(New York) On Friday, New York police are searching for the perpetrators of the attack on a Jewish man who took place on the sidelines of clashes between supporters of Israelis and supporters of the Palestinians the previous day in Times Square, amid an escalation in – high-profile acts due to the conflict in the Middle East.
According to a police spokeswoman, the attack took place around 6:30 pm on Thursday: “five or six men” beat a 29-year-old man and sprayed him with hot pepper while hurling anti-Semitic insults. The New York Post published a video of the scene.
The police, who issued a call for witnesses on Twitter, said on Friday that the victim was taken to hospital in a “stable” condition, without revealing his identity.
A 23-year-old man, Wassim Awada, was arrested and suspected of participating in the assault by beating the man with a crutch, and charged with hate-motivated assault and assault in the gathering. The rest are still wanted on Friday.
The events took place on the sidelines of clashes between pro-Israel and Palestinian demonstrators, shortly after the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas after 11 days of conflict. And 26 people were arrested during this demonstration, according to the spokesman.
A woman also suffered burns when fireworks were thrown into the crowd, according to police, who believed it could be a “hate crime.”
“No room for anti-Semitism”
PHOTO CRAIG RUTTLE, Associated Press
“Anti-Semitism has no place in our city,” and “the perpetrators of this heinous act will be prosecuted,” tweeted Bill de Blasio, mayor of the US capital, which includes the largest Jewish community outside Israel.
For two weeks, he said, the police had strengthened security measures in “sensitive areas” for the Jewish and Palestinian communities in the city.
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo and other elected Democrats or candidates for the upcoming municipal elections also condemned the attack, including the influential young congressman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who on Saturday denounced Israel’s “apartheid” policy toward the Palestinians.
The left-wing Democratic star tweeted: “There is no place for anti-Semitism in the Palestinian liberation movement.” Our criticisms target Israel and its human rights violations. They are not an excuse to commit anti-Semitic crimes. ”
According to Jonathan Greenblatt, director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) that fights anti-Semitism and racism, “in the past seven to ten days we have registered an increase of more than 50% in anti-Semitic acts.”
He lamented the many recent anti-Semitic attacks that went unnoticed.
While the media noticeably reported Tuesday’s attack on Jewish people sitting on the balcony of a Los Angeles restaurant, other attacks were alleged to have occurred in New York, Florida, Illinois and California. Sublime messages on social media.
There have been several protests, most of them seamless, in New York and other cities around the world since the start of the conflict.