Subscribe to Print Edition | Tue., June 10, 2008 Sivan 7, 5768 | | Israel Time: 05:09 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Advertising Books Peres Conference Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Last update - 22:28 01/06/2008 Crown Heights locals fear race riots By Shlomo Shamir Tags: Israel, Brooklyn, Lubavitch  NEW YORK - A group of excited tourists pose for a picture outside the Chabad-Lubavitch study center in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. For decades the Lubavitcher Rebbe led the Chabad movement from a room in this house, building its reputation as the global center for Hasidism. A group of African-American children emerge from the "children's museum" around the corner, a modern building hosting an exhibition about Jewish customs. The teacher, who is also black, counts the pupils as they board their school bus. "This is a class from a school in Canarsie," another Brooklyn neighborhood, the teacher says. "We just had a fascinating visit that taught us about Judaism." Crown Heights is home to some 150,000 blacks and 15,000 Jews, the vast majority of whom are Orthodox Hasidim. There are no outward signs of tension between these communities, aside from two police squad cars and an ambulance parked on a street corner. But conversations with locals suggest this is the quiet in the eye of the storm. Advertisement Neighborhood activists agree that only a return to preventive police activity will stop the tension in Crown Heights from escalating into riots. "Two weeks ago the neighborhood looked like it was under military siege," says Dov Hikind, a New York State assemblyman active in Brooklyn's Orthodox community. "The police reduced their presence in the past few days, but racially motivated violence in Crown Heights beat the summer this year." Like a bubbling volcano that erupts periodically, a spate of violence puts Crown Heights in the news every few years. Politicians and the press decry incidents as "racially motivated hate crimes"; local reporters explain the violent outbursts stem from friction between blacks and Jews. The incident that sparked the current round of tension occured a month ago, when two Lubavitch teens beat up a 20-year-old black man, Andrew Charles, after an argument. A few days later, two black teens assaulted a Jewish teen, Alon Sherman, as he was riding his bicycle. "Attacks on Jews in the neighborhood have been a near-daily occurence for more than 18 months," a Jewish activist named Barry Sugar says. Sugar has composed a detailed list of more than a dozen incidents against neighborhood Jews in the past year. "Those attacked were targeted not because they are white, but because they are Orthodox Jews," he says. Hanina Sperlin, a veteran Jewish functionary in Crown Heights, believes that outside agitators are behind the attacks. "We get along fine with the local blacks. The ones causing trouble are hotheads who come from other neighborhoods," Sperlin says. Another version prevalent among locals says the Jewish neighborhood watch group, known as Shmira, also had a hand in creating the latest tension. Some Jewish community leaders admitted to feeling uncomfortable with Shmira's aggressive conduct. "The problem in Crown Heights today is not tension between the two communities," Karim Camara, a black activist who represents Crown Heights in the state assembly, said yesterday, "but rather the rising crime in the area and the police negligence in handling local crime." More Jewish World news and features Bookmark to del.icio.us   Sign of life Family of abducted IDF solider Gilad Shalit receives new sign of life. Happy Jews San Francisco museum details positive impact of Jews on city.   1.   Time to Relocate 04:21  |  Johnny Weintraub 01/06/08   2.   Wars happen when people put them selves in a group 04:35  |  Wendy 01/06/08   3.   Hikind is a crypro- Kachist 05:11  |  Rowan 01/06/08   4.   CROWN HGTS IS SAFEST NEIGHBORHOOD! CORRUPT RUBASHKIN MUST RESIGN! 05:29  |  VOX of Crown Heights 01/06/08   5.   Totally Overblown 06:38  |  chaim 01/06/08   6.   typical behavior 06:51  |  Just Facts 01/06/08   7.   Haaretz headline & story ridiculously inaccurate 07:05  |  Marcus 01/06/08   8.   Safety of Crown Heights 07:06  |  Lenni Lenape 01/06/08   9.   Funny, that... 07:10  |  Colin Wright 01/06/08   10.   game 07:23  |  tom 01/06/08   11.   Rabbi Kahane 07:26  |  Connie 01/06/08   12.   My money is on the blacks. 07:27  |  Colorado Blew 01/06/08   13.   to # 4. 08:55  |  peretz 01/06/08   14.   Super - religious Jews? Why aren`t they in Israel? 09:21  |  Palestinian Brit 01/06/08   15.   crown heights rocks 09:22  |  joe 01/06/08   16.   crown heights 09:53  |  crown heights 01/06/08   17.   PIECE OF CAKE FOR 10:10  |  Robert 01/06/08   18.   Crown Heights 10:17  |  wibism 01/06/08   19.   To #14 14:45  |  Daniel 01/06/08   20.   our right 23:41  |  avi 01/06/08   21.   The Hareidim choose to live in the diaspora 01:11  |  Israel 02/06/08   22.   marcus 7 01:55  |  potobac 02/06/08   23.   colorado blue 05:19  |  Connie 02/06/08

Read & React Shmuel Rosner: Obama and Jerusalem - did you really believe him? Responses: 258 U.S. proposes trilateral talks with Israel and PA Responses: 99 Defense sources:Talk of major IDF operation in Gaza is premature Responses: 83 Palestinian shepherds: Masked settlers beat us with clubs Responses: 154 More Headlines 02:13 Shalit's father: Gilad begs for his life in new letter 04:21 Israeli sources: Shalit letter is Hamas 'goodwill' gesture 02:12 Turkish, Israeli sources: Israel-Syria talks set to resume this week 03:37 Congress gets behind Israel's aid request 02:53 Israeli envoy to London: U.K. has become hotbed of radical anti-Israeli views 15:50 German football fans detained in Austria for Nazi-like chants 22:16 Iran blasts Mofaz remark, warns of 'painful' response if Israel attacks 03:56 Interior Min. sets up unit to grant refugee status 04:34 Israel to transfer PA tax funds held because of spat with PM Fayyad 00:24 Jewish pilot tapped for U.S. Air Force chief position 04:57 Arab towns to distribute 'Nakba' booklet outside schools Previous Editions Select Day 09 jun 08 jun 06 jun 05 jun 04 jun 03 jun 02 jun 01 jun 30 may 29 may 28 may 27 may

Special Offers Advertisement Jerusalem of Gold Luxury apartments in Jerusalem's finest location Your vacation starts here Israel Travel Center Guaranteed Lowest Rates Istudy Learn Hebrew in 3 months The Terraces Your Ultimate Coastal Address On Nitza Boulevard, North Netanya Pardes Institute Summer Sessions http://www.pardes.org.il/ Free the Palestinians from: Corrupt Kleptocracy, Tyrannical Theocracy, Abysmal Anarchy Fattal Hotel Chain Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel. ISRAEL BONDS Build Israel Israel bonds - a multi-purpose way to celebrate Israel's 60th Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |

Real Estate in Israel | Travel to Israel with Haaretz | Hotels Israel | Restaurants Israel | Tourist attractions Israel | Shops Israel

birthright Israel

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved