The anti-Semitic attacker assaulted Lihi Aharon, spewed profanities, quoted the Quran, and called Aharon a “stinking a** serpent Jew.”
The Lawfare Project announced Thursday that it has filed a complaint with the NYC Commission on Human Rights on behalf of an Israeli woman who was viciously assaulted and injured in an attack last year on the New York City subway.
Israeli student Lihi Aharon had boarded the subway in Manhattan and suddenly found herself on the receiving end of a vicious physical assault by a woman who overheard her speaking Hebrew.
Aharon captured footage of the vicious attack on her phone, which left her with a massive bleeding scratch on her face. But Aharon didn’t take the abuse sitting down; she fought back with all her might, removing the attacker from the train before she could harm anyone else.
After the police intervened, the anti-Semitic attacker spewed profanities, quoted the Quran, and called Aharon a “stinking a** serpent Jew.”
Following the attack, the Lawfare Project provided pro bono representation for Lihi and made a commitment to help her seek justice, ultimately succeeding in securing a hate crime indictment for the attacker.
The Lawfare Project is a New York City-based nonprofit organization that is both a think tank and a litigation fund that works to protect the human and civil rights of Jewish and pro-Israel communities worldwide.
“Now, in addition to ongoing criminal proceedings, this human rights complaint will force Lihi’s attacker to face judgment on whether her actions constitute unlawful discriminatory violence, and if they do, she may face additional consequences,” Lawfare’s Executive Director Brooke Goldstein said.
After the suit was filed, attorney David Abrams, executive director of the Zionist Advocacy Center, which is partnering in the suit, said he hoped for a fair review of the claim.
“I trust that the Commission on Human Rights will honor its mandate to seek justice for all victims of discriminatory harassment and violence in New York, including Jews and Israelis,” Abrams said.
In video capturing the attack, the assailant can be heard spouting obscenities, including, “You f—in’ nasty a– Jews” and “You stinking a– Jew.”
Lihi later quoted her attacker saying “Allah will kill you.”
