ADL commends N.Y. police for arrests in anti-Semitic subway attack

The Anti Defamation League (ADL) applauded on Wednesday the New York City Police for arresting ten individuals suspected of carrying out an anti-Semitic attack against four students on the Subway on Friday.

The advocacy group, whose stated aim is to stop the defamation of the Jewish people, said in a statement "we were shocked and saddened to hear of the vicious, unprovoked and prolonged anti-Semitic attack perpetrated against four Jewish students celebrating Hanukka."

"We applaud the speed and efficiency of the NYPD and its Hate Crimes Task Force in treating this bias incident seriously, and look forward to seeing the perpetrators prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," the statement continued.

The ADL also commended a subway passenger who came to the aid of the students, saying that it is "heartening that there are good people who are willing to stand up when they witness racism, prejudice or bigotry."

The ADL works closely with law enforcement and the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force in identifying and monitoring anti-Semitic incidents.

On Friday, Four Jewish subway riders who wished other people Happy Hanukkah were pelted with anti-Semitic remarks before being beaten, New York police and prosecutors said.

The incident was being investigated as a possible hate crime.

The four were on a train in Manhattan on Friday night, during the eight-day Jewish Festival of Lights, when they were approached by a group of 10 people who offered holiday greetings. The victims responded, Happy Hanukkah and were assaulted by the larger group, police said Tuesday.

Police caught up with the train in Brooklyn and arrested eight men and two women, aged 19 and 20. They were arraigned Saturday on charges of assault, menacing, riot, harassment and disorderly conduct, the Brooklyn district attorney's office said.

The case was being handled by the office's civil rights bureau, and charges could be upgraded to hate crimes, prosecutors said. The two men and two women who were attacked had bruises and welts on their faces and heads but were not hospitalized, police said.

One of the men charged, Joseph Jirovec, pleaded guilty last year to attempted robbery as a hate crime and was awaiting sentencing, prosecutors said. Jirovec, who is white, was part of a group that yelled racial epithets and assaulted two black teenagers in Brooklyn, prosecutors said.

Jirovec's lawyer, Peter Mollo, said Tuesday it was unlikely his client would attack someone for being Jewish. His mother was Jewish, Mollo said. It's very unlikely he would do something like this at all.

12/12/2007 Haaretz and AP
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Do you think that ‘hate’ crimes deserve harsher punishment?

How often do you see evidence of ‘hate’ speech, racism or other bias in your town?

If parents are bringing up their kids to hate, what can we, as a society, do to stop it?

REMEMBER TO BE RESPECTFUL TO YOUR FELLOW STUDENTS AND TEACHERS!
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