‘Free Palestine’: Yeshiva Student Assaulted in Third Antisemitic Attack in Brooklyn In Five Days

A yeshiva student was assaulted on Tuesday in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, the third antisemitic attack in the New York City borough since last Friday.

The unnamed student was surrounded by five males at the intersection of of Avenue M and East 18th Street in Flatbush who punched him in the face. One of the assailants reportedly yelled “Free Palestine” during the assault.

“When we hear about these violent antisemitic attacks that are happening nearly daily in New York City, we know the reason they’re happening is because people think they can get away with it,” Brooklyn councilman Kalman Yeger told Yeshiva World News from the scene of the attack. “And as long as that continues to be the case, it’s not going to end.”

Tuesday’s assault came on the heels of an attack against a Jewish person who was walking with their children through Williamsburg on Sunday and an assault in Crown Heights on Friday against a Jewish man who was also subjected to antisemitic invective.

Yeger voiced concern that the cycle of arresting and then releasing offenders was exacerbating the problem.

“We know the cops will do their job; they will find the perpetrators. But what happens after that? If they’re going to be released and be allowed to do this over and over and over again, it’s never going to stop. This has to end,” he said.

Antisemitic incidents in New York have been steadily rising in recent years, with a 100 percent increase reported in 2021. In February of this year, the New York Police Department recorded 56 hate crimes against Jews, compared with 11 in the same month the previous year.