Protester who demanded ‘Zionists’ exit NYC subway gets 4 hours of community service
Anti-Israel activist who drew widespread condemnation last year receives light sentence, prompting rebuke from leading Jewish security group
Luke Tress is The Times of Israel's New York correspondent.
NEW YORK — An anti-Israel activist arrested last year for demanding that “Zionists” identify themselves and leave a New York City subway car received a light sentence of four hours of community service on Wednesday, drawing a rebuke from a leading Jewish security group.
Anas Saleh was arrested in June and charged with coercion in the third degree for the incident. A widely-circulated video showed him leading chants of “Raise your hand if you’re a Zionist” on a packed subway car.
“This is your chance to get out,” he shouted. The call was repeated by other protesters on the train. Saleh and many of the other activists were wearing masks.
The footage drew widespread condemnation from public officials, including New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who called the comments “reprehensible and vile.”
Saleh was initially charged with attempted coercion, a misdemeanor, but a judge dismissed that charge.
In addition to the community service, Saleh will be required to take an anti-bias course, according to Jewish community members who attended Wednesday’s hearing.
Anti-Zionism is a modern manifestation of antisemitism.
Example:
An Anti-Zionist declaring on a NYC subway car: “Raise your hands if you’re a Zionist. This is your chance to get out.”Anyone threatening to purge “Zionists” (i.e. most Jews) from public places is an… pic.twitter.com/e3Wh6Ztp32
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) June 12, 2024
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office said the sentencing had taken into account Saleh’s lack of a criminal history, conversations with a complainant, and Saleh’s completion of mandatory programming. He will do his community service at a Jewish congregation.
The Community Security Initiative, a group that coordinates security for Jewish communities in the New York area, commended the NYPD and district attorney’s office for their work on the case but criticized the sentencing.
“We are deeply concerned that New York’s current hate crime laws do not classify Mr. Saleh’s actions as a hate crime,” CSI director Mitch Silber said. “We call on the New York State Legislature to update existing laws to accurately reflect the hate involved in such cases and ensure that perpetrators face appropriate consequences.”
“We view with concern the penalty of ‘community service,’” the statement said. “Accountability must be meaningful, and the justice system must continue to take threats, harassment, and exclusionary rhetoric against Jewish and pro-Israel communities seriously.”
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office backed state legislation last year that expanded the number of crimes that are eligible for hate crimes prosecution.
New York Rep. Ritchie Torres also criticized the sentencing.
“If you attempt to purge Jews from public places like subways, then the worst you can fear in NY is community service,” Torres wrote on X. “The State of New York is sending a dangerous message that emboldens antisemitism.”
The incident on the subway took place on June 10 after a large group of anti-Israel protesters left a demonstration in Manhattan’s Union Square to head to a protest against an exhibit commemorating the Supernova music festival, where Hamas killed 360 people during its October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel.
That protest, led by the hardline anti-Israel group Within Our Lifetime, was widely condemned as antisemitic by government leaders in New York and Washington, DC.
Another anti-Israel protester, Christopher Husary, was indicted for attempted coercion as a hate crime and aggravated harassment for another incident on the subway that took place around the same time.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said Husary’s alleged victim, a 35-year-old Jewish man, boarded a subway at the Fulton St. station in lower Manhattan and saw Husary drawing an inverted red triangle, a Hamas symbol, on a subway door.
The Jewish man used his cell phone to photograph Husary, who then approached the man, who was wearing a kippah, and demanded he delete the photo.
According to Bragg’s office, Husary berated and threatened the Jewish man, calling him a “Zionist” and saying, “You’re not a real Jew.” He then added, “We’ll find you and there will be consequences.”
Husary is scheduled to appear in court again next week.
Antisemitic hate crimes have surged in New York City since the Hamas attack on Israel. In 2024, Jews were targeted in 345 hate crimes, more than all other minority groups combined, according to NYPD data.
The NYPD on Tuesday reported 18 antisemitic hate crimes in January.
