A Palestinian American man was hospitalized following a suspected hate-crime vehicle assault in Cleveland, Ohio. The victim reported being hit by a dark SUV while walking home, with the driver yelling anti-Palestinian threats. The incident occurred amidst peaceful protests against the Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people, where protesters and innocent bystanders were also attacked by police, far-right, and Zionist elements. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Cleveland) has called for an investigation into the incident and has documented an increase in incidents of anti-Muslim bigotry following the escalation of violence in Gaza.
Over the weekend, millions of people around the world peacefully protested the US-NATO-backed Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people. These protests, documented extensively on the World Socialist Web Site, included workers, young people, immigrants, students and the elderly of all ethnicities and religions, including Jewish people who reject the antisemitic lie that Judaism is synonymous with Zionism and support for the Israeli government.
An entire generation has been politicized by the unanimous backing of every major imperialist government and capitalist politician for the Netanyahu regime’s ethnic cleansing campaign in Gaza in the wake of the October 7 incursion by Hamas forces into Israel. In just over two weeks of sustained military operations by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) against the trapped civilian population of Gaza, IDF bombs and bullets have killed over 5,000 people, including 2,055 Palestinian children, according to Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCI-Palestine)
In response to this slaughter, protests in the United States have been overwhelmingly peaceful. Yet police, and far-right and Zionists elements, encouraged by genocidal statements issued by US and Israeli government officials, violently attacked protesters and innocent bystanders this past weekend.
On Monday, the Cleveland, Ohio, branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Cleveland) called on state and federal officials to investigate an alleged hate crime vehicle assault that occurred on Sunday afternoon. According to CAIR-Cleveland, a 20-year-old Palestinian American man walking home after eating lunch was hit by a dark SUV while on Cook Road in Cleveland.
A young Palestinian American man hospitalized following a suspected hate-crime vehicle assault this past Sunday in Cleveland, Ohio. [Photo: Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Cleveland)]
The victim reported the driver yelling anti-Palestinian threats before striking him, including “Kill all Palestinians” and “Long live Israel.” The victim dodged out of the way from the first attempt to run him down. However, the driver allegedly turned around and hit him while yelling “Die!”
CAIR-Cleveland shared a photo of the man hospitalized at St. John Westshore Hospital for his injuries suffered during the attack. CAIR-Cleveland noted in its press release that the organization has documented an “increase in incidents of anti-Muslim bigotry in the weeks following the escalation of violence in Gaza.”