amNewYork, there were videos of the event where <\/a>anti-Israel protestors could be heard saying \u201cGlobalize the intifada,\u201d \u201cDeath to the IDF\u201d and \u201cResistance \u2026 take another settler out.\u201d It was reported that the demonstration ended with no arrests. <\/p>\n\u201cWhat happened the other day up on the East Side of Manhattan at that synagogue is unacceptable, and it is not to be tolerated. People are simply going about their American right,\u201d stated District Attorney Michael McMahon. \u201cBut it\u2019s more than that, it\u2019s a human right. To follow their religion and express their religion, whatever it is, and that\u2019s something we have to stand up for every day when someone threatens that.\u201d <\/p>\n
![\"Staten](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/4ATCLEFBS5DRVJPUCE5BKCROTE.JPG\")
Borough President Vito Fossella, District Attorney Michael McMahon, Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo, and religious leaders are making a renewed call for the protection of New Yorkers practicing their faith freely, without fear of retribution, at Young Israel in Willowbrook on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (Advance\/SILive.com | Jan Somma-Hammel) STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE<\/p>\n
McMahon, along with Pirozzolo, emphasized Staten Island\u2019s zero-tolerance approach to prosecuting hate crimes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re going to do something that\u2019s hate filled, we\u2019re going to come after you, we\u2019re going to find you, we\u2019re going to get you, and we\u2019re going to prosecute you,\u201d Pirozzolo said.<\/p>\n
Msgr. William Belford of St. Teresa of the Infant Jesus Roman Catholic Church in Castleton Corners, who was joined by representatives from multiple religious and cultural communities, emphasized the importance of harmony among different faiths.<\/p>\n
![\"Staten](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/6M4DT6W6UJF3DLPSTG26YWCTJI.JPG\")
Msgr. William Belford of St. Teresa’s Parish is surrounded by Borough President Vito Fossella, District Attorney Michael McMahon, Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo, and religious leaders as the group made a renewed call for the protection of New Yorkers practicing their faith freely, without fear of retribution, at Young Israel in Willowbrook on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (Advance\/SILive.com | Jan Somma-Hammel) STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE<\/p>\n
\u201cNo matter what aspect of our religions we want to celebrate, it should be allowed to be done in peace and harmony and everybody taking some joy in what others do as well. I speak for our Catholic priests and people in saying no hatred is allowed, only peace and joy,\u201d said the parish leader.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no room for hate crime and discrimination in this land,\u201d added Gurdev Singh Kang of the Sikh community. \u201cGod bless America. God bless all New Yorkers. We want to keep peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe stand here united. We\u2019ve been at these stairs before, unfortunately, too many times for this kind of hating, but also we have still stood together in times of celebrations,\u201d Imam Tahir Kukaj, a clergy leader for the Albanian and Muslim community on Staten Island, told the Advance\/SILive.com after the press conference. <\/p>\n
Rabbi Yaakov Lehrfield of Young Israel, who hosted the event, expressed his gratitude for the support and assured attendees that the interfaith community is a strong one.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have set up, which happens all the time, round table meetings with leaders of interfaith, and we meet and we talk, and all of us get along beautifully,\u201d he said. \u201cWe get along fine. We respect each other, which is a beautiful thing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, NY — Religious leaders from across Staten Island gathered in Willowbrook on Tuesday to condemn hate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52015,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-52014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Staten](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/VLJOCNG24FGFHKLR2UNJQUEBTI.JPG\")
Borough President Vito Fossella, District Attorney Michael McMahon, Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo, and religious leaders are making a renewed call for the protection of New Yorkers practicing their faith freely, without fear of retribution, at Young Israel in Willowbrook on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025.(Advance\/SILive.com | Jan Somma-Hammel) STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE<\/p>\n