A Muslim family aggressively accosted a prominent rabbi in New York's Times Square, telling him to commit suicide if he has a problem with a free Palestine.
The widely viewed video captured the family's grinning demeanor as a young girl, who claimed to be 11 years old and from Canada, and delivered the disturbing message.
“If you have a problem with free Palestine, kill yourself,” she told the man in front of the camera. “Yeah, go ahead… you can't do anything about it because I live in Canada.”
'Do you want me to kill myself because I'm Jewish? Do you want Jews to die?' asked Rabbi Shmuley Boteach. The girl replied, “Yes, go ahead.”
The family showed no remorse and refused to condemn the hate speech or apologize to the Jewish-American rabbi, author and TV host.
The viral incident is the latest in a series of high-profile anti-Semitic incidents in New York City since October 7, with protests spreading and people tearing down posters of hostages in Israel.
A Muslim family aggressively accosted a prominent rabbi in New York's Times Square, telling him to commit suicide if he has a problem with a free Palestine.
In the caption of an
The video, which was posted on X by Boteach on Sunday, has been viewed more than 7 million times.
In the caption, he describes the escalation of the situation, including the family's small child allegedly kicking him while the daughter continued to express harmful sentiments.
He wrote: “An '11-year-old' Muslim girl walked up to me in Times Square with her family and told me to kill myself because I'm a Jew. I'm not making this up. You need to check this out.”
'Then they had their little child kick me to humiliate me, while their daughter kept telling me to kill myself. Identify who these people are,” Rabbi Shmuley urged.
He explained that passersby joined in and reportedly shouted anti-Semitic comments at him.
In the video, Rabbi Shmuley is heard saying, “She came to me and said, go to hell. She said I should go to hell,'
The family showed no remorse and refused to condemn the hate speech or apologize to the Jewish-American rabbi, author and TV host.
The video, which was posted on X by Boteach on Sunday, has been viewed more than 7 million times
“You will not intimidate me, you will not scare me,” he added.
When he threatened to call the police, she responded with a big grin: “I would love it, I would love it!”
When he asks her guardian to condemn her hateful statements, she can be seen laughing and rolling her eyes and saying, “She's 11, sir.” You're fighting an eleven-year-old.'
“What are you teaching your family,” Rabbi Shmuley asked. “How much hate do you have?”
DailyMail.com has contacted the NYPD about the alleged incident.
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova branded the family's actions online as 'pathetic'.
'Quite sad. And the mother laughs. Pathetic,” she wrote on X.
Boteach thanked the star athlete for standing up against hate speech and expressing solidarity with the Jewish community.
While many viewers expressed supportive sentiments, others commented on anti-Semitic remarks and blamed Rabbi Shmuley for his involvement.
“Zionists attack Muslim children and then rant about anti-Semitism… nothing we haven't heard before,” one user wrote.
“I love how every video you've posted all day makes you look worse. Cool!' another commented.
The incident comes amid a rising tide of anti-Semitism in the US and around the world. Pictured: Pro-Palestinian protesters at Grand Central Terminal
According to the NYPD in early November, there has been an alarming 135 percent spike in hate crimes since Hamas terror attacks last month.
The incident comes amid a rising tide of anti-Semitism in the US and around the world.
Rabbi Shmuley emphasized the connection between such events and the October 7 Hamas terror attack in Israel, which resulted in more than 1,200 deaths and approximately 240 hostages.
According to the NYPD in early November, there has been an alarming 135 percent spike in hate crimes since Hamas terrorist attacks last month.
Although hate crimes are down about 9 percent overall in New York this year, there were 101 hate crimes in the month of October – down from 43 in September and 45 in October 2022.
The majority of crimes (69) were against Jews, as anti-Semitic crimes increased by 331 percent since September and 214 percent since October last year.
The number of anti-Semitic incidents in the US has risen by about 400 percent since the October 7 Hamas massacre, Reuters reported in October.