By Howie Silbiger
A Jewish man returning from synagogue was stabbed with a screwdriver in Manhattan on Thursday, while police in England announced arrests after three Jews were shot with a BB gun and details emerged of an attack on Israeli tourists in Mongolia.
The New York stabbing happened near West 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The 50-year-old victim, who was wearing a kippah, had reportedly left Tisha B’Av services at the nearby Jewish Center when he was stabbed in the torso. A 57-year-old Asian man was stabbed in the back with a knife several minutes earlier, approximately two blocks away. Both victims were taken to hospital and are expected to recover.
Police arrested 51-year-old Raul Morales shortly after the attacks. Witnesses said the attacker shouted “Allahu Akbar.” The NYPD is investigating the stabbings as possible hate crimes.
The attack came days after a 64-year-old Jewish man was shoved to the ground in Brooklyn while his attacker allegedly made anti-Jewish remarks. The victim suffered injuries to his back and hip.
In Salford, England, Greater Manchester Police arrested two suspects after three members of the Jewish community were shot with a BB gun from a passing vehicle. The attack happened at approximately 10 p.m. Monday on Leicester Road. All three victims suffered minor injuries. Police are investigating the incident as a religiously aggravated assault and increased patrols in Jewish neighbourhoods following the attack.
The Salford shooting came less than a year after two Jewish worshippers were killed in an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation in Manchester. British police admitted this week that evidence uncovered during an earlier investigation had not been properly examined and may have revealed the attacker’s extremist views before the synagogue attack.
Details also emerged this week of an attack on six Israeli tourists at a campsite in northern Mongolia earlier this month. The group, made up of three men and three women, was attacked after being heard speaking Hebrew. The attackers reportedly approached carrying axes and knives, shouted “Heil Hitler” and ordered the Israelis to leave. The three Israeli men, all former IDF combat soldiers, fought back and escaped with the women with the help of a local driver.
One of the Israelis suffered a fractured jaw and was flown back to Israel for surgery. No arrests have been reported.
