A Jewish man who was outside his apartment building in New York City having a cigarette on the first night of Hanukkah says he was sucker punched, leaving him bruised and bloody.

Joshua Merenfeld said he was attacked from behind, with the person yelling antisemitic slurs at him while clubbing and kicking him.

“He sucker punched me, pushed me over, assaulted me,” Merenfeld told WNYW.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Why are we letting bigotries from across the world influence us in the United States? Jewish and Muslim Americans should not be getting attacked over what is happening in Gaza. It’s not their war.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        It’s “our” war in that the U.S. government is doing it.

        That doesn’t justify attacking American Jews because of what Israel is doing and it also doesn’t justify attacking American Muslims because you support Israel. They had nothing to do with it.

        • Drinvictus@discuss.tchncs.de
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          11 months ago

          Nobody is trying to justify that.

          I just don’t like it when people say “it’s not our war”. People say the same thing on social media on posts about the protests for a ceasefire. As long as the US is funding Israel, it is our war.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            When I say “it’s not their war” I mean that American Jews are not Israelis and American Muslims are not members of Hamas. Or even necessarily Palestinians. And as a member of one of those groups, I’d like to speak on behalf of both and say we’re really fucking tired of being treated as if we’re foreigners.

            • NoIWontPickaName@kbin.social
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              11 months ago

              It’s very easy for people to conflate Jewish people with Israelis, for obvious, if incorrect, reasons.

              It took us almost 2 damn decades to not associate Muslims with terrorists, and all that work went out with the wash water as well.😞

              I apologize for how some of us are treating y’all.

              People like to forget about the crusades.

              Even if you do support Israel, that should be what people are judging you for, not just being Jewish or Muslim.

              That is hateful bullshit and should not be tolerated.

              • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                11 months ago

                Thank you, well said. And, sadly, there are still plenty of people who see a Muslim person walking down the street and view them with instant suspicion.

            • KevonLooney@lemm.ee
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              11 months ago

              Unfortunately, being told to “go home” because you’re a foreigner is an integral part of the American experience. It’s happened to literally every group that’s come over for hundreds of years.

    • GONADS125@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      It’s not surprising, but it’s disheartening to see people downvote you for this comment. Blind hate. Plain and simple.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        3 out of 12 is not as disheartening to me as it could very well be. It would have been higher when I was a kid in the 80s.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Sure, but this is most likely not a case of some sort of foreign reprisal against America as a whole, this is a specific attack against a Jewish person, most likely by another American since it happened in the U.S.

        Saying “well the U.S. supports Israel” is not an excuse to attack Jews as if they necessarily support Israel as individuals. No more than it is an excuse to attack Muslims as if they were all members of Hamas.

        Stop treating non-Christian, sometimes non-White Americans like they’re fucking foreigners. Is that really too much to ask?

        • NoneOfUrBusiness@kbin.social
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          11 months ago

          No? In the case of a successful vote they can command sanctions and stuff, and depending on the situation send peacekeeper forces.