Governor Kathy Hochul delivered a powerful speech at the Temple Israel Center in Westchester County, emphasizing the ongoing struggle against antisemitism even within New York, home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel. She spoke of the resilience of the Jewish community and highlighted her commitment to standing against hate. Hochul’s remarks were influenced by her recent trip to Israel, where she witnessed firsthand the impact of terrorist attacks. She assured the Jewish community of her support in ensuring safety, combatting hate, and maintaining unity in the face of oppression.
Governor Hochul Delivers Remarks at Temple Israel Center
Governor Hochul: “Oppression of the Jews is not something new that happened even in our last century. It goes back thousands and thousands of years. And even in our own state—the great State of New York, home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, 1.6 million strong—even a place like that, that I’m so proud to represent, is not immune from horrific acts of antisemitism in our own cities, in our own communities.”
Hochul: “There is hate here, my friends. But I’ll tell you this, I believe it to my core: we can overcome this hate. We can push that hate far into the recesses of our minds. We can change the course of history by standing together. All who feel oppressed, because there’s more of us than them, I assure you. And as long as we stand united and call it out and are not afraid of those who try to raise an arm against us. Let them know the power of our strength. That’s how we draw the hope that gives us the strength to carry on.”
Yesterday, Governor Kathy Hochul delivered remarks at the Temple Israel Center in Westchester County. Originally, in 1907, a group of families formally brought the White Plains Jewish community together under the name Sons of Israel. By 1911, the community had dedicated its first synagogue building on Fisher Avenue in White Plains, NY and changed its name to Temple Israel. The building seated 350 people in its sanctuary. The community grew and by 1935, the building was expanded. After several renovations over the years, they now have their beautiful Milstein Sanctuary, which seats over 500.
A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:
Thank you. Thank you, Tara, Rabbi for your powerful and heartfelt words. The AJC, UJA and Westchester Jewish Council for creating this opportunity for us to share—share our stories, share our sorrow and share our tears. And I want to also acknowledge there are many, many elected officials who’ve joined us here. I want to thank them for being my partners in so many ways as we get through these truly terrible times.
You heard Tara, you heard Rabbi Creditor, talk about one year ago. Let me just put a little more color on what it must have been like one year ago: As parents tucked their kids into bed and kissed them goodnight, and others, a little bit older, met and gathered in fellowship, dancing until dawn at the NOVA music festival. But at a certain point, the sounds of the pulsating music were drowned out by the gunshots and the missiles firing overhead, and the trucks arriving, literally stealing people, throwing them into vehicles. And the image of that one young woman off the back of a motorcycle being stripped away into the unknown. And in the homes, the places I visited, as the first elected official to travel, to not just Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, but went out to the kibbutz literally one week after President Biden had been there as well. As he was leaving, I was touching down.
I went to places no American had been to yet. And the photos will never ever take the real images out of my mind with the smells, the sites, the people I held. In that moment as I walked through with a vest, military people surrounding, me not far in the distance seeing missiles being fired still in Gaza as we were at the border, I walked through homes that had been once places of joy and celebration. And I will not be as graphic as I saw, but I still have the shoes I wore as I stepped through puddles of blood, because I don’t know what to do with them. And I was in the safe rooms. Now these are safe rooms, paid for by the government to make sure that ever if there was an attack, families could gather. They had food stored there, they were just ready just in case. And those safe rooms became rooms of terror. The places where young women were raped and mutilated.
Another image was a family there that every day would think about how they could help their friends in Gaza. They’re trying to build relationships. I mean, this is the kibbutz. These are people who came and kind of stepped out of society to raise their children in a place of love and understanding and peace. And there was a certain day every year when this one family would fly kites over the border so they could see a sign of love and friendship. They used to do that at 4 p.m. on this very day every year. I stepped into their home, stepped over the kites that were filled in blood. Clothing, shreds, shrapnel was everywhere; holes in the walls. And I said, kind of asking the Rabbi, “Where was God? Why didn’t God protect these people?” Man’s humanity against man is so chilling. We thought it had been left in the history books of the Holocaust. And we always said we’d never forget because it could never possibly get as bad as that again.
And the innocent children torn from their parents’ arms are murdered in front of them. The young man I saw whose wife and three children were stolen in front of him. He found out later they had been murdered. The stories that I heard made me think, “Yes, it happened again.” In our time, in our “so-called” civilized time, a barbaric group of terrorists, and don’t call them anything but terrorists, because that’s what Hamas is. And I called it out. Immediately in the aftermath of it, I was back home talking about this, and I was called out by a reporter who said, “Why are you calling them a terrorist group?” And I said, “Because they are.”
I once served in Congress. I’m a member of the Homeland Security Committee. They were defined as a terrorist group back in 1996. I knew my facts. And while there may be deniers and people in our own state who will not acknowledge what happened on that day, I went for one reason: I had to witness with my own eyes and provide the moral clarity when I returned to stand up to those who would say, “Oh, well, that was deserved because they did this or that.” There’s no thing, nothing on Earth, that could justify what I saw and the searing pain that so many still live with today. One year later. Never. Nothing could justify that. Ever.
Something else about that journey. The night before I left to head over there, it was late night. I was in the JFK lounge. I wasn’t sure if I should call my father and tell him his little girl was going into a war zone. He still thinks I’m his little girl.
He said something that was so quintessential crusty, old Irish Catholic guy. He said, “Dolly, I’m so proud of you, but keep your goddamn head down.” Okay, Dad, I will do that. Little did I know as I was flying across the ocean, that my father ended up in a coma that night, and I landed and found out he had passed.
My staff immediately said, “We’re making arrangements for you to head back home,” and I said, “No you’re not, because I can’t bring my father back. I will mourn him later. I am here to comfort a nation.” But what I felt in return as I walked the streets and the story of what had happened was out, and I went to the wall. I had two pieces of paper. One for the people of Israel and one I had to have for my dad. I said, “They comforted me and that was a sign of the spirit and resiliency that you spoke of.”
It is so embedded in the DNA of the Jewish people. No matter what happens, something so horrific, I could barely comprehend it, and they were trying to comfort me. Extraordinary acts of kindness. It gives you hope. Gives you that sense of endurance through time. And oppression of the Jews is not something new that happened even in our last century. It goes back thousands and thousands of years. And even in our own state, the great State of New York—home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, 1.6 million strong—even a place like that, that I’m so proud to represent, is not immune from horrific acts of antisemitism in our own cities, in our own communities. Especially here. That’s abhorrent to me on so many levels.
I came back from that journey shocked to realize that there are people protesting in the streets, not protesting what had happened in Israel, but protesting Israel itself. And what was happening on our college campuses? Threats. Threats. I literally flew back from my father’s funeral on a Sunday night and got the word that there was an individual who was threatening the lives of Cornell University students. I called the president and I said, “I’ll be there for breakfast.” I sat down with students and I said, “You’re going to be okay.” I went to Hillel, I said, “You’re going to be okay. I’m going to take care of you.”
And I knew I owed it to their parents and to them and all the aunts and uncles and everybody else who had some connection to Cornell, that I was going to keep their children safe. And every other campus that exploded in anger and hate and images that we never should have seen, I called up all the university presidents. I said, “There are laws on the books, human rights laws, state and federal laws that I will enforce if you allow for the discrimination of our students on campus, even calling for the genocide of the Jewish people which is what is meant by, ‘From the river to the sea,’ by the way.” That’s what they’re meant, right?
Those are not innocent sounding words. They’re filled with hate. Things are calmer now, because I finally think the university presidents started threatening expulsion, which is what we told them to do. If you violate another individual’s right to pass freely on this campus, you should not be on that campus yourself.
We’re going to continue standing up and fighting. But also, protecting our synagogues and yeshivas and cultural centers. We have brought more resources to bear than ever in the history of our state.
We changed the laws. We changed the laws so hate crimes are now bail eligible. That was taken out, it’s now back in. Making sure that we can prosecute those who crossed the line. I’m happy to do that.
And monitoring social media for those threats by the white supremacists who hate Jews, but also hate Black people. Because I saw that manifest itself in Buffalo, New York, my hometown, when 10 individuals shopping in a grocery store were slaughtered because of the color of their skin.
There is hate here, my friends. But I’ll tell you this, I believe it to my core: we can overcome this hate. We can push that hate far into the recesses of our minds. We can change the course of history by standing together. All who feel oppressed, because there’s more of us than them, I assure you. And as long as we stand united and call it out and are not afraid of those who try to raise an arm against us. Let them know the power of our strength.
That’s how we draw the hope that gives us the strength to carry on. I could tell you so much more. My heart is full of anger, frustration. But also, I found some room for some hope. And I’ll keep that hope alive with all of you as we stand together and never forget those 1,200 people and the hostages who are still held, including seven Americans; including our own Omer Nutra, from Long Island. I met his relatives when I was there. I met his mom and dad so many times. I’ve held them. I’m a mom myself. I can’t imagine what it’s like to go through another round of holidays again with that empty seat at the table.
Thank you for gathering tonight. Thank you for letting me see a visible reminder of what is so extraordinary about the people of this state, the Jewish people, congregations like this. Because I see strength in your eyes, an enduring strength that will get us through these times, and let people know that the Jewish people are the strongest because they’ve had to be.
I will say this: I will be there at your side. I will be there calling out the negativity and the hatred every step of the way. I will be your ally because you have been mine. I thank you. God bless the people here tonight. God bless the people of the great State of New York. God bless the people of Israel. And God bless the United States of America. Thank you very much.
October 7, 2024 Albany, NY
Questions from Critics:
- Isn’t it the Democratic Party that is supporting all these anti-Israel protests?
- Is Governor Hochul doing enough to address the rising incidents of antisemitism in New York beyond rhetoric?
- How does the Governor plan to ensure that university campuses are held accountable for incidents of hate speech?
- Does Hochul’s stance on “hate crimes being bail eligible” address the broader issue of criminal justice reform effectively, or does it selectively apply based on specific communities?
Sources: NY.gov, Midtown Tribune,
Big New York news BigNY.com
