New York town sued over anti-Semitism
'04.12.2020'
Vita Popova
The lawsuit alleges that the zoning laws in the borough of Airmont are designed to prevent Orthodox Jews from holding religious services in their homes or opening private schools. The edition writes about it New York Post.
Airmont (from English Airmont) is a town in Rockland County, New York. On behalf of the Jews living in it, on December 2, a action about discrimination. This is the third such lawsuit from residents of the town in the past few decades.
As writes edition CBS New YorkThe municipality used zoning regulations to prohibit Jews from praying in private homes and from opening religious schools.
The first lawsuit for religious discrimination was filed in 1991. In 2017, an attempt was renewed to make life difficult for Orthodox Jews living in Airmont.
In the same year, the zoning law was amended to prevent the Jewish community from performing religious services in private homes. This measure is clearly directed against Orthodox Jews, the lawsuit claims.
New zoning rules were also introduced to prevent residents from taking home ritual baths.
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To further thwart the Jewish community, the town has launched a new land-use application process to make minor changes to their homes difficult and costly for Orthodox Jews.
The suit, filed Wednesday, December 2, is the third attempt to stop discrimination against the Hasidic community in Airmont.
“As determined by the court more than two decades ago, Airmont acted out of a spirit of hostility against a religious minority,” said prosecutor Audrey Strauss. “Unfortunately, instead of working to overcome this shameful legacy, Airmont blatantly ignored the terms of the court ruling and implemented land-use practices that, by design and implementation, are again intended to illegally infringe on the rights of a religious minority.”
Previous lawsuits have led to convictions against the town for illegal actions, first in 1996 and then in 2011, according to authorities.
The Ayrmont authorities have not yet commented on the situation.
