Happy Eid al-Adha!
As Muslim comes to aid of “Happy Hanukkah!” Jews in NY subway:
NEW YORK (CNN) — A Muslim man jumped to the aid of three Jewish subway riders after they were attacked by a group of young people who objected to one of the Jews saying “Happy Hanukkah,” a spokeswoman for the three said Wednesday.
Friday’s altercation on the Q train began when somebody yelled out “Merry Christmas,” to which rider Walter Adler responded, “Happy Hanukkah,” said Toba Hellerstein.
“Almost immediately, you see the look in this guy’s face like I’ve called his mother something,” Adler told CNN affiliate WABC.
Two women who were with a group of 10 rowdy people then began to verbally assault Adler’s companions with anti-Semitic language, Hellerstein said.
One member of the group allegedly yelled, “Oh, Hanukkah. That’s the day that the Jews killed Jesus,” she said.
When Adler tried to intercede, a male member of the group punched him, she said.
Another passenger, Hassan Askari — a Muslim student from Bangladesh — came to Adler’s aid, and the group began physically and verbally assaulting him, Hellerstein said.
“A Muslim-American saved us when our own people were on the train and didn’t do anything,” Adler said.
Adler pulled the emergency brake and the train stopped at DeKalb Avenue station, where police came on board.
The 10 suspects, ages 19 to 20, were taken into custody, said Brooklyn district attorney spokesman Sandy Silverstein.
Askari was first handcuffed alongside them, but he was released when Adler told police he was not an attacker, Hellerstein said.
Alder was treated at Long Island College Hospital for injuries that included a fractured nose and a cut lip that required several stitches, while Askari suffered a black eye, Hellerstein said.
Eid al-Adha, Dec. 20 this year, marks Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael …. Hold on! I thought that was Isaac!
Whatever … Happy Eid, Hassan! I think this pretty much makes Askari a righteous Gentile.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:41 am on Thursday, December 13, 2007
5 Responses to “Happy Eid al-Adha!”
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December 13th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
That was a happy story, or at least a happy ending to an ugly story.
Which shows to go you (or goes to show you) that lumping people by group or religion (or other category) and then assigning them characteristics based on your category is…dumb
December 13th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
It’s an encouraging story, and helps me to remember that there are good people out there, at times when I get to thinking bad thoughts.
December 13th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
In this interesting news items there is, curiously, no mention of the ethnic, racial or religious identity of the attackers. Since everyone understands the “code” in use by the Main Stream Media, we all know that the attackers were not Caucasian, they were not Christian and they were not members of the local conservative book club.
The unintended consequence of this “never tell if an offender is black, Muslim, latino or amerindian and especially not if they were just returning from a democrat
party caucus”, is that everyone assumes that an offender is a member of the “protected” groups. One wonders how this advances either the cause of brotherhood or, indeed, of truth itself.
December 13th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
AHippler, your comments are interesting, however…hmmm…it is difficult to describe, but after reading them I am left feeling rather like one does when stepping onto an out-of-service escalator — that brief moment when the expectation that one is to be transported either up or down gives way to the sudden realisation that there is climbing to be done.
Perhaps you could expand on your theory and how it relates to the article in question?
December 14th, 2007 at 12:47 am
How you doing, Floss. The party named in an earler story doesn’t appear to fit any of the categories mentioned. See “Religous Hatred Roundup” post a couple of posts down, second item in post.