Uncategorized
NY man who attacked Jews at 3 pro-Palestinian rallies sentenced to 17 months in prison
A New York City man who attacked Jewish pro-Israel counter-protesters at three separate pro-Palestinian demonstrations was sentenced on Tuesday to 17 months in prison.
U.S. District Judge Richard Berman read a letter from Tarek Bazrouk during the sentencing hearing where he said there was “no excuse for my behavior” and that he “let feelings over the suffering in Gaza get the best of me.”
Bazrouk, 20, became a cause célèbre for some pro-Palestinian activists after he was charged with three counts of committing hate crimes in May, following his arrest in January for punching a Jewish pro-Israel protester in the nose. During the two preceding incidents, which occurred over a period of nine months, he also punched, kicked and hurled antisemitic slurs at Jewish counter-protesters.
At the time, an investigation by law enforcement found texts on Bazrouk’s phone where he allegedly referred to himself as a “Jew hater” and called on “Allah” to “get us rid of [Jews],” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. During one of the assaults, he wore “a green headband typically worn by Hamas terrorists,” the office said, and he also expressed happiness over learning that a family member was involved in Hamas abroad.
Bazrouk pleaded guilty to targeting his victims for their Jewish or Israeli identity in June as part of a plea agreement that included a sentencing guideline of 12 to 18 months in prison. His sentencing Tuesday also included three years of supervised release.
Bazrouk addressed his victims in the courtroom on Tuesday and told them, “I’m sorry, guys, and hope you can forgive me for my actions,” according to Fox News.
Two of Bazrouk’s victims also spoke at the hearing, with one telling the court that he was a victim of Bazrouk’s “vicious campaign against Jews,” and the other saying he did not feel “in my gut” that Bazrouk was remorseful.
The case elicited advocacy by both pro-Palestinian voices. Ahead of the sentencing, over 12,000 people signed onto a Change.org petition urging Berman to allow Bazrouk’s sentence to be “completed as time served under supervised release.” And more than 200 people came to the hearing at New York’s federal Southern District court as part of a demonstration organized by pro-Palestinian groups on social media, while some pro-Israel advocates also announced a plan to attend.
Berman said during the hearing that the sentencing decision was straightforward for him.
“If you assault somebody unprovoked just because that random somebody is an actual or perceived Jew because you, the assaulter, hate Jews, you are very likely to go to jail,” he said, according to the Times of Israel. “It’s that simple.”
—
The post NY man who attacked Jews at 3 pro-Palestinian rallies sentenced to 17 months in prison appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Uncategorized
Tucker’s Ideas About Jews Come from Darkest Corners of the Internet, Says Huckabee After Combative Interview
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a combative interview with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, right-wing firebrand Tucker Carlson made a host of contentious and often demonstrably false claims that quickly went viral online. Huckabee, who repeatedly challenged the former Fox News star during the interview, subsequently made a long post on X, identifying a pattern of bad-faith arguments, distortions and conspiracies in Carlson’s rhetorical style.
Huckabee pointed out his words were not accorded by Carlson the same degree of attention and curiosity the anchor evinced toward such unsavory characters as “the little Nazi sympathizer Nick Fuentes or the guy who thought Hitler was the good guy and Churchill the bad guy.”
“What I wasn’t anticipating was a lengthy series of questions where he seemed to be insinuating that the Jews of today aren’t really same people as the Jews of the Bible,” Huckabee wrote, adding that Tucker’s obsession with conspiracies regarding the provenance of Ashkenazi Jews obscured the fact that most Israeli Jews were refugees from the Arab and Muslim world.
The idea that Ashkenazi Jews are an Asiatic tribe who invented a false ancestry “gained traction in the 80’s and 90’s with David Duke and other Klansmen and neo-Nazis,” Huckabee wrote. “It has really caught fire in recent years on the Internet and social media, mostly from some of the most overt antisemites and Jew haters you can find.”
Carlson branded Israel “probably the most violent country on earth” and cited the false claim that Israel President Isaac Herzog had visited the infamous island of the late, disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“The current president of Israel, whom I know you know, apparently was at ‘pedo island.’ That’s what it says,” Carlson said, citing a debunked claim made by The Times reporter Gabrielle Weiniger. “Still-living, high-level Israeli officials are directly implicated in Epstein’s life, if not his crimes, so I think you’d be following this.”
Another misleading claim made by Carlson was that there were more Christians in Qatar than in Israel.
Uncategorized
Pezeshkian Says Iran Will Not Bow to Pressure Amid US Nuclear Talks
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2025, in Tianjin, China, September 1, 2025. Iran’s Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that his country would not bow its head to pressure from world powers amid nuclear talks with the United States.
“World powers are lining up to force us to bow our heads… but we will not bow our heads despite all the problems that they are creating for us,” Pezeshkian said in a speech carried live by state TV.
Uncategorized
Italy’s RAI Apologizes after Latest Gaffe Targets Israeli Bobsleigh Team
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics – Bobsleigh – 4-man Heat 1 – Cortina Sliding Centre, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – February 21, 2026. Adam Edelman of Israel, Menachem Chen of Israel, Uri Zisman of Israel, Omer Katz of Israel in action during Heat 1. Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
Italy’s state broadcaster RAI was forced to apologize to the Jewish community on Saturday after an off‑air remark advising its producers to “avoid” the Israeli crew was broadcast before coverage of the Four-Man bobsleigh event at the Winter Olympics.
The head of RAI’s sports division had already resigned earlier in the week after his error-ridden commentary at the Milano Cortina 2026 opening ceremony two weeks ago triggered a revolt among its journalists.
On Saturday, viewers heard “Let’s avoid crew number 21, which is the Israeli one” and then “no, because …” before the sound was cut off.
RAI CEO Giampaolo Rossi said the incident represented a “serious” breach of the principles of impartiality, respect and inclusion that should guide the public broadcaster.
He added that RAI had opened an internal inquiry to swiftly determine any responsibility and any potential disciplinary procedures.
In a separate statement RAI’s board of directors condemned the remark as “unacceptable.”
The board apologized to the Jewish community, the athletes involved and all viewers who felt offended.
RAI is the country’s largest media organization and operates national television, radio and digital news services.
The union representing RAI journalists, Usigrai, had said Paolo Petrecca’s opening ceremony commentary had dealt “a serious blow” to the company’s credibility.
His missteps included misidentifying venues and public figures, and making comments about national teams that were widely criticized.