Amid Spate of Muslim-American Attacks on Jews, Man in IDF Sweatshirt Beaten in NYC

The NYPD arrested and charged a suspect for an antisemitic attack on a Jewish man who was wearing a sweatshirt with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) symbol in Brooklyn.

The NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force arrested Othman Suleiman and charged him with third degree assault and aggravated assault, both listed as hate crimes, the Times of Israel reported.

Suleiman accosted Blake Zavadsky last month when he saw him wearing the military sweatshirt, and began calling him a “dirty Jew” and punching him multiple times in the face.

Suleiman told Zavadsky he had “five seconds to take the sweatshirt off” or risk being beaten, the victim said.

**ARREST UPDATE** Hate Crime Task Force Detectives, assisted by Brooklyn South Warrants, arrested the individual wanted for this anti-Jewish assault. 

Arrested:
Othman, Suleiman 27
Staten Island, NY

Charges:
Assault 3rd degree/Hate Crime 
Aggravated Harassment/Hate Crime https://t.co/JwhQjLEDkm pic.twitter.com/e9MQKJe5zk

— NYPD Hate Crimes (@NYPDHateCrimes) January 11, 2022

The incident is the latest of many attacks by Muslim-Americans on Jews in the New York City area.

According to the report, Jews were the most targeted group for hate crimes in New York City last year. There were 144 confirmed attacks against Jews between January and October 2021, out of 416 total hate crimes in the city, according to the NYPD. Attacks on Jews accounted for 35 percent of all hate crimes, the largest proportion of any group, the data showed.

Across America, antisemitic hate crimes constituted 57 percent of all religious crimes, the FBI’s 2020 Hate Crime Statistics report showed.