{"id":16707,"date":"2019-04-09T14:06:45","date_gmt":"2019-04-09T14:06:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=16707"},"modified":"2019-04-09T14:06:45","modified_gmt":"2019-04-09T14:06:45","slug":"this-jewish-muslim-legal-duo-is-turning-heads-in-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=16707","title":{"rendered":"This Jewish-Muslim Legal Duo Is Turning Heads In New York"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>NEW YORK \u2014 In a world plagued by polarization and xenophobia, this Brooklyn judge and his law clerk rule in favor of peaceful coexistence.<br \/>\nJudge Noach Dear, an Orthodox Jew, and his court attorney Deema Azizi, a Syrian Muslim refugee, have been turning heads at the New York Supreme Court since they began working together two years ago.<br \/>\n\u201cWhen people see Deema for the first time, they always do a double take,\u201d he said. \u201cWith the response, \u2018What a combination, an Orthodox Jew with a Syrian Muslim woman \u2014 it\u2019s unbelievab\u00adle.\u2019\u201d<br \/>\nDear, who wears a yarmulke (skullcap) daily, said that he and Azizi, who dons a hijab every day, talk openly about their stereotypically contrasting religions, and how interestingly enough they have more similarities than differences \u2014 including their shared commitments to wearing religious garb, keeping religious-based diets, and daily prayer.<br \/>\n\u201cI could identify with her and her appearance because I wear a yarmulke,\u201d the judge said. \u201cPeople are so eager to characterize and generalize individuals on religious expression and dress. I think this is where Deema and I first related to one another.\u201d<br \/>\nAzizi, whose family fled Syria when she was a child, said her early years spent living under a dictator inspired her to pursue a legal career, so she could learn how to advocate for herself and others like her.<br \/>\nThe Supreme Court of New York in Brooklyn near Borough Hall. Photo by\u00a0Vincent Desjardins.<br \/>\n\u201cMy family escaped when I was six years old,\u201d said Azizi, who grew up in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. \u201cWe came here for freedom. I am grateful for Judge Dear because he gave me the opportunity to be here. He boosted my confidence in my capabilities and my career by accepting me for who I am.\u201d<br \/>\nDear pushed all preconceived notions and biases aside throughout the hiring process of Azizi, seeing her potential in her resume and character before anything else, he said.<br \/>\n\u201cReligious women who cover their hair are often not afforded the same opportunities by the way that they dress, and because of their backgrounds,\u201d Dear said. \u201cI wanted to accept Deema for her capabilities because I knew she was more than qualified.\u201d<br \/>\nAzizi has an impressive track record. She previously served two judicial internships with magistrate judges in Brooklyn and Manhattan and worked with clients locked up in the country\u2019s notorious Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba as a student at the City of New York School of Law.<br \/>\nHer family\u2019s escape from their native Syria to the U.S. and the resilience she learned from that journey played an equally important role as her legal experience did in landing Azizi her current clerkship, Dear said.<br \/>\nThe key to Dear and Azizi\u2019s success as a team is their ability to present themselves in \u201can approachable, kind, professional way,\u201d according to the judge\u2019s Senior Court Clerk Suzanne Marsh, who said she has worked with him for three years. Azizi and Marsh have also become friends through their work.<br \/>\n\u201cThey came in as working people without any [judgment], and that\u2019s a big part of going forward as a team,\u201d Marsh said. \u201cThat\u2019s the way a courtroom runs \u2014 no pre-judgment.\u201d<br \/>\nDear and Azizi hope that their message of respect and acceptance sets an example outside the office. Their relationship of mutual admiration, recognition, and no preconceived judgments should be the judiciary\u2019s foundation. They hope to inspire even more diversity within the legal community, Azizi said.<br \/>\n\u201cI think we need more diversity in the court system because we need to recognize that everyone who walks into the courtroom deserves to be recognized and heard despite race, religion, or gender,\u201d Azizi said.<br \/>\nTheir partnership sends a compelling message that two people from entirely different backgrounds can work together successfully and contribute to the common good, the judge said.<br \/>\n\u201cGod was good to me when I took the chance of hiring Deema,\u201d Dear said. \u201cI continually learn more about God\u2019s grace and acceptance. She is our superstar.\u201d<br \/>\n<strong>This story was published in The Brooklyn Paper.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NEW YORK \u2014 In a world plagued by polarization and xenophobia, this Brooklyn judge and his law clerk rule in favor of peaceful coexistence. Judge Noach Dear, an Orthodox Jew, and his court attorney Deema Azizi, a Syrian Muslim refugee, have been turning heads at the New York Supreme Court since they began working together [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":16708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5777],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16707\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}