| Submit your comments on this article |
| Fifth Column |
| Man who attacked Jews in NYC becomes cause célèbre for anti-Israel activists |
| 2025-09-19 |
| [IsraelTimes] National Students for Justice in Palestine, other leading protest groups rally behind Tarek Bazrouk, who pleaded guilty to antisemitic assaults Anti-Israel activists in the US have rallied behind Tarek Bazrouk, a New York resident who confessed to carrying out antisemitic attacks against three Jews. In June, Bazrouk, 20, pleaded guilty in a federal court in New York to attacking the individuals because of their Jewish or Israeli identity. The victims of the attacks, which took place surrounding anti-Israel protests in 2024 and early 2025, were all wearing Jewish or Israeli symbols or were otherwise identifiable as such. Ahead of Bazrouk’s sentencing on October 1, an array of activist groups have launched a campaign on his behalf. National Students for Justice in Palestine put out a call on Wednesday asking followers to send letters to the judge in the case requesting a lenient sentence for Bazrouk. “Tarek has been targeted in the broader repression tactic by the United States government to silence the movement for Palestinian liberation, and protect its genocidal interests,” the statement said, calling Bazrouk “our political prisoner.” “We can show the court that Tarek’s community stands in unwavering support of him and demands his immediate liberation,” the statement said. Other prominent activist groups that have backed Bazrouk include the Palestinian Youth Movement, Within Our Lifetime, Pal-Awda, the anti-Israel campus coalition Columbia University Apartheid Divest, and other student groups around New York City. The activists urged their followers to write letters to the judge in the case requesting a lenient sentence, to write supportive messages to Bazrouk directly, and to donate to his jail commissary. Supporters have donated more than $5,000 to Bazrouk, and nearly 2,000 signed a petition to the judge seeking to have him released. He is facing a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. All of the assaults took place surrounding anti-Israel protests in Manhattan. Bazrouk told the judge in the case that he, as a Palestinian, carried out the attacks “to express my outrage over Israel’s widespread killing and displacement of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.” “I should have never used violence and should have never targeted any counter-protesters because of my perception of them as Jewish or Israeli,” he told the judge. In April 2024, Bazrouk, while wearing a Hamas headband, scuffled with pro-Israel demonstrators at a protest outside the New York Stock Exchange. He was arrested during the altercation, and while he was being escorted to a police vehicle, he kicked a Jewish college student in the stomach. In December 2024, at a protest near Columbia University, Bazrouk snatched an Israeli flag from two Jewish brothers while calling them “Nazis.” As the brothers followed Bazrouk through a crowd to retrieve the flag, he ambushed them from the side, punching one of the brothers in the face. In January 2025, at another protest, Bazrouk jostled a Jewish counter-protester. The Jewish individual pushed Bazrouk away, who then punched him in the nose. All of the victims were wearing kippahs, Stars of David, or Israeli flags, or were in groups singing Jewish songs. Two of the victims were Columbia University students. Investigators found text messages from Bazrouk that corroborated his antisemitic motives. A US Justice Department statement said Bazrouk self-identified as a “Jew hater.” He wrote to acquaintances, regarding Jews, “They are worthless,” “Allah get us rid of them,” derided a Jewish man as a “Fucking Jew,” and threatened to shoot Jews. He also told a friend he was “mad happy” to find out he has family who are Hamas members while he was visiting the West Bank and Jordan. On Instagram, he posted a video of a Jewish child, told his followers to “get him,” and posted the name of the child’s Jewish school. He also posted support for Hamas on social media. In addition, his phone had pro-Hamas and pro-Hezbollah propaganda, such as images of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, and he was in a chat group that received messages written by Hamas spokesperson Abu Obeida. In addition to the attacks, Bazrouk has been arrested at least 12 other times, including for drug dealing. When investigators searched Bazrouk’s room, in an apartment he shared with his family, they found an airsoft gun that appeared to be an actual firearm, bullet casings, brass knuckles, four knives, including a switchblade and $750,000 in cash, the source of which remains unclear. He forfeited the cash to the authorities as part of his plea agreement. Are he or any of that family immigrants? Because they seem awfully good candidates for being stripped of green cards/citizenship and sent back to the West Bank to join the rest of their family. Jews are targeted in hate crimes reported to police in New York City far more than any other group. Convictions for hate crimes are relatively rare, though, because there is a high legal bar for proving a bias motive.Related: Tarek Bazrouk 06/04/2025 Columbia protestor had direct link to Hamas' deadly al-Qassam Brigades militant group: DOJ Tarek Bazrouk 05/09/2025 NY man charged with antisemitic attacks found with weapons, hundreds of thousands in cash, feds say Tarek Bazrouk 05/08/2025 US charges man for assaulting Jews in NYC, including Columbia students |
| Posted by:trailing wife |