Self-proclaimed ‘Jew-hater’ jailed over attacks on Jews at protests
Palestinian-American activist sentenced for hate-fuelled assaults on visibly Jewish protesters in New York
A self-described “Jew-hater” who attacked Jewish people at pro-Palestinian rallies in New York City has been jailed for 17 months after pleading guilty to a federal hate crime charge.
Tarek Bazrouk, 20, targeted three visibly Jewish individuals during demonstrations across Manhattan in 2024 and early 2025, the US Department of Justice said. In the first incident outside the New York Stock Exchange last April, he was arrested while wearing a Hamas-style green headband after kicking a kippah-wearing student, Elisha Baker, in the chest. Months later, he punched another student on a university campus after stealing an Israeli flag, and in January he assaulted a third man by punching him in the nose during a protest on First Avenue.
Judge Richard Berman, sentencing at the Southern District of New York, warned: “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. It’s that simple.”
He told the court the principle applied equally to hate crimes against any group: “The rules… do not apply to Jews or Palestinians alone. They apply to everybody.”
Prosecutors said Bazrouk, a Palestinian-American, showed “deeply seeded anti-Jewish animus”, pointing to messages on his phone that declared “I’m a Jew hater” and expressed support for Hamas. Jay Clayton, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said: “Despite being arrested after each incident, Bazrouk remained undeterred and quickly returned to using violence to target Jews in New York City.”
Baker told The Times of Israel he was “grateful” for the decision: “The message that the court sent today is that if you assault Jews on the basis of their Judaism and membership in the Jewish people, you will be held accountable.”
A second victim, Roman Efraimov, told US media that the attacks had changed his life as a Jew in America, and said he doubted Bazrouk’s apology in court – “I’m sorry guys… I hope you can forgive me” – claiming the defendant “smirked” in his direction.
Bazrouk’s sentence includes three years of supervised release. He could have faced up to 30 years if convicted on all charges without a plea deal. Jews remain the most targeted group in New York’s hate crime statistics, yet convictions are still relatively rare, according to local authorities.
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