y, August 5, 1977 23 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Frida Hasidim, Blacks Seek Easing of Tensions in N.Y. BY NANCY CHANIN AND BRIAN LIPSITZ NEW YORK (JTA)—The Hasid, tsitsit hanging at his side. and the young man. a black. clad in a bright blue gym suit. could be seen ges- turing and talking to each other •as they faced the Ma- roon store front. A closer look revealed they were reading a flyer which por- trayed a Hasidic .Jew beat- ing up a young black. The flyer charged the Crown Heights Community Patrol. a civilian anti-crime patrol sponsored by the-- Crown Heights Jewish Corn- munity Council. with harass- ing blacks and said: "Are we willing to be put into a concentration camp without raising our voices?" Across the street, at this seemingly innocuous corner of Troy Ave. and Montgom- ery St.. in the Crown Heights section of Brook- lyn, stood the solitary tele- phone booth where, on June 4, 17-year-old yeshiva stu- dent Abraham Goldman was stabbed to death. There is an air of tension in the tree-shaded Crown Heights area. And the dam- age to stores in this area during the power blackout July 13-14 is, perhaps, not entirely unrelated to the- simmering feelings 'of suspi- cion and distrust between the Hasidic and black com- munities here. Crown Heights. the-center for the Lubavitcher Hasi- dim, is now about 60 per- cent black and Z..percent Hasidic. - Since the Goldman mur- der, the Jewish community has been tense and angry. The Jewish crime pre- vention patrol has in- tensified its duties. According to the Jewish Community Council, these duties are to protect both the Jewish and black resi-. dents of the area by serving as a deterrent to crime. But according to many blacks, the patrol has taken the law into its own hands by harassing and -assaulting - blacks. To the black community, the patrol is little more than a "vigilante" group not in the least concerned with the welfare of blacks. These feelings culminated in the July 9 demonstration by about 500 blacks to pro- test the alleged actions of the patrol. In random interviews with Jews and blacks in Crown Heights, many black residents said they thought the patrol was a good idea. MIIF but that some of its mem- bers occasionally abused their power. Some blacks said the patrol should not exist, but if it had to exist it should also include blacks. Taylor Hamp, a Crown Heights resident for 20 years. said he was recently "pulled" from his car while sitting in a no-parking zone by members of the patrol. He said he decided not to press charges because of what he termed the politi- 410 - cal power possessed by the Hasidic community. Bernard and Larry. two young men who attended the .July 9 demonstration, thought the patrol "looks pretty good but was kind of unfair." Larry said he had been approached by patrol members and "hassled. Ver- bal harassment is the key issue." Both complained that pa- trol members were "limit- ing themselves".by not pro-. tecting everyone in Crown Heights. Bernard said that if someone was being rob- bed just outside the pre- cinct -where they were being interviewed, the pa- trol "wouldn't get involved. If the patrol protected everyone, we would have a lot more community cooper- ation." At a recent press confer- ence, members of the Hasid- ic community would not say how extensive an area their patrol covers. However. Scholom Gan- sburg, a Crown'Heights resi- dent. said the patrol was "necessary" and that it was doing a 4 `fair job." A few months ago Gansburg said he was held up by blacks and the patrol ap- peared immediately, caught his assailants and took him to the hospital. A rabbi who would not identify himself but was pre- Sent at the press confer- ence, said that the July -9 demonstration was "purely political." involving "people who were running for something." People were _"imported" to attend the demonstra- tion, the rabbi said. Classes at Medgar Evers College in the Crown Heights area were "interrupted" and people were told to attend the rally, according to the rabbi. During the New York blackout, Utica Ave., a major thoroughfare' in Crown Heights, was severe- ly looted and damaged. However, Kingston Ave.. an- other thoroughfare. was vir- tually untouched. Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky. a spokes- man for the Lubavitcher. Hasidim, attributed this to the fact that the patrol is centered in the Kingston area.. The blacks readily accept the .claims of various flyers, posted and dis- tributed to blacks in the area, which accuse the Hasi- dim of harassing them, al- though few blacks say they themselves have seen such incidents. The Jews deny any such actions asserting that in in- stances where the_ patrol members may have acted too forcefully, it was only .y Bureau Director WASHINGTON—Lily P. Edelman. has been named director of the expanded Bnai Brith Lecture Bureau. as well as consultant on spe- cial projects for Bnai Brith International and Bnai Brith's Anti-Defamation League. laws, and criticized the Jews for not living up to their resi3onsibility of lead- ing a more moral life, as an example for all. Vinson .Jones. a burly black man with specks of gray in his beard. came out of the candy store where he works and joined the con- versation. He said he did not think it was fair that the blacks were being harassed by the Jews, particularly since three Hispanic youths were charged with the Goldman killing. The City Human Rights Comrnission is attempting to mediate in Crown Heights, Michael Hernan- dez, its_ executive director. said. However. efforts to in self-defense. The Crown Heights Com- munity Council announced recently that it wanted to meet with black leaders to resolve the tensions, and said that blacks have been invited to join the patrol. However, the process is slow, said Rabbi Mendel Shemtov, chairman of the council. The council is trying to find responsible black lead- ers to help design a frame- work by which b4eks could join the patrol: Shemtov said. but added that they are having a problem find- ing them. 1 Counter-charges of . rac- ism and latent anti-Semi- tism have passed back and forth between the two com- munities in an effort to ex- plain the current tensions. But the Hasid and the young black man who were arguing over the truth of the flyer taped to the win- dow of "Kelly Candy Store," see things other- wise._ ' To 17-year-old Earl Ar- rington. the . Hasidim are "all-right neighbors." He didn't feel the current tense situation was caused by the Goldman murder. He said he was uncertain about the roots of the problem. but suspected it has something to do with the influx of blacks and the lack of jobs. Yisroel Akiva Bernstein, a young Hasid, said there is a bigger perspective to the problem which he believes is caused by the failure of blacks and Jews to "follow God-given laws." He chided blacks for not following the universal seven Noachic meet separately with the parties have yet to yield re- sults. RUMMIKUB Lowest Prices call Aleyda 559-2017 or 342-7800 • gn Excellence A tradition that stretches three generations and includes seven national and international jewelry design awards: •Diamonds International Award -1971 •DiamondsToday Competition -1972 thru 1977 Davidfl/achler and ‘inis (k,itivi, ()mete, e' internationally recogruzed at417 arri wutrungjewelerx The American Federal Savings Bldg • Southfield. Phone: 356-7322 • Master Charge & BankAmericard weleome. Ostomy surgery no ban to a full social life The person who has had a colostomy - or other ostomy operation can—and should- -expect a normal business, family, and social life. 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