Three Jewish New York City high schoolers and their teacher were verbally accosted Tuesday on the subway by an unknown woman after attending the pro-Israel rally in Washington, D.C., according to The New York Post.
Students at the Yeshiva University High School for Girls in Queens, Shira Rouhani, Lea Applebaum, Leah Borenstein, and their teacher Richard Issacs, were on the DC Metro train when an unidentified woman began to yell at them. (RELATED: Israeli President Isaac Herzog References Bible At Rally In Front Of White House)
The video, obtained by The NY Post, was shot by Rouhani, 17, starting out by showing the Jewish student wearing an Israeli flag and later pointing the camera towards the woman yelling obscenities at the group.
“You are stupid. You look really dumb….F*k you. F*k all you guys,” the woman stated. “What’s wrong with you? Why are you supporting this? Kids are being f*king murdered.”
Jewish NYC high schoolers verbally attacked by woman on DC train after National Mall rally: ‘F–k all you guys’ https://t.co/7t1DaEPOXD pic.twitter.com/Lx63n2EAvY
— New York Post (@nypost) November 16, 2023
Thousands of pro-Israel supporters gathered in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 14 to march in solidarity for the country in their fight against the terrorist group Hamas. Upon the announcement of the march, the Yeshiva University High School for Girls, along with its boys’ school and university, canceled classes allowing students to attend the rally.(RELATED: Jewish Groups Issue Tepid Responses To Tlaib’s Accusations Of Israeli ‘Apartheid’)
“I was very scared of this lady,” Borenstein, a 17-year-old senior, told the NY Post. The student told the outlet that she had been “happy” that she had attended, however, she was hesitant prior to going due to witnessing the rise of antisemitic acts in NYC as well as across the country.
Borenstein claimed that the woman allegedly called the girls “dirty pigs,” “fat and ugly,” accusing them of living “rich and privileged lives.”
While the girls had not responded to the insults, Issacs, their Jewish history teacher, defended the group responding to the woman by telling her to “fix your government first.”
The students noted that they had not been loud or disruptive on the train, in fact, Applebaum, 16, had told the outlet that she was on a “high” following the rally until “someone attempted to ruin it.
“I was scared,” Applebaum told the outlet. “I wanted to speak, but I didn’t know what to she’d do… She verbally harassed us, saying we support genocide.”
The three teens additionally stated that after they had gotten off the train several others came up to them in support. Following the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, the U.S. has seen a rise in antisemitism with NYC specifically seeing a 331% jump in October, according to data from the New York Police Department.
“I shouldn’t have to be so aware [of my surroundings],” Rouhani told the outlet. “I’m not going to hide my Judaism.”