NEWBURGH – The Jewish Federation of Orange County has reached out to Newburgh City Councilman Omari Shakur following last week’s confrontation he had with a Jewish developer in which he used anti-Semitic language.
The federation has yet to hear back from the councilman.
The city council earlier this week voted to censure Shakur for his language, but Jewish Federation Executive Director Wendy Cedar said that was not enough.
“From the video it is very clear that he was very frustrated about something and he lashed out in a way that was just inappropriate,” she said Wednesday. “If he was concerned about the building codes or permits, whatever he might have been frustrated about, then he could have focused on that and not brought it down to cursing at someone for their religious or cultural background.”
Despite the city council’s censure of Shakur, several of the members attempted to explain away his vulgarities because he was frustrated over what they said was a lack of leadership in the city’s codes department.
The Anti-Defamation League, meanwhile, commended the city council for its censure. “This councilman’s use of anti-Semitic tropes and apparent bias against the Jewish community are unacceptable,” said Lindsey Sokol, the ADL’s regional operations coordinator.
