The Historic Opportunity to Elect Our Own on November 5th
On November 5, 2024, my grandparents – from both sides of my family – will vote for the first time.
Like so many of our community’s families, my grandparents were effectively kicked out of Syria. They immigrated as refugees to Israel where they rebuilt their lives before coming to the United States and settling in Brooklyn. I often reflect on the struggle and the difficulties that my grandparents faced – the pain of leaving the place they called home and the challenge of starting off new. It’s a familiar story in our community.
And as I run to become the first homegrown elect official, I reflect on my family’s journey now more than ever before. Because after all of the challenges and the hardships, after all they’ve seen and all they have been through, on November 5, 2024, they, like so many community members with similar experiences of faith and resilience, will cast their ballot and vote for the first time in their lives. For my grandparents, the 2024 election is the culmination of a story that began as a persecuted minority forced to leave their homes in Syria and Egypt. Their opportunity to now vote for the first time in their lives and cast their ballot for their own grandson to become our community’s first homegrown elected official is the epitome of the American dream.
So, why did I decide to run for office? Two years ago, my opponent got elected to this position and decided to write off our community.
For those who don’t know, my opponent is a socialist Bernie Sanders supporter who changed his party registration from a Socialist to a Republican because he believed it would win him the last election. In other words, he is a Socialist in Republican clothing. He successfully tricked the community into voting for him and in the last two years, our community has received less funding and resources from our “assemblyman” than any year in the past two decades.
The millions of dollars in funding that have been diverted from our community because our current elected official has written us off, is creating a ripple effect that has led to costs rising for every one of us, from security to education and beyond. The critical work that our community institutions do every day r to help our community thrive, depends in large part on funding from the government. I am running to bring that critical funding back to our district, to have a seat at the table and to fight for our community’s interests.
Issues that are so critical to our community currently being ignored in the Assembly:
- Israel. After October 7th, the Jewish Community around the world, and especially in New York, was faced with a level of uncertainty that we haven’t seen in decades. At a critical time in Modern Jewish history, too many of our elected officials have failed us. We hear a lot of folks that say they support us — but actions speak louder than words. My opponent has done almost nothing to use his platform as an elected official to support Israel. And his support of Bernie Sanders in the past only shows a lack of solidarity with Israel in one of the most critical times in history.
- Migrants. Last year we saw a situation where the city placed migrants in a local high school. This was a failure on the part of our local elected officials. We have to make sure that our elected officials are always one step ahead and take the steps necessary to protect our children. Schools should be used for our kids and our kids only. We cannot allow city and state government to re-allocate spaces intended for our children.
- We need to protect Yeshiva education. We have seen attacks aimed at our yeshivas on every level and it is unacceptable. As a product of the yeshiva system and a graduate of the Yeshiva of Flatbush, this is an issue that I strongly believe in, and I will employ a multi-faceted strategy to help our local yeshivas and schools. I will forge a like-minded coalition of lawmakers and activists who I will work with to create real policy change in Albany. I will work to ensure that yeshivas are properly heard and provided for by City Hall. Finally, I will leverage my influence as an elected official to guarantee the Jewish community’s voice is being heard – especially on the subject of education.
- Fighting back against hate crimes. There’s been an explosion of hate against our community in recent years, from masked individuals to swastikas appearing across the district. The Jewish people are under attack and we need one of our own to fight back. I will fight for legislation that protects Jews from rising Antisemitism. Within my district, across the State, and online, I will use my platform as an Assemblymember to speak out against Antisemitic acts and attacks against Israel. As Jews in my community and across the world see hate rise against them, I will do everything in my power to protect and defend them.
Lastly, this election underscores the importance of our community being educated on the candidates who are running to represent us. Just because someone has an R in front of their name, does not automatically mean that they share our values or that they are ready to fight for our interests – and we have seen proof of that with my opponent.
We, as a community, need to look at and vote for the candidate who will be able to deliver for us. The candidate who we know we can hold accountable. The candidate who understands our issues and our challenges because he shares them. The candidate who understands the burden of rising tuition costs because his kids are also in our schools, the candidate who understands the importance of making sure that our community’s institutions are well served because he has seen them serve the needs of the community first hand.
On November 5th, the choice needs to be clear: We as a community need to make sure that Joey Cohen Saban is elected to the New York State Assembly.
PAID FOR BY SABAN FOR BROOKLYN