Attack by Someone Shouting ‘Free Palestine’ Being Investigated as a Hate Crime

It has only been less than a month since two Israeli embassy staffers were murdered in Washignton, DC by a guy shouting “Free Palestine.” It has been just over two weeks since another deranged freak attacked a group of Jewish people in Boulder, Colorado and tried to set them on fire. He was shouting about “f***ing Zionists.”

Now here we go again with another unprovoked attack on strangers by a group of people in San Francisco. The guy who started this was also shouting “Free Palestine.”

Alana Gans, 28, told the Chronicle that she and her 27-year-old friend were sitting on a curb waiting for an Uber after a night out when a man near them started screaming, “F— Jews, free Palestine.” Gans said the assailant shouted for about a minute before she told him she was Jewish and asked him to leave.

When she made the plea, he walked over and said, “F— you,” she said.

She stood up, as did her friend, who got in between her and the assailant, she said.  

Two other men who were nearby took out their phones and started to record the commotion as they laughed. They, too, shouted, “F— Jews,” Gans said.

As she tried to pull her friend’s arm to walk away, the assailant sucker-punched her friend, Gans said. Both she and her friend fell.

They group of them started kicking her male friend. Then a bystander tried to pull the attackers off them and he also got knocked down and kicked a few times. The attackers ran away but then came back to taunt them some more. When police finally arrived they were able to locate two of the suspects.

Today, police said they were investigating the attack as a hate crime.

San Francisco police said Monday that officials were investigating an assault in San Francisco’s Marina District as a hate crime, an attack the victim’s friend described as antisemitic. 

Police said Sunday that the attack on Fillmore Street near Moulton Street was unprovoked.

No charges have been filed yet and there aren’t a lot of details about the attackers. So far the SF Chronicle seems to be the only news outlet with any original reporting on this which seems odd. I would expect some of the local news stations would be covering this but nothing so far.

San Francisco has had a string of antisemitic incidents going back several years. About 18 months ago there was a bunch of graffiti painted downtown after a pro-Palestinian march in the area.

Last March a rally against antisemitism was held at SF’s City Hall to highlight the issue. Obviously there’s still a problem if random people are being beat up in the streets.

This wasn’t the only incident involving that particular slogan making news today. On the other side of the country, in Brookline, Mass., someone smashed the window of a Jewish-owned business with a brick. The brick was painted with the message “Free Palestine.”

A brick bearing the slogan “Free Palestine” was thrown through the storefront window of a Jewish-owned shop in Brookline, Massachusetts, on Saturday night. In response, more than 150 people gathered outside the store Sunday afternoon for a spontaneous show of solidarity. Local residents, members of the Jewish community, and non-Jewish allies, condemned the attack and expressed concern over the rise in antisemitic violence.

The kosher store, The Butcherie, was attacked shortly after midnight. The window was shattered and the brick, inscribed with the pro-Palestinian message, was found inside. The longtime Jewish-owned business is located at 428 Harvard Street. According to Brookline Police, at least two masked individuals approached the store from a nearby street, threw the brick through the storefront, and fled.

Here’s a local news report on that incident.