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NYC officials condemn Islamophobic comments by Jewish ex-State Department staffer at Upper East Side halal cart
(New York Jewish Week) — Elected officials in New York City condemned Islamophobic comments by a Jewish former State Department staffer after videos showed him berating a halal food cart vendor on the Upper East Side.
The man in the videos, Stuart Seldowitz, praised the killing of Palestinian children and made disparaging remarks about Islam. The videos show him berating the man on multiple occasions.
Seldowitz held positions in the State Department across administrations of both parties, including a post in the Office of Israel and Palestinian affairs, but is no longer employed by the government. An online biography that has since been deleted said that Seldowitz had a nearly 30-year career with the State Department and New York State.
Seldowitz is heard in one of the videos saying, “If we killed 4,000 Palestinian kids, you know what? It wasn’t enough.” The vendor is heard off-camera asking Seldowitz to leave and generally declining to respond to his taunts.
The videos were posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, as tensions soar in New York amid fallout from the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. New York City streets have seen a stream of verbal disputes surrounding pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protests. Scores of viral videos and photos have documented people tearing down posters of Israeli hostages put up by pro-Israel activists around the city.
Antisemitic incidents have soared across the five boroughs since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, and Islamophobic incidents have increased to a lesser degree, according to the New York Police Department.
Videos of Seldowitz’s encounters drew widespread attention online, along with harsh criticism from local officials.
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine said on X, “This Islamophobic bigotry is absolutely reprehensible,” and that the police were reviewing the incident. Keith Powers, the New York City Council majority leader, said, “This xenophobic and disgusting behavior has no place on the Upper East Side or New York City.”
New York State Assembly member Alex Bores, who represents the Upper East Side, said “hate has no home” in the neighborhood and that he had visited the vendor.
The lobbying firm Gotham Government Relations, which named Seldowitz last year as its foreign affairs chair, said it had cut all ties with him due to his “vile, racist” behavior.
Seldowitz told the New York Jewish Week that he went to the cart for a soda when he learned the vendor was Egyptian and brought up tensions in New York surrounding the war between Israel and Hamas, as well as other Gaza terror groups. The vendor then defended Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Seldowitz said. Comments to that effect do not appear in the videos circulating online, which are taken from the direction of the halal cart.
“That sort of set me off and I said certain things that I wish I had not said, that I regret, and that were offensive not just to him but for many other people,” Seldowitz said, adding that the confrontation had only been verbal, with no physical aspect or threats from either side. He denied having any “animus toward Arabs or to Muslims or to Islam.”
One of the food cart’s employees told the local news site Documented that many of the vendor’s customers are Jewish and that the workers had a positive relationship with local community members.
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The post NYC officials condemn Islamophobic comments by Jewish ex-State Department staffer at Upper East Side halal cart appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Trump Hosts Qatari Prime Minister After Israeli Attack in Doha
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
US President Donald Trump held dinner with the Qatari prime minister in New York on Friday, days after US ally Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an attack in Qatar on Tuesday, a strike that risked derailing US-backed efforts to broker a truce in Gaza and end the nearly two-year-old conflict. The attack was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could escalate tensions in a region already on edge.
Trump expressed annoyance about the strike in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sought to assure the Qataris that such attacks would not happen again.
Trump and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani were joined by a top Trump adviser, US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
“Great dinner with POTUS. Just ended,” Qatar’s deputy chief of mission, Hamah Al-Muftah, said on X.
The White House confirmed the dinner had taken place but offered no details.
The session followed an hour-long meeting that al-Thani had at the White House on Friday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A source briefed on the meeting said they discussed Qatar’s future as a mediator in the region and defense cooperation in the wake of the Israeli strikes against Hamas in Doha.
Trump said he was unhappy with Israel’s strike, which he described as a unilateral action that did not advance US or Israeli interests.
Washington counts Qatar as a strong Gulf ally. Qatar has been a main mediator in long-running negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and for a post-conflict plan for the territory.
Al-Thani blamed Israel on Tuesday for trying to sabotage chances for peace but said Qatar would not be deterred from its role as mediator.
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Trump Urges NATO Countries to Halt Russian Oil Purchases
US President Donald Trump gestures during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, Aug. 26, 2025. Photo: Jonathan Ernst via Reuters Connect
i24 News – US President Donald Trump issued a letter to NATO nations on Saturday, impressing upon them to stop purchasing Russian oil and impose major sanctions on the regime of Vladimir Putin to end its war in Ukraine.
“I am ready to do major Sanctions on Russia when all NATO Nations have agreed, and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO Nations STOP BUYING OIL FROM RUSSIA. As you know, NATO’S commitment to WIN has been far less than 100%, and the purchase of Russian Oil, by some, has been shocking! It greatly weakens your negotiating position, and bargaining power, over Russia,” the message read.
“Anyway, I am ready to ‘go’ when you are. Just say when? I believe that this, plus NATO, as a group, placing 50% to 100% TARIFFS ON CHINA, to be fully withdrawn after the WAR with Russia and Ukraine is ended, will also be of great help in ENDING this deadly, but RIDICULOUS, WAR. China has a strong control, and even grip, over Russia, and these powerful Tariffs will break that grip.”
Trump’s post comes after the recent flight of multiple Russian drones into Poland, widely perceived an escalatory move by Russia as it was entering the airspace of a NATO ally. Poland intercepted the drones, yet Trump played down the severity of the incident and Russia’s motives by saying it “could have been a mistake.”
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Netanyahu Says Getting Rid of Hamas Chiefs in Qatar Would Remove Main Obstacle to Gaza Deal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the US Independence Day reception, known as the annual “Fourth of July” celebration, hosted by Newsmax, in Jerusalem, Aug. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that getting rid of Hamas chiefs living in Qatar would remove the main obstacle to releasing all hostages and ending the war in Gaza.
Israel on Tuesday targeted the Hamas leadership in Doha.