A Wall Street banker and his wife who shouted vicious anti-Semitic slurs at a Jewish man while covering posters of hostages kidnapped by Hamas have issued a groveling apology.
Kurush Mistry and Shailja Gupta were charged in the attack after a two-minute video of the confrontation at 68th Street and Riverside Boulevard was posted online.
Mistry, who lost his job, and Gupta wrote a groveling apology after the flood of responses, admitting their actions were “misguided and thoughtless.”
“Having taken time to reflect and reflect on our recent actions, we would like to sincerely apologize to the Jewish gentleman to whom we yelled, gestured, and said unkind things, and apologize to the global Jewish community for our recent actions. in New York,” they wrote.
Kurush Mistry and his partner Shailja Gupta have issued a groveling apology after they were embarrassingly caught hurling anti-Semitic abuse at a Jewish man in New York City
“Our behavior was simply unacceptable and we are ashamed of our actions and words.
‘We hope to have the opportunity to speak to the gentleman personally in the near future and to apologize directly.’
The couple claims that they have “never supported Hamas” and “always believed it to be a terrorist organization.”
The couple revealed that it was “the first time they participated in a civil protest” and that their goal was “to highlight the plight of Palestinian men, women and children, who are also dying and suffering in Gaza.”
‘Our way of doing things was misleading and thoughtless. For example, our poorly worded poster was interpreted as support for violence, for which we apologize profusely,” they continued.
“We fully recognize the pain of the Jewish people in the US, Israel and worldwide, and we regret that our actions have increased that pain.”
After the callous attack on the Jewish man, Mistry and Gupta said they received a slew of violent threats.
Mistry, who lost his job as a result, and Gupta wrote a groveling apology after the outpouring of responses, admitting their actions were “misguided and thoughtless”
“We share this knowledge not out of sympathy, but to actually tell the whole truth,” they said.
“We have learned a valuable lesson about the need to love everyone as brothers and sisters, rather than highlighting differences and causing more pain.
“We unequivocally condemn anti-Semitism, violence and terrorism in all forms.” Mistry and Gupta reiterated their fate for redemption and finally apologized again.
“Once again, we apologize from the bottom of our hearts to all those we have offended and caused pain, especially the global Jewish community, our fellow Americans, and our fellow Indians,” they wrote.
“We hope that through our future actions and words we will slowly regain your trust in our good intentions for all humanity, and that you will hopefully be able to see that we are more than our worst actions and mistakes.”
The now-viral video shows Mistry putting a poster on a lamppost with Gupta standing next to him when they are approached by a Jewish-American man who asks, “What is your name sir?” You must be very proud.’
As tensions run high, the couple responds by raising the middle finger at the Jewish man, who has not yet been identified. The man continues: ‘You’re really proud of yourself.’
Mistry can be seen sticking the poster on a lamppost with Gupta standing next to him. A man asks him, ‘What’s your name, sir? You must be very proud.’ The couple responds by raising their middle fingers at him
Gupta records the man on her phone before she gets into an argument with him
Looking straight at him, Mistry replies, “Very proud.”
As his partner appears to film the man, Mistry holds up a note that reads: “Israel is an apartheid state and is committing genocide.”
After continuing with the act and doing their best to look unfazed, they aggressively try to lead the man away, shouting, “Go back to your country.”
He answers, “I’m American.”
Noting that he is an American Jew, he also adds, “You also want my country not to exist, so where do I go?”
Seething with anger, Gupta replies, “You don’t want my damn country to exist.”
He asks: ‘Which country is that?’
She answers abruptly: ‘Palestine.’
According to the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish advocacy group, the number of anti-Semitic incidents in the US has quadrupled since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.
Since October 7, an avalanche of disputes has been posted online with residents tearing down posters related to the conflict.
According to his LinkedIn page, Mistry had worked at Freepoint Commodities for nine years.
He previously worked at the banks Morgan Stanley, Barclays and Lehman Brothers.
Gupta’s LinkedIn account states that she has worked as a visual artist, filmmaker and emerging technical strategy consultant for the past 29 years.
The couple does their best to look unfazed as they continue with the act. Then they lead the man away and say: ‘Go back to your country’
In a statement after the images circulated online, Freepoint said it was “aware of the recent anti-Semitic incident reported on social media, and the individual involved is no longer associated with Freepoint.”
Two people familiar with the matter identified the person in the video as Mistry and confirmed that he had been fired from the company, the Financial Times said.
Freepoint is involved in the energy, metals and agricultural markets and the company is based in Connecticut.
“We welcome the diversity of views and opinions of our employees, but Freepoint will not tolerate discrimination and hate speech directed against any group,” the company said.
In August, leading American executives and financiers expressed anger at a statement from groups at Harvard University that “held the Israeli regime fully responsible for all the unfolding violence.”
Law firms have withdrawn offers to students over their involvement with groups criticizing Israel over the war and have called on universities to do more to curb student anti-Semitism.
Academics from some of the country’s leading institutions will meet next week to explore ways to defuse tensions.
New York City, home to between 1.6 and two million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Muslims, has been rocked by demonstrations, rallies and vigils in support of Palestinians and Israel since Hamas’ brutal and bloody attack on Israel on October 7.
In the attack, about 240 people were taken hostage by the terrorist group and about 1,200 Israelis were killed.
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, more than 11,200 Palestinians have been killed since the war began – two-thirds of them women and minors.
Mayor Eric Adams, who governs a city of nearly nine million residents that includes the world’s largest Jewish community outside Israel, has repeatedly assured pro-Israel rallies that Israel’s “struggle” is also New York’s struggle.