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Joseph Borgen was beaten in the streets while wearing a kippah. Now, he’s fighting in the NYC court system
(New York Jewish Week) — Before Joseph Borgen was beaten in the street nearly two years ago, on the way to a pro-Israel rally, he enjoyed playing basketball after returning home to the Upper East Side from his day job as an accountant.
In the time since Borgen, now 30, was attacked, that hasn’t been possible. The incident — in which five men shouting antisemitic slurs punched, kicked, pepper-sprayed and beat Borgen with crutches — left him needing surgery on his wrist. Only recently has he started going back to the gym.
“It’s something that is still lingering and I’d love to put it in my rearview,” Borgen, who is the eldest of five siblings, told the New York Jewish Week. “It doesn’t just only affect me. My little brother was seeing me on the news. He’s still a kid. We’re very close.”
The attack on Borgen drew national attention, and came amid a string of antisemitic assaults in the United States surrounding the May 2021 conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Now, Borgen is caught in a conflict of a different kind, one that illustrates the long tail of hate crimes that have faded from public consciousness. He doesn’t want the beating to define him, but finds that its after-effects have festered — and that a controversy over the ensuing trial of his alleged attackers has spurred him to become a passionate, if ambivalent, advocate against antisemitism.
“There is some value and good in speaking about what happened and just getting the message out there,” Borgen said. “But it’s not something I want to harp on.”
Joey Borgen, victim of a violent antisemitic attack last yr which took place few blocks from Times Square, said “The attack on me was no isolated incident. Pittsburgh to Poway to across the river in NJ— violent, deadly antisemtism is increasing to record levels”#ShineALight pic.twitter.com/4x29t9Pzi2
— JCRC of New York (@JCRCNY) November 29, 2021
Borgen was walking to a pro-Israel rally when he was attacked in the street in midtown Manhattan on May 20, 2021 — the same day Hamas and Israel announced a ceasefire after 11 days of conflict. A blurry video of the attack that circulated on social media showed a small crowd of men surrounding Borgen, kicking him and beating him with sticks. A photo of Borgen from later that night shows Borgen with a puffy red face, and wearing a neck brace.
“I was just wearing a kippah, listening to music, just minding my own business — and it all just erupted,” Borgen said, recalling the incident. “Before I can even really react or do anything, there’s a group of individuals surrounding me. I didn’t have the time to process what was going on.”
Borgen is still facing those who have been accused of attacking him — but that confrontation has moved to the courts. The lead perpetrator, Waseem Awawdeh, was charged with hate crime assault, along with a list of other charges. The case is still in process, and the next hearing is on April 20.
“I can’t even tell you how hard personally I’ve been fighting for this,” Borgen told the New York Jewish Week. “If there’s no accountability or consequences of what took place, what happened to me is going to happen to someone else.”
Borgen is currently worried that Awawdeh will go to prison for a small fraction of the maximum sentence he faces, which, according to Borgen’s attorney, is 15 years. That concern stems from reports in the New York Post and New York Sun that Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg offered Awawdeh a six-month plea deal.
Those reports have sparked a chorus of criticism, as well as a letter to Bragg by nearly two dozen groups lobbying against the deal. The signatories were a mix of right-wing, pro-Israel and Orthodox groups, including the Rabbinical Council of America, an association for Orthodox rabbis; the Zionist Organization of America, a right-wing organization; and Americans Against Antisemitism, a group founded by former New York State Assemblymember Dov Hikind, who represented a Brooklyn district.
“Failing to impose severe consequences here would send the dangerous and unacceptable message that Jews can be brutally attacked with impunity,” said the letter, which was sent earlier this month.
Hikind told the New York Jewish Week that he wants more Jews to vocally support Borgen. “We need to fill the courtroom,” Hikind said. “Unfortunately, we’re just not there. The community needs to come out.”
The six-month deal, however, seems like far from a sure thing. Awawdeh’s lawyer, Peter Marc Frankel, confirmed the deal to the Post in January, as did prosecutors on the case. But speaking to the New York Jewish Week on Monday, Frankel said he was unsure if the deal would come to fruition.
“I don’t know if it’s going to happen, frankly,” Frankel said. “It’s unclear at this point. I don’t know if it’s going to be a six-month deal, but I would not expect a shorter deal, certainly.”
The deal has not yet been openly discussed in court, and Borgen’s lawyer, Ross Pearlson, who is representing his client pro-bono on behalf of the Anti-Defamation League, told the New York Jewish Week that “it’s not clear” if the six-month deal will hold.
“I’m unaware of any offers being made,” Pearlson said. “I believe that a year would be more appropriate. Six months to me still seems a little light considering the mob violence and the damage that was done to [Borgen].”
Bragg’s office declined to comment on the deal. The ADL likewise did not respond to requests for comment on the case.
Shortly after the attack, in 2021, a prosecutor on the case said that Awawdeh had told one of his jailers, “If I could do it again, I would do it again,” according to the Post. But Frankel told the New York Jewish Week that “that quote was taken completely out of context” and that Awawdeh has offered to meet and apologize to Borgen. He also met with the prosecutors to explain how remorseful he felt.
“[Awawdeh’s] behavior was the result of bad impulse control and a bad reaction to a bad situation, rather than an effort to try to seek someone out who is Jewish to commit a hate crime,” Frankel said.
Pearlson added that Borgen “has been traumatized by this event.”
“He’s very emotional when I speak to him about it,” Pearlson said. “He gets agitated for each one of these court appearances. When we talk about the case, he’s passionate about it.”
There are now five defendants in the case, including Awawdeh, and the D.A.’s office is treating them differently based on their alleged respective roles in the beating.
“Justice is not one size fits all,” Pearlson said. “It doesn’t move quickly, but in this case, it’s not the D.A.’s office delaying things or dragging its heels. There’s going to be some element of justice done.”
The fact that Borgen’s case is being prosecuted at all puts it in the minority of hate crimes complaints in Manhattan. According to NYPD statistics, police precincts in the borough received 241 hate crime complaints in 2022, and made 118 arrests based on those complaints.
Bragg’s office told the New York Jewish Week that 92 hate crimes were prosecuted in Manhattan last year. His office currently has 20 open hate crime cases related to antisemitism for this year. A report last year in The City, a local publication, found that most hate crimes charges are dropped before any convictions take place.
Although Borgen remains involved in the case, and has spoken about his experience publicly, he suggested that it was still hard to think about.
“Some people have said, ‘God only put you through this because you can handle it,’” said Borgen, who is modern Orthodox and puts on tefillin daily. “But if I start to think about it in those terms, I don’t want to go there. I don’t want to let it factor into my views on God and spirituality because if I did, it might make me start to question and wonder about things. I don’t want to go down that road.”
On March 9, Borgen appeared in court, sitting in the same room as his alleged attackers. While he could not comment on the specifics of the hearing, not wanting to impact court proceedings, he said that “it sucks to be in the same room as individuals who could have killed me.”
“I don’t like going to court,” Borgen said. “I do it because when I’m there with other people, a large group of Jewish individuals, it sends a message that we’re not lying down and taking this.”
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An immersive dinner takes a culinary journey through the Jewish Diaspora
Dima and Yuliia Lytvnenko spent their entire lives in Odessa. There, the married couple owned a restaurant, Mama Cassala (Ukrainian for “Mama Said”) and a sausage factory. Both were destroyed in 2022 rocket attacks during the ongoing war with Russia.
Fearing for their safety, the Jewish family — they have three children, ages 15, 11 and 10 — fled to Spain in 2023, and then to New York City in early 2024. Today, they are the proprietors of Papa Did It, a beef jerky and cured meat company based in Staten Island.
Yuliia Lytvynenko has been surprised by how little New Yorkers seem to know about the Jewish community in her hometown. Lytvynenko describes Odessa as a “very Jewish city” with many Jewish schools and synagogues. “But a lot of people don’t know that the Jewish in Ukraine are still there,” she said.
The Lytvynenko family’s journey of displacement, preserving their heritage and building a home on a new continent will be told this month and next in New York as part of “Diaspora,” a four-course dinner and theater experience inspired by real-life stories of the Jewish Diaspora.
Produced by a group of Broadway alumni and entrepreneurs, “Diaspora” is the latest project from StoryCourse, an immersive dining and theater collective that’s focused on telling the stories of marginalized people. Running for 13 performances throughout November and December at a studio space at 245 West 18th Street, “Diaspora” treats audiences to performances based on real-life immigration stories of Iranian, Ethiopian, Mexican and Ukrainian Jewish families, accompanied by vegetarian and nut-free food that represents the four countries.
StoryCourse Diaspora creative director Charly Jaffe (left) and head of operations Andy Hartman in the Chelsea studio where the dinner-and-a-show experience comes to life. (Jackie Hajdenberg)
“I think this is an experience that will really widen people’s perspective on what Jewishness can look like, can taste like, can feel like, and it’s an experience that allows for everyone to have a seat at the table,” said Adam Kantor, the director of “Diaspora,” whose previous credits include “The Band’s Visit” and “Rent.”
“We’re in really divisive times now in terms of anti-Jewishness and anti-immigration policies,” Kantor added. “So it feels like this is sort of a latent sociopolitical act, but it’s one that does not aim to be overtly political, necessarily. It aims to bring people together over community and food and heart.”
Inspired by the Passover seder — that is, combining storytelling with a festive meal — StoryCourse was founded in 2017 by Kantor, composer Benj Pasek and Brian Bordainick, the creator of the membership-based supper club Dinner Lab, all of whom are Jewish. StoryCourse went viral with its virtual “Saturday Night Seder” in 2020 — held as a fundraiser for COVID-19 emergency relief — and has also put on shows centering the stories of LGBTQ+ chefs.
“Diaspora” embraces the Jewish roots of StoryCourse, according to Charly Jaffe, the organization’s creative director. “In a time where so many people are feeling like they’ve lost their sense of home, whether it’s a literal home, political home, or the-earth-we-live-on home … it’s looking at what we do at StoryCourse, and what our Jewish lineage — what we have in our history — actually has so much value for us,” Jaffe said.
The three other Jewish families at the heart of “Diaspora” are Stephanie and Yvonne Ohebshalom, daughter and wife of real estate developer Fred Ohebshalom. who have Iranian roots; Beejhy Barhany, the owner of Harlem’s Tsion Café, who came to New York from Ethiopia via Sudan and Israel, and Fany Gerson, owner of Fan-Fan Doughnuts in Bedford-Stuyvesant, who hails from Mexico.
“People think: ‘Jewish New York,’ and they just think, like, Katz’s Deli, or Borough Park, or neurotic Woody Allen,” Jaffe said. “There’s so much richness in [the] global Jewish tapestry.”
Andy Hartman, StoryCourse’s head of operations, said he hopes audiences will leave with an “expanded understanding” of Jews and Jewish food. “I think so much of what we have been trying to do is sort of push back on the Ashkenormativity that exists in the United States, more broadly, but even in New York, in terms of what Jews look like and what Jewish food is,” he said.
“Diaspora” will explore these themes over four courses adapted from the four families’ own recipes, including Persian naan-o-paneer and Shirazi salad; Ethiopian messer wot lentil stew; Ukrainian borscht, and Mexican dessert flavors like guava with cheese. They’ll be prepared for guests by two Jewish chefs, Dave Dreifus, the founder of Best Damn Cookies, and Lottie Gurvis, owner of Oh My Noshhh private dining.
About 50 guests each night will travel the world from their dinner plate while learning about the lives of these real, New York-based Jewish families.
Ethiopian chef Barhany, who is also the author of “Gursha: Timeless Recipes for Modern Kitchens, from Ethiopia, Israel, Harlem, and Beyond” is participating in “Diaspora” because, she said, “I wanted to bring the perspective of other Jews that we have to immerse ourselves and celebrate our differences and be more inclusive.”
Beejhy Barhany opened Tsion Café in 2014. (Josefin Dolsten)
Barhany, 49, was born in Ethiopia; as a child, she spent three years in Sudan before her family arrived in Israel, where she eventually served in the Israel Defense Forces. After traveling the world, Barhany settled in New York, where she’s lived for more than two decades.
“I don’t think there is much knowledge on the flavors, traditions and what Ethiopian Jews have to offer to the landscape of the deliciousness of Jewish food,” Barhany said. “Tsion Café, or myself — we’re adding to that landscape of the diverse, unique flavors that the Jewish diaspora has to offer.”
Yuliia Lytvynenko said she hopes “Diaspora” informs its New York audience about contemporary Ukrainian Jewish life. (Case in point: Her husband’s surname was not originally Lytvynenko — his father, for whom Papa Did It is named, changed the family’s surname from Rabinovich due to rising antisemitism in Ukraine in the 1970s.)
During the Lytvynenkos’ course — the third — Ukrainian borscht, a favorite dish of the Lytvynenko children, will be served, along with a few creative interpretations of traditional Ukrainian spreads.
Asked what he hopes audiences will walk away with from the show, director Kantor said: “I hope that they will be crying into their borscht.”
“StoryCourse: Diaspora” will run for 13 performances throughout November and December at 245 West 18th St. Tickets, $180, include a four-course meal and wine.
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Orthodox Jewish Tourist Assaulted at Milan Train Station Amid Rising Wave of Antisemitic Attacks in Italy
A Jewish tourist sits injured at Milan’s Central Station after being assaulted by a pro-Palestinian individual, part of a rising wave of anti-Jewish attacks in Italy. Photo: Screenshot
A group of Orthodox Jewish American tourists was brutally attacked at Milan’s Central Station on Monday by a pro-Palestinian individual, the latest in a rising wave of antisemitic hate crimes across Italy, sparking outrage within the local Jewish community.
Local authorities in Milan, northern Italy, arrested a 25-year-old Pakistani man for allegedly assaulting a Jewish tourist from the United States, Italian news agency RAI reported.
The victim, who was with a group of 10 Orthodox Jewish tourists visiting Italy, was checking the departure board when the assailant began harassing him.
The attacker then allegedly chased the victim while punching and kicking him and striking him in the head with a blunt metal ring.
During the attack, the Pakistani man reportedly shouted antisemitic insults and threats, including “dirty Jews” and “you kill children in Palestine, and I’ll kill you.”
Shortly afterward, train personnel restrained the suspect, and local police arrested him on charges of aggravated assault motivated by racial, ethnic, and religious discrimination.
Meanwhile, the victim was taken to a local hospital with a minor head injury.
According to local reports, Judge Sofia Fioretta explained that the charges were expedited due to “the seriousness of the conduct, its brutality, and the total absence of remorse.” The 25-year-old assailant admitted to the charges against him.
Walker Meghnagi, president of Milan’s Jewish community, condemned the incident, warning of the growing climate of hostility toward Jews in Italy.
“Many Jewish tourists, particularly Americans but also others, avoid visiting Milan because of the climate of hatred and the fear of being attacked,” Meghnagi told the Italian news outlet Il Giorno.
This latest incident comes amid a surge in antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment across Europe and around the world since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
In Italy, Jewish individuals have been facing a surge in hostility and targeted attacks, including vandalism of murals and businesses, as well as physical assaults. Community leaders have warned that such incidents are becoming more frequent amid growing tensions related to the war in Gaza.
In September, a Jewish couple was walking through Venice in traditional Orthodox clothing when three assailants confronted them, shouted “Free Palestine,” and physically attacked them, slapping both.
This incident followed another attack on a Jewish couple in Venice the month before, when a man and his pregnant wife were harassed near the city center by three unknown individuals.
The attackers approached the couple, shouting antisemitic insults and calling the husband a “dirty Jew,” while physically assaulting them by throwing water and spitting on them.
One of the assailants later set his dog on the couple in an attempt to intimidate them before the group stole their phones.
Earlier this summer, a Jewish man from France and his child were verbally assaulted at a gas station near Milan by a group of pro-Palestinian activists who shouted antisemitic slurs after seeing the child wearing a kippah, yelling phrases such as “Free Palestine” and “murderers” as they passed by.
In a separate incident, a masked individual targeted a synagogue in Rome, spray-painting a swastika and antisemitic slogans — “Sieg Heil” (“Hail Victory”) and “Juden Raus” (“Jews Out”) — on a sign near the entrance.
In May, a restaurant in Naples forced an Israeli family to leave, telling them, “Zionists are not welcome here.”
Earlier this year, a homeless Egyptian man in Rome attacked a Jewish boy and injured a shopkeeper who tried to intervene.
In another incident, anti-Israel protesters defaced a synagogue with graffiti reading “Justice for a Free Gaza.”
Last year, a hotel manager in Rome canceled an Israeli couple’s reservation just one day before their trip, accusing them of genocide and telling them the hotel would “be happy to grant free cancellation.”
“We inform you that the Israeli people as those responsible for genocide are not welcome customers in our structure,” the hotel manager told the Israeli couple.
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Israel Awards Genesis Prize to Gal Gadot for ‘Bravery and Moral Courage’ in Defending Jewish State
Actor Gal Gadot gestures during the unveiling ceremony for her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, California, US, March 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
Israeli actress and producer Gal Gadot has been awarded the 2026 Genesis Prize by Israel in recognition of her strong support and advocacy for her home country amid its war with Hamas in Gaza and despite the negative impacts it had on her career, the Genesis Prize Foundation (GPF) announced on Tuesday.
The annual $1 million Genesis Prize, which has been nicknamed the “Jewish Nobel” by Time magazine, honors individuals “for their professional excellence, significant impact in their fields, and dedication to Jewish values.” It is a global award that celebrates “Jewish contribution to humanity” and all recipients donate their $1 million prize to various philanthropic causes.
Gadot called herself a “proud Jew and a proud Israeli” who loves her home country in a statement released by the GPF. The “Wonder Woman” star and mother of four is donating her $1 million prize to organizations that are helping Israelis recover in the aftermath of the Hamas-led terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the subsequent two-year war between Israel and Hamas. A date for the awards ceremony next year was not announced.
“I am humbled to receive the Genesis Prize and to stand alongside the amazing laureates who came before me,” the “Snow White” star said. “[I] dedicate this award to the organizations who will help Israel heal and to those incredible people who serve on the front lines of compassion. Israel has endured unimaginable pain. Now we must begin to heal – to rebuild hearts, families, and communities.”
GFP co-founder and chairman Stan Polovets praised Gadot’s “moral clarity and unwavering love for Israel.”
“The award recognizes her bravery and moral courage – her steadfast defense of Israel at great personal and professional risk, her advocacy for the hostages, her compassion for victims of terror, and her empathy for all innocent victims of this terrible war unleashed by Hamas,” he said. “Her decision to turn the Genesis Prize honor into a mission of healing embodies the very purpose of the prize – to celebrate achievement and channel it for good.”
Gadot condemned the Hamas-led massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, immediately after the deadly attack took place in southern Israel and has defended her home country repeatedly since the start of its war against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip. She has called for the release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, met with families of former hostages, and arranged in Los Angeles private screenings for Hollywood figures to see uncensored, raw footage that documents the Hamas attack on Oct. 7. In a magazine interview earlier this year, she pleaded for an end to the Israel-Hamas war that includes a “diplomatic agreement that allows all parts of the table to live a good and prosperous life.”
In August, hundreds of anti-Israel activists signed a letter calling on the Venice Film Festival to disinvite Gadot from the event because of her ties to Israel. The festival’s director ignored the boycott efforts and Gadot was still invited, although she did not attend. Award-winning American filmmaker and artist Julian Schnabel, who cast Gadot in his film “In the Hand of Dante” that was premiering at the Venice Film Festival, also criticized the efforts by anti-Israel activists.
Gadot in March became the first Israeli to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti in May, the same week that London’s Metropolitan Police arrested five anti-Israel protesters who tried to disrupt her film set in central London solely because she is Israeli.
Gadot played the Evil Queen in last year’s live action remake of Disney’s “Snow White.” She admitted in August that she thinks “pressure on celebrities to speak out against Israel” was “greatly affecting” the film and contributed to its poor box office performance after its lead star, Rachel Zegler, proclaimed “Free Palestine” on social media.
Past recipients of the Genesis Prize include singer, actor, and activist Barbra Streisand; filmmaker Steven Spielberg; founder of Blue Square Alliance Against Hate and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft; the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg; and human rights advocate Natan Sharansky.
The 2025 recipient of the Genesis Prize was Argentina’s President Javier Milei, who was recognized for his strong support of Israel. Milei visited Jerusalem in June to accept the award.