Man Shouting ‘Free Palestine’ Stabs Religious Jew in New York

A man shouting “free Palestine!” stabbed and wounded a religious Jews near the headquarters of the Chabad Lubavitch movement in Brooklyn, New York.

Yaacov Behrman, a spokesman for Chabad Lubavitch, said Saturday night:

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 with the victim, allegedly asked, “Do you want to die?” before stabbing him.

The victim, a young adult Jewish man, was transported to the hospital and is expected to recover due to the location of the stabbing and the quick response of paramedics.

Community residents pursued the attacker and detained him until police arrived to make an arrest.

This is an extremely serious incident. 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.

Take this incident as a warning of the potential consequences if such hateful rhetoric continues. When hate and incitement against a group are preached, it invariably leads to violence.

I know the victim, though I have not yet spoken to him directly since the incident. He has long-standing ties to the community.

There has been a surge in antisemitic attacks in the U.S., including in New York, since October 7. New York prosecutors have often let perpetrators back out on the street.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who prosecuted former President Donald Trump, let many of the perpetrators of a violent occupation at Columbia University go free with charges dropped.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.