Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed the state’s Division of Human Rights to provide support to the North Shore Hebrew Academy High School in Great Neck after hackers posted anti-Semitic images and Nazi propaganda on the school’s website last week.
“This anti-Semitic attack is simply despicable, and the fact it came as the school community celebrated Hanukkah makes it even more repulsive,” Cuomo said Friday. “As we work with our partners on the local and national level to hold the perpetrators accountable, New York State will deploy resources to help the staff, parents, and students at North Shore Hebrew Academy in the aftermath of this senseless act.”
Pictures and videos from StopAntisemitism.org, a nonprofit whose mission holds “antisemites accountable” and creates “consequences for bigoted actions” were posted on Dec. 14. The video features the home page of the school’s website with Nazi soldiers marching in the background.
Screenshots of the website were then posted with anti-Semitic messages with slurs above a notification that the website was under construction. In the website’s “About Us” tab, there were more pictures of Nazi soldiers holding up swastikas and referring to the school as the “North Shore Concentration Camp.”
The tab also featured a profile on Adolf Hitler and outlined “field trips” the students would take to Auschwitz. The post said that students would have to “walk into an SS office and declare themselves as Jews,” and listed the deadline for the application as “January 1945.”
Cuomo said the Division of Human Rights will conduct a virtual forum with the school’s community on a date that will be determined by the North Shore Hebrew Academy. The forum will go over the state’s human rights laws, information on how the state handles cybercrimes and attacks, legal protections against bias crimes, and give resources and advice on how parents can discuss the incident with their children, according to Cuomo.
“By deploying these resources, we are sending a message loud and clear that hate has no place in our state — online or in-person — and that New York will always support and protect those targeted for crimes based on who they are or what they believe,” Cuomo said.
The school’s headmaster, Daniel Vitow, was not available for comment on Monday, but told the New York Post last week that school officials were “aware of the situation and are actively working with law enforcement.”
Officials from the Nassau County Police Department confirmed they are investigating but did not provide any additional information. A spokesperson said the county police are assisting Lake Success police in the investigation. Lake Success police referred calls to the county Police Department, according to Newsday.
Officials have also announced that the FBI was aiding the investigation.
