the group found.

A Westfield resident addressed local anti-Semitism in a 2018 column, "The Rise of Anti-Semitism in My Own Backyard."

Recent North Jersey Incidents of Anti-Semitism

Last week, officials at Glen Rock High School said they were concerned about a swastika etched into a desk just before the high holidays, or the most religious Jewish holidays of the year.

And in a more violent incident, in December 2019, two people went to a Kosher supermarket in Jersey City and gunned down a Jewish mother of three, as well as a rabbinical student and a grocery worker. The shooters came from outside the area, and one had posted anti-Jewish comments on the internet, according to reports. The shooters also took down a police officer and father of five.

After the shooting, a Jersey City school board member commented on "brutes" from the local Jewish community who had been aggressive in buying homes in the city's Greenville neighborhood, and referred to the shooters' "message." She also made reference to a Jewish man at the center of an FBI investigation 10 years earlier. The mayor and Gov. Phil Murphy called for her resignation in January 2020, just before the pandemic. Three weeks after the shootings, a vigil took place in Jersey City in support of the board member. She removed the comment but did not ultimately step down.

• READ MORE: Westfield Police Investigating Swastika At High School (March 2021)
• READ MORE: Westfield Police Investigate Swastika At Park (November 2020)

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