New York sees its 11th antisemitic assault of this year

An Orthodox Jewish man was walking to synagogue for morning prayer yesterday, when 38-year-old Farrukh Afzal got out of his car and started viciously beating him in the middle of a crowded Brooklyn intersection. The incident appears to have happened shortly before 7:30am on 13th avenue. The following video of the attack surfaced about an hour later.

The video shows several cars waiting at the intersection as the beating occurs. The only individual who attempted to help the victim was another Orthodox Jewish man, who the attacker then chased across the intersection. The attack allegedly occurred as the man was crossing the street. New York Police have arrested the suspect and are treating the assault as a hate crime.

The Suspect

The suspect was allegedly instigated by his perception that the 62-year-old was crossing the street too slowly. Police told New York Post that the suspect had 8 prior arrests on his record. The victim told state legislature Dov Hikind that the attacker yelled at him in a foreign language, and that he only understood the words "Allah" and "Israel".

A Troubling Pattern

Following a similar attack earlier this month, this marks the 11th antisemitic assault in New York this year according to the Anti-Defamation League. The ADL's Regional Director for New York and New Jersey issued the following statement:

“We are deeply disturbed by and unequivocally condemn this horrific attack, and thank the New York City Police Department and its Hate Crimes Task Force for taking swift action in this case and for investigating a bias motive. Brooklyn is a community of great diversity, and incidents like these can damage the fabric of our society and fragment communities. We will continue to offer our support in responding to hate, so that New York City remains safe and inclusive for all.”

While violence against New York's Jewish population has spiked, it is unfortunately not unique to the area. Numbers of antisemitic assaults have been on the rise in other parts of the western world as well, perhaps most notably in the UK, where victims have even included small children.