Young Jewish man stabbed in NYC by attacker yelling ‘Free Palestine’
Victim taken to hospital, community members chase down assailant and hold him until police arrive and make arrest
A young Jewish man was stabbed early Saturday morning near the Chabad movement’s headquarters in New York City by a man yelling “Free Palestine,” according to a local rabbi who said he knows the victim, as well as CCTV footage of the incident published online.
Yaacov Behrman tweeted that during Shabbat, the young male attacker asked the man: “Do you want to die?” He then stabbed him.
The victim was taken to the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery, Behrman said.
A video of the incident posted online showed the assailant approaching a group of young Jewish men in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn and then stabbing one of them. The victim was seen looking down, apparently at his injuries, but remained standing.
Behrman said other community members chased the attacker and pinned him down until police arrived and arrested him.
“This is an extremely serious incident,” Behrman said. “The victim could have been killed. This act of hateful violence highlights the dangerous impact of anti-Semitic incitement and hate propagated by some local politicians and leaders in New York and across the United States.”
According to the Yeshiva World News website, the victim was a member of the Lubavitch community and the assailant was a black man in his early 20s.
It reported that the incident is being investigated by New York police as a hate crime.
???????????? BREAKING: Man shouting "FREE PALESTINE" stabs Jew in New York near Chabad Headquarters.
"Do you want to die?"
That's what the perpetrator — reportedly a black male in his early 20s — asked the victim, before he started stabbing him.
This happened on Shabbat. Local… pic.twitter.com/ucTVMpmz5E
— dahlia kurtz ✡︎ דליה קורץ (@DahliaKurtz) August 11, 2024
I can confirm that a hate crime stabbing occurred early this morning in Crown Heights, around 2 a.m., near Eastern Parkway and Kingston Avenue, close to Chabad Headquarters.
The perpetrator, a Black male in his early 20s, shouted "Free Palestine" and, after an exchange of words…
— Yaacov Behrman (@ChabadLubavitch) August 11, 2024
NYPD Deputy Chief Richie Taylor of the Community Affairs Bureau told the outlet that there will be increased police presence in the area of the stabbing at Eastern Parkway and Kingston Avenue until after the coming High Holidays period in October.
The incident came amid a spike in antisemitism around the world against the backdrop of Israel’s ongoing war against the Palestinian terror group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The war erupted when Hamas led a devastating cross-border attack on Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 as hostages to Gaza.
Israel responded with a military campaign to destroy Hamas and free the hostages.
The conflict brought a swell of pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel activism including a spike in assaults on Jewish people in which assailants referenced the war or made pro-Palestinian remarks.
