Assault On Rabbi Spurs Anti-Bias Rally

Community leaders and elected officials from throughout Brooklyn gathered yesterday at Borough Hall to denounce hate crimes in the wake of the beating of a rabbi in Park Slope.

The meeting, organized by a well-known community leader in the borough, Mohammed Razvi, brought together a multitude of leaders from all walks of life and religions to raise awareness of a recent rash of hate crimes perpetrated throughout Brooklyn, organizers said.

"A bias attack against any person is a bias attack against all of humanity. We stand together here today to show the harmony of our city and we will not allow anyone to divide us," Mr. Razvi, the co-founder of the community group We Are All Brooklyn and the executive director of the Council of People's Organization, said.

The gathering was organized following the bias-charged beating of Assistant Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Uria Ohana, who was assaulted after having his yarmulke stolen March 18. A suspect, Ali Hussein, has been arrested.

Rabbi Ohana spoke at the gathering, saying he hoped that his awful experience could raise awareness and prevent someone else from becoming the victim of a hate crime.

Devorah Halberstam, the mother of Ari Halberstam, a 16-year-old boy who was killed when an Arab man attacked a van filled with chasidic Jewish boys crossing the Brooklyn Bridge March 1, 1994, praised the group for coming together for such a good cause.

Speakers at the event included the president of Brooklyn, Marty Markowitz, and council members John Liu, David Weprin, Leticia James, and Bill de Blasio. The elected officials joined with community and religious leaders in signing a "statement against hate."

In addition to the attack on Rabbi Ohana, speakers said authorities have recently found hate graffiti throughout Brooklyn, including swastikas and anti-black slurs.