A Jewish community leader in New York was beaten by pro-Palestinian demonstrators in front of his children at a Brooklyn Nets game against Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv at the Barclay’s Center.
The exhibition fundraising game was organized for the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
The attack is being investigated as a hate crime.
According to Jewish media, Leonard Petlakh, 42, director of a Jewish community center in Brooklyn, said protestors shouting “Free Palestine” and “Your people are murderers,” accosted him as he left the game in downtown Brooklyn. One of them struck Petlakh in the face, he said.
New York’s Daily News reported that the incident started inside the arena when protesters unfurled a Palestinian flag near Petlakh, who was with his family and friends. The argument continued outside when one member of Petlakh’s group tried to grab the flag, police told the newspaper.
“It’s ridiculous,” Petlakh told The Forward. “It’s not about the Middle East, it’s about sports.
“You go to a game and out of the blue they have to witness this, and then your blood is gushing all over your shirt in front of your kids.”
In August, the Anti Defamation League (ADL) reported a “dramatic upsurge in violence and vitriol against Jews,” around the world associated with Israel’s military operation in Gaza against Hamas.
Petlakh suffered a broken nose and a cut that required eight stitches after the attack.
He said the attack was being investigated by police as an anti-Semitic hate crime.
Petlakh expressed the hope that “vile anti-Semitic hooligans masquerading as anti-Zionists will be caught soon.”