Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) National President Morton A. Klein released the following statement:
The New York Mets – one of the flagship teams in a city that is still home to one million Jews (1.4 in the New York metro area) – has not had a Jewish heritage night since 2023, while continuing to hold events celebrating the heritage of numerous other New York ethnic groups.
The Mets have remained silent about their reasons for eliminating Jewish heritage nights this year. In 2024, the Mets gave the unconvincing excuse that they were moving towards events reflecting communities collectively. But this “collective” celebration rationale is belied by the Mets’ actual schedule of individual cultures’ heritage nights.
The Mets’ 2026 “Theme Games and Heritage Nights” schedule includes heritage nights for Italians, Puerto Ricans, Black legacy, Japanese, the Dominicans, Koreans, Irish and Mexicans, as well as nights for dogs (“Bark in the Park”), Hello Kitty, Star Wars, medical services appreciation, backyard baseball, Naruto (a Japanese anime ninja), women and Pride (LGBTQ).
The decision to jettison Jewish heritage night was likely made out of fear that anti-Israel groups might violently demonstrate or riot. But that’s absolutely the wrong approach. When antisemitic groups succeed in eliminating Jewish heritage events, it only emboldens the antisemites to increase their attacks on the Jewish community.
The Mets and its Jewish owner need to do better for the New York Jewish community that has long supported their team.
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