Palestinian-born agitator Tarek Bazrouk sentenced to 17 months in prison for violent, Hamas-inspired hate crimes targeting Jews in New York City.
A federal judge in Manhattan has delivered a decisive blow against antisemitic violence, sentencing 20-year-old Tarek Bazrouk, a self-professed “Jew hater” and Hamas sympathizer, to 17 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for a series of brutal hate-driven assaults on Jewish demonstrators in New York City.
During the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Richard Berman made it crystal clear: America will not tolerate violence against Jews or anyone exercising their First Amendment rights.
“If someone assaults another because the person is an actual or perceived Jew practicing free speech, the offender goes to jail,” Berman declared.
Prosecutors had sought a stiffer 36-month term, emphasizing that Bazrouk’s actions were not mere protest but part of a pattern of organized, ideologically motivated antisemitism. The Department of Justice revealed that Bazrouk’s phone contained messages glorifying Hamas, calling Jews “worthless,” and boasting of his hatred.
Victims spoke courageously in court, describing a “vicious campaign against Jews” that had nothing to do with the Gaza war but with their very identity. “It was never about politics,” one victim said. “It was about us being Jews.” Another victim dismissed Bazrouk’s apology as hollow: “I didn’t feel it in my gut.”
The evidence outlined three separate assaults between April 2024 and January 2025:
- On April 15, 2024, outside the New York Stock Exchange, Bazrouk—wearing a Hamas-style green headband—kicked a Jewish college student in the stomach.
- On December 9, 2024, he punched another Jewish student and ripped away an Israeli flag near a campus protest.
- On January 6, 2025, he struck a Jewish protester in the nose during a Manhattan rally.
In his court statement, Bazrouk admitted to targeting Jews “because of their identity,” acknowledging he acted out of rage over Israel’s actions in Gaza. But investigators say his violence reflected pure antisemitism, not political protest.
Judge Berman’s ruling sends a powerful message: Jew-hatred, in any form or disguise, will face the full force of American law.
