US

Jewish Man Assaulted On Las Vegas Strip, Allegedly By A Pro-Palestinian Suspect

[Twitter:Screenshot:Fox 5 Las Vegas]

Brianna Lyman News and Commentary Writer
Font Size:

A Jewish man on vacation said he was knocked to the ground on the Las Vegas Strip Monday after a discussion on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict turned violent.

Paul Lebowitz, 67, told the Daily Caller he and a stranger struck up a conversation inside a coffee shop Monday afternoon with a stranger.

The stranger-turned-suspect and Lebowitz discussed the recent attacks against Israel from Hamas. Lebowitz said they disagreed on everything but didn’t think twice about it.

“I said ‘Listen, we’re never going to agree on this, we understand that, we could agree to disagree, that’s fine,'” Paul recounted, noting he began to walk away from the table.

The suspect, however, then allegedly told Lebowitz “your people are not going to exist anymore.”

“I said, can you explain what you mean by ‘your people’?” Lebowitz told the Daily Caller.

The man then clarified and allegedly said “The Jews are not going to exist anymore.”

Lebowitz, holding his Star of David necklace in his hand, told the man “the Jews have been around for over five-thousand years, we survived the pogroms, the terrorist attacks, the Holocaust, the five Arab attacks. We will survive this.”

“I picked up my Jewish star and said ‘I’m a Jew, I’m a proud Jew,'” Lebowitz told the Daily Caller.

The suspect allegedly followed Lebowitz outside and accused Lebowitz of being a “baby killer,” right before  Lebowitz was shoved to the ground.

Lebowitz shared photos of his bloodied head with former Democratic New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind.

Lebowitz, a paramedic from New York, said he called police four times and his wife called once. Lebowitz said his wife flagged down an officer passing by who took a police report.

Lebowitz’ son allegedly found the family of the suspect in a nearby store and alerted authorities but by the time authorities finished a police report the family was gone, according to Lebowitz.

“This is a hate crime,” Lebowitz said.

“[The police] wrote down ‘battery.’ Nothing was happening, we had a nice conversation, it was loud sometimes, but only when the word ‘Jew’ got in there did [the suspect] become violent. So it was a hate crime and I want it written down as a hate crime. I will press charges if they find him.”

Lebowitz said the violence against Jews has to stop. (RELATED: Jews Are Literally Being Singled Out And Attacked On The Streets)

“Stop picking on us. I see what’s going on in New York, people with Palestinian flags in the streets attacking people and the cops do nothing, their hands are tied. It has to stop. The Jews have to be more proud of themselves. Wear a yarmulke. I’ve always worn a yarmulke.”

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department confirmed in a statement to the Daily Caller they are investigating the incident “to determine if the suspect’s actions were motivated by bias ideology.” The department noted the incident was a “battery.”

Anti-Semitic hate crimes have spiked in recent days. Two Jewish teens were allegedly rescued by a ride share driver on Saturday in Brooklyn after pro-Palestinian individuals punched the teens in the head.

In another incident, Joey Borgen was beat in the middle of Times Square by pro-Palestinian individuals.

“Jewish blood is flowing on the streets of New York, that’s not an exaggeration,” Dov Hikind, former Democratic New York State Assemblyman, told the Daily Caller. “It’s out of control.”