Anti-Israel demonstrators accused of getting deafened a Washington, D.C. rabbi as he was attempting to hope for Israel’s hostages outdoors its U.S. embassy have been ordered to pay his $182,000 authorized payments after falsely accusing him of stalking.
Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld went to the Israeli embassy in D.C. on March 21, 2024, close to the Jewish vacation of Purim, to hope for the Israelis taken captive by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023. He went to the embassy as a result of it was the closest place, in his thoughts, to Israel itself.
When he arrived, the embassy was teeming with anti-Israel demonstrators. Amongst them had been former UN official Hazami Barmada and Lecturers Towards Genocide founder Atefeh Rokhvand. Barmada and Rokhvand had been staging day by day demonstrations on the embassy at the moment.
Because the rabbi solemnly prayed for the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza to return residence, he encountered a “chaotic scene” of anti-Israel protesters who berated and mocked him. Ms. Barmada likened Herzfeld and his colleagues to “Nazis” and mentioned his presence on the embassy was “hilarious.”
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Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld went to the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. to hope for the hostages, when he encountered a belligerent anti-Israel mob. (Photograph by Lucy North/PA Photos by way of Getty Photos)
“It was the loudest out of doors scene I’ve ever seen in my life, it was ear-splitting, it was deafening… I by no means noticed something like that in DC,” Herzfeld instructed Fox Information Digital.
Sooner or later, the rabbi referred to the anti-Israel demonstrators as “depraved,” courtroom papers mentioned. Barmada, who was carrying headphones and talking right into a megaphone, proclaimed “it’s time for the sirens” and the protesters started blasting loud sirens that Herzfeld alleged precipitated him ear injury. He filed a federal go well with towards Barmada and Rokhvand. The 2 girls later filed their very own go well with towards the rabbi for stalking.
“It was Shabbos, my dad and mom had been over, and my kids had been there, and I come residence from prayers. And my spouse was, you understand, horrified that police had – she mentioned police got here to our door they usually left they usually – they usually gave me, you understand, this short-term restraining order,” Herzfeld mentioned.
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The rabbi claims he was deafened by the noise on the protest. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Photos)
On the three-day trial, anti-Israel demonstrators swarmed the courthouse and taunted the rabbi as he entered and exited, he claimed. He mentioned it was extremely annoying and was extraordinarily embarrassed on the thought that his neighbors, who noticed police arrive at his door, might have thought there was benefit to the case. In courtroom, Herzfeld consoled himself with scripture.
“I used to be reciting Psalm 121 to myself, ‘I raise up my eyes to the mountains from the place will come my assist.’ I used to be reciting Psalm 132 [sic] to myself from the depths to – you understand, to God as a prayer – ‘From the depths I name out to you, Please, God, reply me,’” he recounted.
The choose dominated towards Barmada and Rokhvand, and ordered them to pay Herzfeld’s authorized charges, which amounted to $182,000. The choose famous that the 2 typically interact in constitutionally protected abrasive conduct, comparable to Barmada throwing faux blood within the course of vehicles coming into or exiting then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s residence, and that the rabbi’s actions on the embassy had been additionally constitutionally protected speech, and he had not in actual fact stalked them.
Israeli troopers examine the burnt vehicles of festival-goers on the website of an assault on the Nova Pageant by Hamas gunmen from Gaza, close to Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, Oct. 13, 2023. (REUTERS/Amir Cohen)
“There is no such thing as a proof that Respondent ever threatened the Petitioners. There is no such thing as a proof that he ever adopted, monitored or positioned them below surveillance. The one instances he ever noticed them was on the location of the protests on three events (solely two with regard to Ms. Rokhvand). The proof means that his presence on these events was not an try to find Petitioners or another explicit people; he was going to the embassy to hope, observe the protests and at instances (March 21 and Might 2) make his personal feedback relating to the protests,” the choose wrote.
The lawyer for Barmada and Rokhvand, Gregg Lipper, mentioned his shoppers would enchantment the ruling, claiming the courtroom’s choice arose from “critical errors of legislation, truth, and process.” Lipper claimed the rabbi and his associates made his shoppers “worry for his or her security.”
“The courtroom’s judgment, which orders my shoppers to pay almost $200,000 to the legislation agency opposing their petitions, improperly punishes my shoppers for attempting to guard their rights in courtroom,” the lawyer mentioned. “It is an particularly unhealthy time to discourage individuals from asking the courtroom for assist, given spikes in threats and violence towards (amongst others) girls, Muslims, and advocates for civil and human rights,” he added.
Herzfeld vowed to gather “each single cent” from the 2 girls and referred to as their lawsuit “an abuse of the U.S. judicial system.” The rabbi vowed that the incident wouldn’t cease him from praying and talking up for the hostages nonetheless trapped in Gaza.
“I had no concept who these individuals had been earlier than I met them on the embassy… I solely had three interactions with them. Their entire technique was to assault me after which declare they had been the victims. who else did that? Hamas terrorists who attacked Israel on October 7.”
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Barmada and Rokhvand didn’t reply to Fox Information Digital’s request for remark.
