For Jewish readers the tragic story of the murder of Ecuadorian immigrant Marcelo Lucero took a new a new and painful turn. I’m certain that most have a sterotype of the teens accused of this hate crime, thinking that they come out of central casting for white supremacists, neo-Nazis and skin heads.
While this picture may not be fair or accurate for any of them, this week’s New York Jewish Week discloses the news that one of the alleged members of the gang that killed Lucero, Jordan Dasch, turns out to be Jewish and the son of a Long Island Kosher butcher. According to the article, “Dasch’s MySpace page featured a picture of a Jewish star with a Nazi swastika embedded in the middle, according to Long Island Wins, a pro-immigrant organization that downloaded the page before it was removed from the Web site. The group, based in Port Washington, claimed that Dasch referred to himself on the social networking site as a “Nazi Jew.””
Clearly each individual involved in this type of crime follows his or her own demons and prejudices — no community is exempt. But this revelation reinforces the importance of Jews taking seriously the biblical call Tzedek, Tzedek, Tirdof (Justice, Justice, You Shall Pursue) to fight both hate crimes against immigrants and the creation of a climate of fear and hate surrounding immigrants and minority communities. The Jewish Week story gives a excellent overview of how the local Jewish community is rising to this challenge.
