NEW YORK—Calls for justice are emanating from Muslim civil rights and advocacy groups in the aftermath of a video that has circulated online showing an alleged pro-Israeli mob of men harassing a woman in New York’s Brooklyn borough.
The incident occurred in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights, after hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters—a synagogue beloved to the Hasidic Jewish community—on the night of April 24.
The crowd, reportedly, was protesting the visit to the synagogue by Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and consisted of those opposed to Israel’s genocidal operations against the Palestinian people.
To oppose them, pro-Israel protesters also took to the streets.
In an interview with the Associated Press, the woman, whose identity remains concealed, said she simply went outside of her Brooklyn residence to see what was going on after learning of the protest.
She said the protest was over, but there remained “hundreds of orthodox Jewish men” in the streets and on the sidewalks. According to AP, she explains that as she stood on the sidewalk, observing the scene along with other neighbors, people started recording near her.
She covered her face with a scarf to avoid being recorded. The woman goes on to explain that that action resulted in a Jewish woman yelling at her and the group of Jewish men surrounding her.
In one videotaped angle of the incident, posted to X by Middle East Eye, the woman, wearing a blue and white scarf covering part of her face, is seen walking away from an antagonizing crowd of dozens of young Jewish men.
The video then jumps to a new clip where the woman is seen continuing to walk away, but now she is accompanied by a police officer who acts as a shield between her and the growing mob of hostile men.
While they walk, the woman is taunted by the mob, as they repeatedly kick her in the back, call her slurs, chant “Death to Arabs,” knock over garbage cans in her path, and hurl at least one object at her.
With their daunting walk lasting for blocks, the mob can be heard making clear derogatory statements at the woman. One member of the mob can be heard yelling, “We’re never going down, b***h. This is America. We got Israel. We’ve got an army.”
“They threatened to rape me; they were hurling just vile insults at me. I moved closer to the police than I already was and they did nothing to intervene. I tried to leave and a single officer attempted to escort me home but this mob followed us,” she told AP.
“I was just terrified. There’s nothing more I can say except that I felt just sheer terror,” she continued, detailing the various heinous actions of the mob, including spitting on her.
The video ends as the police officer ushers the woman into a police car, away from the crowd, sending the men into celebratory cheers.
Since its posting and spreading on social media platforms, the video has galvanized the attention and voices of many who are deeply bothered and concerned by what they saw.
This includes the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a non-profit Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States. Leaders of the organization’s New York chapter and national headquarters strongly condemned the attack on the woman and urged action to be taken by authorities.
In a news release issued on April 26, CAIR called on the NYPD to pursue hate crime charges against members of the “pro-Israel mob.”
In a statement, CAIR-NY Executive Director Afaf Nasher, Esq. said: “Every community, religious or political leader who cares about the safety of residents and freedom and justice in our city, state and nation must speak out strongly against this apparently racist attack by a pro-Israel mob.
If a huge mob of men surrounding a woman and threatening her security fails to shake our conscience, then we are a lost people. The NYPD must investigate this shocking incident as a hate crime and bring the perpetrators—many of whom are clearly seen on the video—to justice.”
Similarly, CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell condemned the “violent mob of pro-Israel racists,” and “all because they thought she was an Arab-American,” he said in a statement in part.
“We call on elected officials across New York to condemn these hate actions, and we call on law enforcement to identify and prosecute those responsible for hate crimes,” his statement continued.
Mr. Mitchell went on to note that the recent attack on this woman is “only the latest incident of violence perpetrated by anti-Arab racists over the past year and a half,” noting the October 2023 fatal stabbing of six-year-old Palestinian-American Wadea Al-Fayoume in Chicago to be a prime example anti-Arab violence.
According to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, the NYPD is taking action. In a statement released on the X page of Mayor Adams on April 27, he called the acts “despicable,” insisting that such “hate has no place in New York City,” and that, “those responsible will be held accountable.”
The mayor also confirmed that the NYPD is investigating a “series of incidents stemming from the clashing protests on Thursday.”
The mayor went on the write that, “While one arrest was made and several summonses issued, we are actively working to identify additional individuals involved in these specific incidents. We urge anyone with information to contact the NYPD immediately.”
Mayor Adams also encouraged the women who were assaulted to come forward, noting that there were reports of two different women being assaulted but that they “have been unable to locate them so far.”
At the Final Call’s press time, there have been no further updates on arrests or the identities of the suspects.