In New York, anti-Semitism has become more frequent due to the outbreak of measles in the Jewish district

In New York, a bus driver refused to stop after seeing an Orthodox Jew at the bus stop. The man caught up with the bus a few minutes later when the vehicle got stuck in a traffic jam. The driver let him onto the bus, but refused to take his ticket, covered his face with a sweater and shouted: “Measles, come on in!” Unfortunately, this is not the only case of discrimination against Jews due to the recent measles outbreak.

Фото: Depositphotos

Everything happened in the Williamsburg area, inhabited mainly by Orthodox Jews, writes The Jerusalem Post. The New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority is investigating a Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) complaint that claims that the bus driver refused to stop after seeing him at a bus stop in Brooklyn due to a measles outbreak in the city and in the Orthodox area in particular.

The incident was reported by the Williamsburg United Jewish Organization, which works closely with the city authorities to take control of the measles outbreak. The group educates the community and encourages vaccination.

“The measles outbreak should not be an excuse for anti-Semitism,” the group said in a Twitter post.

“In fact, about 95% of Orthodox residents are getting vaccinated. We, rabbis and community leaders, are working hard to increase this percentage. You can’t attack an entire community because of a few problem residents,” the group’s second tweet noted.

The incident occurred days before New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a public health emergency due to a measles outbreak in the Haredi Orthodox community in Brooklyn. Since October, 285 cases of the disease have been reported here, 246 of them in children.

The outbreak was associated with an unvaccinated child who contracted measles during a trip to Israel.

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Rabbi David Niederman, President of the United Jewish Organization, told the Brooklyn newspaper that the Jews in the Haredim in Williamsberg were harassed in the streets by people shouting at them: “Jews! Measles!".

“The MTA has absolutely zero tolerance for discrimination—we take this matter very seriously and are investigating,” Max Young, the MTA's chief external affairs officer, told the newspaper.

Mayor De Blasio also said that his office contacted the MTA about the incident.

“Anti-Semitic discrimination has no place in our city,” he said.

In Williamsburg, a kindergarten was closed, located in the measles outbreak zone, writes AMNY. The reason for the closure was the fact that the institution did not transfer medical records and attendance data to the city authorities. According to the city health department, the United Talmudic Academy on Ross Street refused to disclose the contents of the records, which would help eliminate possible morbidity in the institution.

Mayor Bill de Blasio went to Williamsburg to declare an emergency, and said that any school or kindergarten where visiting unvaccinated students and staff are allowed can be fined and closed.

Фото: Depositphotos

“The outbreak will worsen and the number of cases will increase if schools and kindergartens do not follow our requirements,” said Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot. “In this outbreak, it is critical that facilities continually update and maintain accurate vaccination and attendance records.”

According to officials, the majority of cases are among members of the Orthodox Jewish community, who live in Williamsberg and Borough Park. All residents over the age of six months the city is obliged to be vaccinated. However, a group of parents is struggling with this requirement through the courts.

Parents, who in the lawsuit are called only initials, sued the city, claiming that there is not enough evidence that the current outbreak requires an emergency and mandatory vaccination.

On the subject: In New York, parents have 'measles parties' to deliberately infect children.

The lawsuit alleges that "vaccine efficacy and the risk of harming vaccinated people are exaggerated, inaccurate and misleading," and it is noted that it puts vaccinated people at risk for side effects such as convulsions and brain injury.

The two studies cited by the US Centers for Disease Control state that out of every 10 000 children aged 12 to 23 months who received the vaccine, only four had seizures between 7 and 10 days after vaccination.

A spokesman for the city’s legal department said the Supreme Court upheld the right of local governments to schedule vaccinations for citizens to stop the outbreak, and noted that the epidemic could be prevented.

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• The authorities of New York announced health emergency regime because of the outbreak of measles among the Orthodox Jews of Brooklyn.
• 18 March Court in New York refused to allow unvaccinated children to school.
• 27 March New York introduced a state of emergency due to a measles outbreak. Residents are offered free vaccinations.

Read also on ForumDaily:

US House of Representatives adopts resolution condemning anti-Semitism

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