2 Women Charged With Assaulting Jew After Tearing Down ‘Kidnapped’ Posters

By Reuvain Borchardt

NEW YORK —Two women have been arrested and charged with hate crimes for allegedly assaulting a Jewish woman on the Upper West Side after she confronted them for tearing down posters of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas.

On Nov. 9 at the corner of Riverside Drive and West 82nd Street, a 41-year-old Jewish woman saw two females tearing the posters off a light pole. She engaged them in a verbal dispute while recording them on her cellphone. The two then began to physically assault the Jew, ripping off the Star of David necklace that was around her neck, and knocking her cellphone to the ground, damaging it. 

The victim sustained minor injuries to her face and neck but declined medical attention. 

The NYPD Hate Crime Task Force investigated the incident.

On Monday, police announced the arrest of Mehwish Omer, 26, of the Upper West Side; and Stephanie Gonzalez, 25, of Yonkers. Omer was charged with assault as a hate crime and criminal mischief as a hate crime. Gonzalez was charged with assault as a hate crime and attempted robbery.

Since the October 7 attack in which Hamas massacred over 1,200 Israelis — mostly civilians, and many in barbaric fashion — and kidnapped over 240, Israel-supporters around the world have been plastering “KIDNAPPED” posters with photos of the hostages on light poles and other public areas to call attention to their plight.

This was just one of a number of incidents captured on video in New York and elsewhere of Palestinian-supporters tearing down the posters and Israel-supporters confronting them.