Several wounded in stabbing attack at Hanukkah celebration in New York state

Issued on: 29/12/2019 - 07:19Modified: 29/12/2019 - 07:33

The knife attack in Monsey, New York state, comes after days of increased tensions over anti-Semitic assaults. Eduardo Munoz, REUTERS

Text by: FRANCE 24 Follow

Video by: Shirli SITBON

An attacker stabbed five people late on Saturday at a Hasidic rabbi's home in New York state before fleeing, a Jewish organization said, a rampage that came after days of increased tensions over anti-Semitic assaults. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo qualified the attack as "an act of terrorism."

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The Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council (OJPAC) said on Twitter an attacker wearing a scarf stabbed the victims at a house in Monsey, Rockland County, about 30 miles north of New York City.

All five victims were taken to hospitals, the council said, adding that two of the victims were critical, with one of them stabbed at least six times.

"This is an act of terrorism. I think these are domestic terrorists. They are trying to inflict fear," Cuomo told reporters.

"They're motivated by hate. They are doing mass attacks. These are terrorists in our country perpetrating terrorism on other Americans, and that's how we should treat it."

The Ramapo Police Department confirmed that five people were stabbed and said that the investigation was going on.

"The suspect fled the scene, but he is in custody at this time," the police department said in a Facebook post.

An OJPAC official, Yossi Gestetner, told the New York Times the attack happened at around 10 pm (0300 GMT) during a Hanukkah celebration that was being attended by many dozens of people at the rabbi's home.

About a third of the population of Rockland County is Jewish, including a large enclave of Orthodox Jews who live in secluded communities.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said she was "deeply disturbed" by the events in Monsey.

"There is zero tolerance for acts of hate of any kind and we will continue to monitor this horrific situation," she said in a Twitter post.

I am deeply disturbed by the situation unfolding in Monsey, New York tonight.

There is zero tolerance for acts of hate of any kind and we will continue to monitor this horrific situation.

I stand with the Jewish community tonight and every night.
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) December 29, 2019

New York City's police department said on Friday its officers were stepping up patrols in heavily Jewish neighborhoods following a spate of anti-Semitic attacks.

"Hate doesn't have a home in our city," Mayor Bill de Blasio wrote on Twitter on Friday, calling the assaults attacks on all New Yorkers.

Hate doesn’t have a home in our city.

In light of recent anti-Semitic attacks, the NYPD will increase their presence in Boro Park, Crown Heights and Williamsburg.

Anyone who terrorizes our Jewish community WILL face justice.
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) December 27, 2019

In more deadly recent attacks, a gunman killed a female rabbi and wounded three other people during Sabbath services at Congregation Chabad in Poway, near San Diego, on the last day of Passover in April 2019.

Six months before that, a gunman killed 11 worshipers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history.

The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah commemorates the 2nd century B.C. victory of Judah Maccabee and his followers in a revolt against armies of the Seleucid Empire.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS and AFP)