Antisemitism By Omission in NYS OMH, Part IV & Final: Jewish-American Heritage Month

Jewish American Heritage Month came and gone, and OMH completely ignored it from top to bottom: from Commissioner Sullivan’s office to the Central Office’s so-called “Diversity and [un]Inclusion” office and its local chapter in my facility.

Even the news coverage at the end of May of the trial of the white supremacist who killed eleven Jews in the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pennsylvania didn’t hint anyone at the New York State Office of Mental Health to raise the issue of the rampant antisemitism in New York State. Apparently, it was just “another day in paradise” for them.

For most Americans, Jews are considered white. One would think that when white supremacy calls and kills Jews, it might hint at the fact that it is not always the case. The brutal murder alone at Tree of Life by white supremacist male Americans should have made people, at the very least, question that. Jews are not white, at least not as an “all-inclusive” (Oy vey, this word again) rule. Didn’t we learn by now that generalization is a bad practice, no matter whom it is applied?! Apparently not. Yes, some of us are of Eastern European descent, but many more are from the rest of the world, including Africa, South East Asia, and India (my ex-ancestry ).

Jews had to flee the Arab and Muslim countries after the establishment of Israel. Surprisingly, as it may be, a Jewish community remains to this day in most of them, including Tunisia, Libya, and Syria. In the case of Iranian Jews, many of them left Iran after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Many came to the USA, and others came to Israel or Europe. There is a big community of Persian-American Jews in LA and NY. Today’s Jewish community in Iran is still the largest Jewish community in the Middle East outside of Israel. This is one of the most ancient Jewish communities in the world. They are dated back to the 6th century BC, yes, before Christ, by some experts.

The Ethiopian Jews were finally brought to Israel in two waves. The Falash Mora Jews are considered the discontents of King Solomon, and they sure look the part. Their beauty fits the imagination, and two young Israeli-Ethiopians became top international models. Two other immigrant ladies are now members of the Israeli Parliament, The Knesset.

You see, Israel, like the USA, is a migrant society. Every wave of migrants, no matter where they are from, suffered social struggles on top of others. Israel has a growing number of married couples of mixed ancestry. Only the mix is not racial-based, because we don’t define each other as a different race, but rather by the prayer tradition: “Ashkenazi” (mostly of eastern European descent) and Mizrahi or Sephardi (everyone else’ descent) Jews. I am a mix, and I married a brown man. Yes, the father of my child is half Indian, half Yemen, all Jews.

But forget about the Israeli Jews, let’s talk about the American ones:

The first Moroccan Jews came to the USA in the early 19th century. They are now mainly in LA but also in Miami and Brooklyn. Another significant community is the Syrian Jews, who are primarily in Brooklyn and the city. Jews from these countries look like their fellow non-Jewish Syrian, Iranian, Moroccan, or Ethiopian. Their skin tone (how Americans differentiate “race,” forgetting we are all one race, the human race, that is) is the same. Would you call a Moroccan Muslim a white man? Or anyone from Egypt, Tunisia, or Libya? So why would you, the Jews who came from the same countries?

American Jewry is part of all walks of life in the USA. Here is a short list of famous Americans; some of them, I’m sure you didn’t know, were Jewish. Let’s go “big,” should we?

Actors & other Hollywood et al.:

Rashida Jones, the hilarious Maya Rudolph, Sammy Davis Jr. Drake, Billy Crystal, Mel Brooks, Shyne, and Lisa Bonet.

Basketball, MLB, and NFL players:

Amar’e Stoudemire, Larry Brown, David Platt, Omri Caspi, Jordan Farmar, Jordan Dangerfield, Koby Altman, and Elliott Maddox.

Civil rights activists and religious leaders:

Rabbi Sandra Lawson and Rabbi L.E. Dailey- converted and became Rabbi. Adam Eli-LGBT activist. Justin Evan Warfield- human rights and anti-racism activist. Alicia Garza — A civil activist who identifies as Jewish. Andrew Goodman, a civil rights activist, was murdered in Mississippi with his fellow activists James Chaney and Michael Schwerner by the KKK on June 21st, 1941.

And the list goes on.

Jews, like African-Americans, suffered discrimination and were not allowed to be treated or practice medicine in any of the Christian hospitals like Weill Cornell and Presbyterian. What did they do? They have their own: Beth Israel, Mount Sinai, and Long Island Jewish (Northwell, today), and each one of them is more prestigious than the other.

And if you wonder how Jewish American innovation affects your day-to-day life, here’s a short list: mobile phones, camera phones, video games, and the ballpoint pen.

Not to mention otherworldly Israeli innovations:

• The flash drive.
• African nations and California use an irrigation system to save water.
• The cam-pill instead of your usual endoscopy and colonoscopy.

Do you care about clean water, especially in places like Africa, where access is scarce? Check this Israeli NGO using Israeli technology to bring clean drinking water to Africa.

OMH ignored all that as they don’t think educating its employees about American Jewish issues is as important as Black History Month, Pride Month, or other worthy and important causes.

The one attempt the Office for Diversity and Inclusion in the OMH Central Office in Albany made to educate its employees was creating a flyer in English and Yiddish (speaking of stereotyping). The very first sentence, in bold letters, is “Did you know? 6.7 million Americans (2%) identify as Jewish”. When I said it feeds right into the antisemitic narrative, they thought I was overly sensitive and wrong. You see, non-Jews are the ones defining what is and what is not an antisemitic statement. Somehow, when non-Jewish individuals are defining that for us Jews, it’s not only allowed, it’s accepted and the norm from the top down in OMH.

This small community of American Jewry was the target of 51.4% of all religion-based hate crimes nationally in 2021, according to an FBI report. A 2023 Anti-Defamation League report shows New York State takes the national lead on antisemitic incidents. That wasn’t enough for the Commissioner or the Office of Diversity & Inclusion to issue a single email.

On May 17th, 2022, Commissioner Sullivan wrote to us all after the disgusting, racist, horrific shooting at a Buffalo, NY supermarket, rightfully calling it “racially motivated hate crimes.” Commissioner Sullivan acknowledged that hate crimes and trauma impact OMH patients and employees. Her Jewish patients and employees are not accounted for. On June 16th, 2021, three days ahead of the long holiday weekend, a lengthy email to celebrate Juneteenth. On May 27th, 2022, she addressed the horrific, abhorrent murder of school kids in Uvalde, Texas. Nothing about the 11 Jews massacred at the Tree of Life Synagogue. It was not in 2018 when it happened; it is not now when the trial began. In April 2023, she shortly acknowledged, “New Yorkers of many faiths celebrate their religious holiday,” a week after she wished “Ramadan Mubarak” to observe Muslims. Emails came out from the Diversity office, Dr. Sullivan’s office, or other Central Office units about Pride Month, anti-Asian hate crimes, Islamophobia, transgender tolerance — nothing, nada, about antisemitism, tolerance towards Jews, or anything in the vicinity.

It’s been almost six months since I received an email and a brief phone call from the Director of Intergovernmental Relations (I didn’t know I was an IGO), who promised she would “be in touch.” I am still waiting.

With all this lip service, brush-off, and complete avoidance, the Commissioner dared to recently publish an article in an NGO-issued newsletter titled “Addressing Stigma: The Impact of Cultural Relevance and Early Childhood.” Oy, the hypocrisy! After all, Jewish culture is not considered in OMH.

It seems that the idea of “diversity and inclusion” is everybody except Jews, everything but antisemitism. It seems everything else is worthy of their attention, spot-lighting, and education, except hate speech, violence, and the killing of Jews. My conclusion: OMH is systematically antisemitic, even if only by [deliberate] omission.