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Lack of Political Involvement and Its Repercussions
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How involved are you in local politics?
Very involved  
 7%  [ 8 ]
I only know what the advertisements tell me  
 9%  [ 10 ]
Not involved, but I stay updated on issues  
 44%  [ 47 ]
Local Politics? What's that?  
 38%  [ 40 ]
Total Votes : 105



amother
Babypink


 

Post Wed, Jun 29 2016, 9:33 am
I'm wondering if anyone else heard about the meeting in Pomona earlier this week, where state level officials sat quietly while one speaker after another bashed the Jewish community? I was deeply disappointed to hear about this. The CUPON Rockland group arranged this meeting, and every single speaker had something to say about the Jewish community and its alleged crooked practices: that we list our children as '[crazy]' to get more programs; that we don't work in order to make more money off the government; that our population's growth has negative outcomes; that we 'bus' people back and forth for election gains; and on and on and on. The lawmakers present remained silent. They did not protest. They did not stand up for their Jewish constituents. They did not call out the bigotry, hatred, and anti-Semitic slurs. They did not lift a finger, raise their voice, or bat an eyelash as two hundred people sat around and roasted hundreds of their own constituents.

How can they get away with this?

Because it seems like we don't care. In my opinion, we are way to uninvolved as a community in our political issues. Even if we are slightly involved, we often shy away from raising our voice to the people that need to hear it. We'd rather listen to the story and move on that 'make waves' by calling in and telling our elected candidates that we are disappointed by their actions. Now, I'm sure there are people who do act when the need for it arises, but I think that that number is not large enough. Therefore, when something like this happens and there is no outcry from the community, these lawmakers and groups get the message loud and clear - this population does not care enough about each other to call us out on our behavior... I urge you all to try to make a change in that. When something like this happens, it is our responsibility to respectfully call out the people who are not doing their job to protect every member of their constituency.

I have attached the phone numbers of the three lawmakers who were involved in this specific incident. Please call out to them and respectfully let them know that what happened at that meeting is not acceptable on any level.

David Carlluci - 845-623-3627
Assembly Member Ken Zebrowski - 845-634-9791
Assembly Member Ellen Jaffee - 845-624-4601

Stay involved....
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DrMom




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 29 2016, 11:01 am
Well, I don't live anywhere Pomona, so it would be odd of me to call any of these people.

I understand there are some very contentious politics surrounding the Rockland County School Board...

I am wondering if you feel there are any kernels of truth to the allegations you mentioned (again, I don't live here, although I have read articles about the situation).
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cnc




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 29 2016, 11:07 am
I don't live there but is it possible that some of the claims are accurate?
I have no clue whether or not they are, but some of these practices are common in heimish communities.
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wifenmother




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 29 2016, 11:14 am
cnc wrote:
I don't live there but is it possible that some of the claims are accurate?
I have no clue whether or not they are, but some of these practices are common in heimish communities.


Really now??? Which one of the practices listed in the OP is 'common'?

OP, given their recent record I'm not surprised that these politicians were involved.
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cnc




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 29 2016, 11:32 am
wifenmother wrote:
Really now??? Which one of the practices listed in the OP is 'common'?

OP, given their recent record I'm not surprised that these politicians were involved.


Sorry- perhaps common is the wrong word. I should have written not unheard of.
I personally have heard about the first and the fourth problem that the OP listed. (Nor necessarily in reference to this community- but in general.)
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notshanarishona




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 29 2016, 11:43 am
Off topic- But when you are writing something specific to NY please write it in the title.

I have a lot to say about local politics, but it's not relevant to your thread, lol.
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DrMom




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 29 2016, 11:45 am
amother wrote:
...Because it seems like we don't care. In my opinion, we are way to uninvolved as a community in our political issues. Even if we are slightly involved, we often shy away from raising our voice to the people that need to hear it. We'd rather listen to the story and move on that 'make waves' by calling in and telling our elected candidates that we are disappointed by their actions. Now, I'm sure there are people who do act when the need for it arises, but I think that that number is not large enough. Therefore, when something like this happens and there is no outcry from the community, these lawmakers and groups get the message loud and clear - this population does not care enough about each other to call us out on our behavior... I urge you all to try to make a change in that. When something like this happens, it is our responsibility to respectfully call out the people who are not doing their job to protect every member of their constituency.

I thought the whole controversy here was that the frum Jewish population was *very* involved in local politics. In fact, they took over the Rockland County School Board (and many would argue, gutted the budget) even though they don't send any of their children to public schools. Isn't that the crux of the controversy? Isn't that the cause of much of the resentment?
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flowerpower




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 29 2016, 11:51 am
I don't live there but I heard there is a lot of anti semitism there. This is going on a long time. I know some jewish askanim are trying to take care of it. The problem is that all the higher ups are huge anti semites too. We are in galus.
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amother
Babypink


 

Post Wed, Jun 29 2016, 12:01 pm
There might be small kernels of truth to any one of those allegations, but that's not at all the point. After all, we all know that there is a higher rate of crime in inner cities/black communities or a higher rate of incarceration in those communities, but if a politician were to ever allow speaker after speaker to spew hatred about those true issues, he/she would have it coming. And here, where the extent of the allegations were not true, many of us are still shamefully quiet...

Even if you don't live in Rockland County, this still applies to you. They claimed that people from other areas were brought in to vote - you can make sure they know that is not true. And standing up for our brothers and sisters is a big Kiddush Hashem when done respectfully. We are in Galus and anti-Semitism is a part of life, but we have the responsibility to call out our elected officials when they are not doing their jobs to protect and support us.

Your tax dollars are their salary. I think you deserve a voice...
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cnc




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 29 2016, 12:07 pm
amother wrote:
There might be small kernels of truth to any one of those allegations, but that's not at all the point. After all, we all know that there is a higher rate of crime in inner cities/black communities or a higher rate of incarceration in those communities, but if a politician were to ever allow speaker after speaker to spew hatred about those true issues, he/she would have it coming. And here, where the extent of the allegations were not true, many of us are still shamefully quiet...

Even if you don't live in Rockland County, this still applies to you. They claimed that people from other areas were brought in to vote - you can make sure they know that is not true.
And standing up for our brothers and sisters is a big Kiddush Hashem when done respectfully. We are in Galus and anti-Semitism is a part of life, but we have the responsibility to call out our elected officials when they are not doing their jobs to protect and support us.

Your tax dollars are their salary. I think you deserve a voice...


My point is do you KNOW that this is NOT TRUE?
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DrMom




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 29 2016, 12:09 pm
amother wrote:
There might be small kernels of truth to any one of those allegations, but that's not at all the point. After all, we all know that there is a higher rate of crime in inner cities/black communities or a higher rate of incarceration in those communities, but if a politician were to ever allow speaker after speaker to spew hatred about those true issues, he/she would have it coming. And here, where the extent of the allegations were not true, many of us are still shamefully quiet...

Even if you don't live in Rockland County, this still applies to you. They claimed that people from other areas were brought in to vote - you can make sure they know that is not true. And standing up for our brothers and sisters is a big Kiddush Hashem when done respectfully. We are in Galus and anti-Semitism is a part of life, but we have the responsibility to call out our elected officials when they are not doing their jobs to protect and support us.

Your tax dollars are their salary. I think you deserve a voice...

But... it doesn't sound as if they said anything anti-Semitic... although it is possible they were at least partly motivated by anti-Semitism. Perhaps this whole school-board takeover created some new anti-Semites?

They raised specific actions which they found objectionable.

I have no idea whether they are true or not.
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Maya




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 29 2016, 1:26 pm
There aren't only "kernels of truth," it is often the whole truth.

And suppose someone from the community was at that meeting. What would they do, get up and deny that the allegations are true? But they are true. So now what?
It is true that they bussed in people from Brooklyn to vote. Why would someone deny that? Same for most of your other claims.

Maybe it would be more useful to get involved in raising awareness in the community about these issues and how it affects the residents of Rockland County, instead of yelling anti Semitism as a way of whitewashing our wrongdoings.
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Maya




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 29 2016, 1:31 pm
flowerpower wrote:
I don't live there but I heard there is a lot of anti semitism there. This is going on a long time. I know some jewish askanim are trying to take care of it. The problem is that all the higher ups are huge anti semites too. We are in galus.

No. It's not like this at all.

The problem is that we do very objectionable and illegal things, then we have the chutzpah to blame it on anti Semitism THAT WE CAUSED!

Yes, we are in galus, but in a very benevolent one, and we should appreciate that and not do things which rightly so enrage our neighbors. This denial and blaming is so out of line.
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amother
Slategray


 

Post Wed, Jun 29 2016, 1:54 pm
It would be more productive if the Jewish people in Rockland county stopped giving these residents (anti Semitic or not) more reasons to hate Jews. Some groups of Jews have been very aggressive in Rockland in grabbing real estate, shutting down the school budget, bribing officials, and cheating the system. When there is a political issue the Jews actually care about, you bet they get involved.
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groisamomma




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 29 2016, 2:59 pm
OT, but around here you have to live in the district you vote in. Your address is registered to avoid fraud. How can they bus people in from Brooklyn?

(And just in case someone asks how Lakewood does it, all the bochurim here are required to list the yeshiva as their permanent address as long as they are learning here so they get another few thousand votes for BMG.)

So under whose address are the Brooklyn people living?
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princessleah




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jun 30 2016, 7:47 am
I have a non-Jewish friend who lives in Chestnut Ridge. He's a member of an FB group which I see posts from frequently on his page trying to stave off "blockbusting" and talking about how it's illegal and not to let these agents into your house.
Some of the comments get realllly offensive, but that's the internet for you I guess. I'm guessing there is growing resentment in some of these communities about the homogenization of the neighborhoods.
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Mrs Bissli




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jun 30 2016, 10:23 am
Someone who is active/involved in local politics will (or should) look after interests of all residents, regardless of their religious affiliation. They are representative of all local council residents, not a specific religious/ethnic community.
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ora_43




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jun 30 2016, 10:57 am
DrMom wrote:
But... it doesn't sound as if they said anything anti-Semitic... although it is possible they were at least partly motivated by anti-Semitism. Perhaps this whole school-board takeover created some new anti-Semites?

They raised specific actions which they found objectionable.

I have no idea whether they are true or not.

It sounded to me like OP's problem was that people were talking about the entire Jewish community.

Like, there's "I worry that because there are so many people with large families moving in, our city's resources will be overwhelmed, and this will no longer be the kind of place I want to live" and then there's "the Jews have too many kids, and they expect to live off of our money."

IMO there's no way to know if it was or wasn't anti-Semitic without a more detailed description.
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amother
Slategray


 

Post Thu, Jun 30 2016, 12:19 pm
ora_43 wrote:
It sounded to me like OP's problem was that people were talking about the entire Jewish community.

Like, there's "I worry that because there are so many people with large families moving in, our city's resources will be overwhelmed, and this will no longer be the kind of place I want to live" and then there's "the Jews have too many kids, and they expect to live off of our money."

IMO there's no way to know if it was or wasn't anti-Semitic without a more detailed description.


There is stereotyping involved. Some Jews are doing the things op mentioned and they are giving all of us a bad name. The only thing someone can say in our defense is it's not ALL Jews who are destroying Rockland, it's some Jews. But fact of the matter is that those things op mentioned are happening. Jews aren't going to go to meetings and fight for a public school budget and so on because they don't need or want it. But they will go and try to fight zoning laws in order to build the large multi family houses and schools that they need. The non Jewish residents and some of the Jewish residents are not happy. It does feel like Rockland is being taken over.
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mille




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jun 30 2016, 2:07 pm
ora_43 wrote:
It sounded to me like OP's problem was that people were talking about the entire Jewish community.

Like, there's "I worry that because there are so many people with large families moving in, our city's resources will be overwhelmed, and this will no longer be the kind of place I want to live" and then there's "the Jews have too many kids, and they expect to live off of our money."

IMO there's no way to know if it was or wasn't anti-Semitic without a more detailed description.


Okay, how is this different than those who stereotype all Muslims on the basis of Islamic terrorists? There are plenty of Muslims who are WONDERFUL people, yet I see Jews constantly disparaging ALL Muslims in the same exact way.

It doesn't make it okay - but before we complain about it, let's look internally and focus on what we CAN control, which is our own actions - not the actions of others. We can do our best to make a kiddush hashem as often as possible, and we can do our best to judge others favorably. Those are two things we can control and should always be doing!
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