Tara Oliver, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey attorney general’s office, declined to discuss the Teaneck event, citing “potential or pending enforcement matters.” But she said that the state’s Law Against Discrimination “generally prohibits entities from discriminating on the basis of race, religion, national origin, ancestry, and other protected characteristics in housing,” though it allows some exceptions for religious entities. The office will have to determine how or whether the law applies to land sales in Israel and the West Bank, where restrictive covenants are legal.
Teaneck, which once touted itself as a model of religious harmony, with a Muslim mayor and an Orthodox Jewish deputy mayor, has become a seat of conflict over the Israeli-Palestinian hostilities. The township, with a population of almost 42,000, has the second-largest Jewish community in the state, accounting for more than a third of the residents, and at least 15 synagogues. But it is also a diverse township, and since the start of the war, residents say, it has become increasingly polarized.
“A lot of this stuff is raw on both sides,” said Rayed Hassan, who runs the Al-Ummah Cultural Center, a mosque and nonsectarian gym about four miles from Keter Torah synagogue. “Eventually, something’s got to break. And it’s not just Palestinians that are involved. You have African Americans, you have the Hispanic community involved. It’s just brewing.” He recently increased security at the center in response to threats.
In November, when about 75 students at Teaneck High School held a walkout over U.S. support of Israel’s war in Gaza, it drew scathing condemnation from local Jewish leaders and elected officials, who accused the school of fomenting antisemitism. School officials now face a federal discrimination investigation over their handling of the walkout.
Since then, tensions — and fears — have only escalated, said Hillary Goldberg, a member of the township council, who has been a vocal supporter of Israel and critic of the walkout. “I have been threatened; I had a box truck with my picture on it and the words ‘liar liar’ driven around town; my house has been broken into; I have received antisemitic messages,” she said in an email. She added, “I have never felt so afraid to be Jewish as now,” she said.
