World Jewish News

Israeli NGO calls on New York Mayor Bill de Blasio to remove in the city all memorials to anti-Semite first Governor Peter Stuyv

An Israeli NGO has called on New York Mayor Bill de Blasio to remove in the city all memorials to Peter Stuyvesant, the last Governor of New Amsterdam (today New York) who was an anti-Semite.

Shurat HaDin, the Isreal Law Center, which represents terror victims in court, said “Peter Stuyvesant (who was Dutch) was an extreme racist who targeted Jews and other minorities including Catholics and energetically tried to prohibit them from settling in then New Amsterdam.

“New York, of all American cities, which boasts such important Jewish history and claims such a present day vibrant Jewish community, should take the lead in denouncing Stuyvesant’s bigotry,” said Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, Shurat HaDin’s president.

Stuyvesant has several memorials and places in his name in Manhattan, including the Stuyvesant High School and a statue in Manhattan’s Stuyvesant Square.

As Governor, Stuyvesant didn’t want Jews o stay in his colony when they arrived in 1654 from the Netherlands via Brazil. When that didn’t work, Stuyvesant settled for prohibiting them from building a synagogue and serving in the militia. And he slapped them with a special tax.

Shurat HaDin has called for all of Stuyvesant’s memorials to be renamed for Asser Levy, a prominent member of the first New York Jewish community who campaigned for equal rights

EJP