HONIG PROTESTS: Orthodox Jews Were Excluded from White House Hate-Crimes Summit

President Biden slammed antisemitism last week at a White House-hosted “United We Stand” summit against hate crimes, but he is being accused by some Orthodox Jewish representatives of excluding them from the event, the NY Post reports.

The Rev. Al Sharpton requested the summit after the May massacre of 10 black shoppers in Buffalo, and it brought together hundreds of activists and community leaders from minority groups. But Orthodox Jews, who suffer a large number of hate crimes, struggled to make the cut.

Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce CEO Duvi Honig told The Post he tried to RSVP, contacting three Biden staffers and even brandishing an endorsement from the New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s office to be honored as a Uniter — an award bestowed to 16 people at the event. He didn’t hear back.

“The question is, is [Biden] punishing the Orthodox community for supporting [former President Donald] Trump? Regardless, my concern is as we’re going into the high holy holidays, would people read that Orthodox Jew attacks aren’t recognized by the White House? Because that encourages people to continue to be more aggressive” Honig said. “The White House used hate. They used us, our blood — they used our DNA of Jews being persecuted and attacked daily as an excuse to make an event and didn’t include Orthodox Jews, who were the number one [target of] hate and antisemitism,” Honig said.

At least one Orthodox Jew was admitted to the hundreds-strong gathering — Nathan Diament of the Orthodox Union — but Honig said it wasn’t enough. “One person trickled in!” he said dismissively, adding that it would have been more appropriate to invite a New York-area member of the community, given the group’s center of population and epicenter of victimization.

“They didn’t recognize any Orthodox Jew as a Uniter purposely, which stands out while then recogniz[ing] Islamic, Reform [Jews], [Christian leaders] and so on,” said Honig, whose group seeks to build economic bridges between communities. “Our community’s leaders from the various large communities of Orthodox sectors where daily attacks accrue were missing [from] the summit and not invited.” Read more at the NY Post.