Dov Hikind

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Dov Hikind is an American politician in the state of New York. He is a Democratic New York State Assemblyman. Hikind is an Orthodox Jew representing Brooklyn's Assembly district 48 which has many Orthodox Jews living in it. He has held this position since 1982 and has been very vocal about racial profiling, terrorism, and anti-semitism in his district, which includes Borough Park. Hiknd hosts a weekly talk radio show every saturday night, which discusses various local, national, and international concerns.

Hikind is married and has 3 children.

Contents

[edit] Politics

Politically, Hikind is a Democrat in the Assembly of New York.

He has endorsed Mayor Bloomberg for mayor and remains a strong leader of the Orthodox Jewish community. Bloomberg and he have a good political friendship, as Hikind helped Bloomberg achieve greater popularity in the Jewish community.[1] Hikind has broken ranks with his party before, most notably in his endorsement of Republican candidates George Pataki for governor in 1994, and George W. Bush for president.

[edit] Terrorism

[edit] Racial Profiling

Dov Hikind has a rather unique viewpoint concerning random bag searches by the NYPD, which were implemented in 2004 to find illegal contraband inside the bags and containers of subways riders. Dov Hikind urged the New York Police Department to implement a policy of racial profiling, which would search individuals who come from Middle Eastern and Muslim backgrounds. He defended this policy on the grounds that it would work far more effectively to combat terrorism than that of the current policy, which uses random bag searches (which, ironically, have already been called racist and demeaning by civil rights groups). He has not been afraid to speak on his proposal, because he believes that the terrorist profile (that of Arab-American Muslims) should be targeted as it is the one currently engaged in terrorism in current world events.

[edit] Subway Security

He was responsible for bringing the allocation of $1.2 million in a project that helped to provide 120 closed-circuit television cameras to nine subway stations along the D, F, and N lines. These funds, which would provide lavish camera security in contrast to many other stations in the five boroughs, were granted because the neighborhoods they were installed in, that being Borough Park, Midwood, Kensington, and Parkville, all had large Jewish populations, which he claimed were "being targeted" by terrorists.[2] Hikind encouraged politicians to do the same in other subway stations, which now lag behind those of his community. A New York Times article [3]revealed that the M.T.A granted close to $600 million in funds for security to stations in New York City in late 2002; however, only a small fraction of it had been used productively by 2005.[3]

[edit] Anti-Semitism

Dov Hikind has frequently spoken against issues that he and the Hasidic community find insulting or disrespectful to their faith, culture, and traditions.

[edit] The Passion of the Christ

In 2003, Dov Hikind and a group of supporters protested Mel Gibson's controversial film The Passion of the Christ, claiming that it was filled with anti-Jewish themes and was inflammatory. He led about 50-55 Jewish leaders and supporters to the Fox News Corp. offices in Manhattan in a demonstration, chanting "The Passion is a lethal weapon against Jews."[4] Hikind was vocal in his anger against the movie, saying: "It will result in anti-Semitism and bigotry. It really takes us back to the Dark Ages ... the Inquisition, the Crusades, all for the so-called sin of the Crucifixion of Jesus."

[edit] Yassir Arafat

In 2001, Dov Hikind argued that Madame Tussauds Wax Museum should remove its wax statue of the Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat, claiming that he was a terrorist whose image should not be in New York.[5] Although he argued his case with a great amount of passion and anger, many people did not support the idea of cleaning the museum for political reasons.

[edit] Zionism

As a child of Holocaust surviors, Hikind considers their experiences to be an important component of his Zionist views. Hikind was a follower of Rabbi Meir Kahane's Jewish Defense League, and is active in right-wing Jewish causes. Among his early achievements were demonstrations demanding the right to emigrate for Soviet and Syrian Jews. In the summer of 2005, Hikind visited the settlements of Gush Katif to express his concern for the residents who were slated to be expelled from the homes that they built and have lived in for decades. In the summer of 2006, along with a group of fellow legislators and community leaders, Hikind visited northern Israeli communities during the time of the Hezbollah terrorist rocket attacks on innocent men women and children. He and his group spent the time there distributing funds and material aid.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ McIntire, Mike. "Mayor's Campaign Follows Jewish Voters to the Catskills." New York Times. Aug 1, 2005. pg. B.4.
  2. ^ Chan, Sewell. "Metro Briefing New York: Brooklyn: Security Cameras In Stations." New York Times. Jun 2, 2005 . pg. B.8
  3. ^ a b Chan, Sewell Fahim, Kareem. "M.T.A. Slow to Spend Money on Transit Security" New York Times. Jul 9, 2005. pg. A.1
  4. ^ Trotta, Liz. "Jewish leaders condemn film: Call Gibson's movie on Christ's crucifixion anti-Semitic." Washington Times. pg. A14. 08/29/2003
  5. ^ Haberman, Clyde. "Offense Taken To Extremes On Our Behalf." New York Times. New York, N.Y. May 19, 2001. pg. B.1

[edit] External Links

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