Mitchell-Linden Civic Association

10/14/2026

If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, how do we pave the way for peace and reconciliation?

What is the Road to Reconciliation Paved with?

09/23/2026

Hundreds of Jewish New Yorkers marked Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, on Monday (Sept. 21) with a mourning ritual memorializing Palestinians killed in the Israel-Hamas war. A few days before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s highly anticipated visit for the U.N. General Assembly, the gathering also served to denounce how the Israeli government has handled the war.

Brad Lander, a New York Democratic nominee for Congress, who is Jewish, addressed the crowd gathered at Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza by denouncing Netanyahu’s visit and what he described as a “genocide” happening in Gaza.

He said he belonged to a group of Jews “who say no to ethnic cleansing, who say no to human-made famine, who say no to the use of U.S. tax dollars to bomb entire families, who say no to war criminals in our city this holy week or any week.”

In the city that’s home to the largest Jewish population in the U.S., Netanyahu’s visit has prompted divides — especially after Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a staunch Israel critic, in July reignited the debate over Netanyahu’s visit to the U.S. despite the International Criminal Court’s efforts to arrest him for what it deemed were war crimes committed in Gaza. The mayor called Netanyahu a “war criminal” but backtracked on his campaign promise of arresting him, citing the city’s lack of legal authority — which Netanyahu dismissed as comments “fomenting hate” and fueling antisemitism.

Netanyahu’s visit is expected to prompt a number of protests, which the mayor encouraged New Yorkers to participate in over the summer. However, according to The Forward, last week he said he “never encouraged them to protest,” but said they “have the right to do so in the city.” Last week, a group of Modern Orthodox Jewish teens protested the mayor’s stance on Israel in front of the mayor’s residence at Gracie Mansion. Showcasing their support for the Jewish state, the teens prayed with tefillin, the black leather threads attached to boxes containing Torah verses worn by observant Jewish men during prayers.

Now in its third year, the public remembrance service has become a space for Jewish New Yorkers opposed to the war in Gaza to voice their criticism and lament the devastation caused by the conflict. It was organized by Jews For Racial & Economic Justice, a left-wing Jewish organization of which Lander is a member, and Rabbis for Ceasefire, a collective of 450 Jewish faith leaders demanding an end to the war. The demonstration was co-sponsored by Jewish Voice for Peace, IfNotNow and the American Council for Judaism.

NEW YORK (RNS) — As the highly anticipated US visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approaches this week, attendees denounced how the Israeli government has handled the war.

09/11/2026

This summer, Friends visited Palestine and met with peacemakers from the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities. Find out what they witnessed: What did they see and learn? What do the people of Palestine want us to know? What is life like under the occupation today? Please join us Wednesday, September 16th at 7:30 p.m. ET online for their report-back and presentation, "Spirit Moves at the Margins in Palestine." RSVP @ https://cutt.ly/1yjc78EN

09/02/2026

Our Palestine solidarity delegation will report-back on Wednesday, September 16, 7:30pm EST. Register @ https://cutt.ly/1yjc78EN

08/27/2026

Hannah Arendt talks about “the banality of evil” to describe the normalization of horrific acts by ordinary people. In Korea, Jejudo is now marketed as a “Hawaiian” vacation paradise for those seeking tropical sun and waves. In Occupied Palestine and North America, you will hear endless debates over highways, congestion and parking on stolen land soaked in blood. On Sundays at the Flushing Meeting House, you will hear Quakers read a land acknowledgement in recognition of the indigenous Matinecock Nation and then spend the next couple of hours arguing over property maintenance or the disposition of their endowment.

It’s Too Early for Land Acknowledgements in Palestine

05/30/2026

Arrested for reading a book during a thunderstorm: John Choe was driving through Athens, Georgia, when a storm prompted him to stop at a gas station to wait out the rain. This video features bodycam footage from Officer John LaValley and other police officers responding to the situation. https://www.msn.com/en-us/public-safety-and-emergencies/traffic-and-transportation-incidents/arrested-for-reading-a-book-during-a-thunderstorm/vi-AA23FmkT https://gofund.me/7cb1fecb4

John Choe was driving through Athens, Georgia, when a storm prompted him to stop at a gas station to wait out the thunder. This video features raw bodycam footage from Officer John LaValley responding to the situation.

05/13/2026

We Shall Overcome!

2.3K likes, 171 comments. "WE SHALL OVERCOME: LOVE WILL RISE AGAIN | nimo patel & daniel nahmod | Empty Hands Music"

04/16/2026

Hon. Nicholas W. Moyne recused himself from overseeing a lawsuit filed by Queens residents against the New York State Gaming Commission on March 20, citing a “social relationship with a member of respondent” as his reason for recusal on court documentation filed on April 2.

The lawsuit stems from criticisms over the gaming commission’s unanimous decision on Dec. 15 to issue a commercial casino license to the Metropolitan Park casino team, led by Hard Rock International and billionaire Steve Cohen, owner of the New York Mets.

The casino is slated to be built next to Citi Field in Flushing, and preparations for its construction are currently underway.

Petitioners allege that the gaming commission failed in its duty to ensure the integrity of the casino sponsors — Cohen and Hard Rock — as required by law.

They cited Cohen’s hedge fund, SAC Capital Advisors, which pleaded guilty in the nation’s largest insider-trading scandal and agreed to pay a record $1.8 billion fine.

While the Metropolitan Park casino team noted that Cohen himself was not charged with any wrongdoing, the billionaire was barred from managing clients’ money for two years in a separate civil action.

ProPublica also released a report in December 2024 that Cohen used his new hedge fund, Point72, to utilize a tax loophole that helped the billionaire avoid approximately $11 million in Medicare taxes in 2014 and 2015.

At the time, ProPublica reported that Cohen and two other billionaires referenced in the story said they “followed the law as written.”

As for Hard Rock, the petitioners noted that last August, the company fired its senior vice president for Hotel and Casino Operations, Alex Pariente, following an internal investigation of charges that included money-laundering practices.

Petitioners’ second point of contention argued that the gaming commission did not conduct fair public hearings and systematically silenced voices that opposed the casino project. Petitioners submitted evidence citing the two public hearings — one on Sept. 9 that lasted from 4-7 p.m. and one on Sept. 16 that was shortened from three hours to two hours and took place from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. — as the two shortest scheduled sessions of any of the other casino teams conducting hearings for their proposals at the time, most of which were scheduled for at least four hours long.

In addition, they claimed the notice sent out by the gaming commission ahead of the Sept. 16 hearing was misleading because it instructed members of the public not to arrive before 9:30 a.m.

Attendees said members of the public were let in much earlier than 9:30 a.m., with one petitioner claiming there was already a line of about 50 people when he arrived at 9:10 a.m.

According to documentation filed in the court case, 54 speakers had testified that day — 43 of which were in support of the casino. Only four of the first 35 speakers were against the casino.

The lawsuit stems from criticisms over the gaming commission’s unanimous decision on Dec. 15 to issue a commercial casino license to the Metropolitan Park

04/12/2026

It's time to Gather! Meet Friends, Connect and Strategize!!

See you at FGC Gathering: July 7 – 12, 2026 in Burlington, Vermont!!!

https://www.fgcquaker.org/fgcprograms/the-gathering/