Jews of NY, a popular Instagram account, made it clear: antisemitic acts will no longer go unpunished. This message was powerfully conveyed in a recent post.
“Thanks to you all, justice has been served, sending a clear message: Antisemitism has consequences! Thank you, Mayor Adams, for hearing us,” read the post, which was accompanied by a screenshot of a New York Post headline: “Adams staffer who tore down Israel hostage poster has been indefinitely suspended without pay.”
The story began in early November, when Jews of NY co-posted with Stop_antisemitism about Nallah Sutherland, a special events coordinator for the Mayor’s Office of Special Projects and Community Events. Sutherland, 25, was recorded tearing down an Israeli hostage poster from a light pole on the Upper East Side, ripping it up and tossing it into a trash bin.
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In the video, an eyewitness – perhaps the one recording – asks, “Is there a reason you’re taking those down? Those were hostages. They were taken by terrorists.”
Instead of responding, Sutherland walks toward the man and swipes at his phone, momentarily knocking it out of focus.
“That’s assault, actually. You know that, right?” the man says. Sutherland simply smirks, turns her head away from the camera and walks away.
The incident sparked outrage across social media, but Sutherland wasn’t fired and received a mild punishment. She was ordered to take “multicultural training” and a disciplinary note was added to her permanent work file.
Yoav Davis, founder of Jews of NY, felt the community outrage and decided to post a video addressing Mayor Adams directly.
“Hey Mayor Adams…..We thought it could be a good opportunity for your administration to set a clear example to all New Yorkers that such hateful behavior is completely unacceptable. Instead, we were deeply disappointed to learn that the only disciplinary action taken was that this employee had to attend multicultural training.”
He also added: “As the mayor of one of a cities with one the largest Jewish communities in the world, you have the responsibility to firmly reject antisemitism and hatred in all its forms.”
Mayor Adams’ response came the following day, on December 2, when it was announced that Sutherland was indefinitely suspended without pay.
Davis, who launched Jews of NY over eight years ago, said that originally, he wanted to post stories about the vibrant Jewish community in New York. “The idea was to celebrate the community and have a place on instagram that’s positive and showcases the different types of Jews. We are so diverse, and there are so many different types of Jews in New York and so many beautiful things in terms of life of the Jews of New York, from Ashkenazi to Mizrahi, from Russian to Greek.”
He started by posting stories about Jewish restaurants, events and holidays, but then when antisemitic incidents kept happening in the city, he began posting such stories as well. In the past year, since October 7, there were many more stories of antisemitism and several videos of people ripping posters. Despite the public outrage, most of those individuals faced no consequences and continued with their lives uninterrupted.
Sutherland’s actions, however, had significant repercussions. She lost her comfortable job, where she earned $61,135 annually. As part of her role, she had helped organize celebrations hosted by the mayor at Gracie Mansion and other locations, honoring the city’s diverse ethnic communities.
Davis was raised in Israel to parents who made aliyah from the U.S. He moved to New York 10 years ago, after serving in the IDF in the high profile IDF Spokesperson unit and later working in the TV industry as a director and format developer. Today, his company Davis Media helps major brands, NGOs and businesses create original content and manage social media. Davis worked directly with notable personalities such as Joan Rivers and Noa Tishby.
In a phone interview with the Journal, he said that the Jewish community needs to be vigilant and active in the face of antisemitism.
“The second we see any antisemitic behavior, first of all, document it, video it and make record of it so we can prove this is happening. Secondly, we need to demand justice, and we need to speak up and not accept this behavior. Antisemitism must always be completely unacceptable, any form, type or shape of it. Just like any other minority, hate against Jews should never be disregarded or normalized.”
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