bigboywasim

Muslim helps Jews attacked on New York subway

CNN Article

From Nkechi Nneji
CNN

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A Muslim man jumped to the aid of three Jewish subway riders after they were attacked by a group of young people who objected to one of the Jews saying "Happy Hanukkah," a spokeswoman for the three said Wednesday.

The New York Police Department's Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating Friday's incident on the Q train.

Friday's altercation on the Q train began when somebody yelled out "Merry Christmas," to which rider Walter Adler responded, "Happy Hanukkah," said Toba Hellerstein.

"Almost immediately, you see the look in this guy's face like I've called his mother something," Adler told CNN affiliate WABC.

Two women who were with a group of 10 rowdy people then began to verbally assault Adler's companions with anti-Semitic language, Hellerstein said.

One member of the group allegedly yelled, "Oh, Hanukkah. That's the day that the Jews killed Jesus," she said.

When Adler tried to intercede, a male member of the group punched him, she said.

Another passenger, Hassan Askari -- a Muslim student from Bangladesh -- came to Adler's aid, and the group began physically and verbally assaulting him, Hellerstein said.

"A Muslim-American saved us when our own people were on the train and didn't do anything," Adler said. Video Watch Adler describe the altercation »
Don't Miss

Adler pulled the emergency brake and the train stopped at DeKalb Avenue station, where police came on board.

The 10 suspects, ages 19 to 20, were taken into custody, said Brooklyn district attorney spokesman Sandy Silverstein.

Askari was first handcuffed alongside them, but he was released when Adler told police he was not an attacker, Hellerstein said.

Alder was treated at Long Island College Hospital for injuries that included a fractured nose and a cut lip that required several stitches, while Askari suffered a black eye, Hellerstein said.

The suspects are to appear in Brooklyn District Court on February 7 on charges that include assault, attempted assault, menacing, harassment, unlawful assembly, riot and disorderly conduct, Silverstein said.

The New York Police Department's Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the incident, and will determine whether the suspects will be charged with hate crimes, Officer Philip Hauser told CNN.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/12/sub...ack/index.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lguPY03i42U

__________________

JBolton

Its sad that the media chooses to focus on people's religious background, although it is nice story to show American-Muslims help American-Jews when the are being attacked by some American-***holes.

FitnessRubber

I typically am offended when news stories focus on group identities, but in this case it's so relevant to the story you can't really get around it. Though I don't see any evidence that the attackers are necessarily Christian just because they yelled "Merry Christmas." That phrase is so homogeneous in our culture that one doesn't have to be a Christian to say it. Nevertheless, it is heartwarming that a Muslim man went to the aid of a Jew. I thought they were supposed to be bitter enemies.

Tant01

I like stories with a happy ending!

Good on you!

__________________
While the old form, jujutsu, was studied solely for fighting purposes, Kano's new system is found to promote the mental as well as the physical faculties.

T. Shidachi, 1892

kanik

Yeah, its a good story. I beleive that people should allways try and help fellow human beings despite there racial or religious backgrounds.

Mike Brewer

I agree that it's good that a good samaritan helped out, no matter what religion he was, and no matter what religion they were. Although I doubt it was as apparent as groups of people wearing "Hey I'm a Jew" or "Really? I'm a Muslim" on their t-shirts. The grouping into religions is a little disturbing, but only becasue it perpetuates the idea that people can be judged by their religion, no matter how little they choose to live by its principles.

That said, someone should have thown the Merry Christmas Crew in front of the next train.