By JENNIFER SZULMAN & SINDY NANCLARES
Community leaders and politicians gathered on Tuesday at Brooklyn Borough Hall to support a Jewish man who was punched in the face by a pro-Palestinian demostrator outside the Barclays Center following a Israel-related sports event last week.
Leonard Petlakh, head of a Jewish youth center, was assaulted in a confrontation with a group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators as he attended an exhibition basketball game between the Brooklyn Nets and Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Petlakh’s nose was broken in the assault. The attack was being investigated as a hate crime.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams denounced the violence and called for respect and tolerance among the diverse communities that share the county.
Other speakers highlighted the importance of speaking out and advocating against any hate crime in the city, especially anti-Semitic attacks.
“Hate flourishes because good people remain silent,” said New York City Public advocate, Letitia James. “Anti-Semitism has no place in this city.”
Petlakh and supporters called for higher security for Israel- related events and urged people to reject any kind of hate-crimes and not to be afraid.
“I wanted to send the message to my kids and all of us not to be afraid and go to events and stand together,” he said.
They came together in response to the increasing number of assaults reported in Brooklyn over the last six years, making the borough the one with the highest hate related crimes citywide, according to the State Division of Criminal Justice Services.
Latakh, executive director of a local YMHA – was rushed to the hospital with the broken nose when an unidentified man punched him when things got out of control after someone pulled a hijab off a Muslim woman’s head as the crowd walked out of the arena.
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