A suspected bias attack on four Jewish subway riders has resulted in a friendship between the Jewish victims and the Muslim college student who came to their aid.
Walter Adler is calling Hassan Askari a hero for intervening when Adler and three friends were assaulted on a subway train in lower Manhattan on Friday night.
The altercation erupted when Adler and his friends said "Happy Hanukkah" to a group yelling "Merry Christmas" on the Brooklyn-bound train.
The 20-year-old Askari said he tried to fight off the 10 attackers, giving Adler a chance to summon police by pulling an emergency brake.
"I did what I thought was right," said Askari, a student at Berkeley College in Manhattan, who was allegedly punched and beaten. "I did the best that I could to help."
Eight men and two women have pleaded not guilty to assault, menacing and other charges in the case. Prosecutors have said the charges could be upgraded to hate crimes.
"That a random Muslim kid helped some Jewish kids, that's what's positive about New York," said Adler, 23, who suffered a broken nose and a lip wound.
The Anti Defamation League applauded the New York City Police Wednesday for the arrests of 10 individuals suspected in the "vicious, unprovoked, and prolonged" anti-Semitic attack on the students.
'We were shocked and saddened to hear of the vicious, unprovoked and prolonged anti-Semitic attack perpetrated against four Jewish students celebrating Hanukkah.
"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 grouo said in a statement.
"We recognize the courage of the fellow subway rider who attempted to defend the victims from their attackers. It is heartening that there are good people who are willing to stand up when they witness racism, prejudice or bigotry," ADL concluded.
Maybe I should bring this guy as backup next time I go to Kever Yosef.
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael
11 comments:
Some back up would be good. As those of us who support say in Chicago, Husain (sp?) is a good name, or should be, someone who brings peace.
Adler, 23, who suffered a broken nose and a lip wound.
Kids? They should grow up and fight back.
um...4 against 10? It sounds like they were fighting back.
good post
You know, there was a brouhaha in America earlier this year because people kept calling Senator Barak Obama "eloquent". It sounds innocent enough, but the problem was that all these politically correct white people were making this observation because they didn't expect the average African American to be able to speak eloquently or form ideas with any great skill. It may sound silly, but if you think about it, it rings true. True equality dictates that it should come as no surprise that he is eloquent. He's just a person, just like the rest of us.
The same applies to this post. To me, it comes as no surprise that a Muslim helped a group of Jews in physical danger. It's definitely laudable, and worthy of praise, but it wasn't that important to him who the victims were. Jews and Muslims were not natural enemies to this man. I would like to think I would help a Muslim in distress as well.
What makes the post so striking is that you feel the need to single out this person as exceptional. Why wouldn't he help them? I guess it's just easier to think that the average, nonexceptional Muslim considers all Jews unworthy of aid.
It's so easy to interchange the words Muslim and terrorist on a regular basis. I guess I should find this post heartening, and yet...
It is a nice story. Too bad we don't read about this kind of stuff more often.
Sounds like a nice guy--glad he was in the right place at the right time.
Says tha Balabusta in Blue Jeans:
I'm less interested in the fact that the Good Samaritan was Muslim, actually (Jameel, see your point, but here in the utmost West, the lines are much more blurry and meandering), than in the fact that apparently yelling "Happy Hanukkah" will get you attacked on a subway car in Manhattan. We have got some ways to go...
"But please don't be so blind as to recognize" should be "so blind as to fail to recognize".
Jameel,
What makes you think the attackers were Christians? Because they were shouting Merry Christmas?
Lurker,
Bubba is right. Those people were not Christians. You need to learn the difference between those who call themselves Christians and the real thing.
True, Luther was an anti-Semite bigot. There are observant Jewish bigots out there, too. Just read the comments section in the Jerusalem Post anytime Evangelicals are mentioned in an article. You won't find a group of any size that doesn't have a lunatic fringe. As for the Crusaders, they were wolves in sheep's clothing. What they did to the Jews was in direct violation of the teaching of Jesus and his disciples. Once Christianity became the official faith of the Roman Empire, the corruption of Rome set in and became progressively worse throughout the ages. Heck, Luther was a reformer.
As for the links you posted, those denominations and groups are heretical, led by 'clergy' that are often unreformed '60s flower children. One branch of the Presbyterian Church even hosted a women's conference back in the mid-90s that consisted of pagan goddess worship and was attended by women from all the mainline Protestant denominations. There is no way those people are true Christians. They don't believe in the tenets of the faith. Judaism has the same problem, BTW.
And yet, there has always been at least a remnant of true believers. That remnant, the real Christians, were often persecuted by the visible church, just like the Jews. We're still around and we don't beat up Jews. What we do is use our political muscle to keep the US from abandoning Israel, among other things. We're not your enemy.
kach 613 and elchonon,
I rest so much easier at nt knowing that you folks are the ones with guns
Anonymus,
You should, I can handle a handgun damn well..
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