Hate Crime: Woman Charged For Taking Racist Jibes At Israeli Student On New York Subway

A black woman from New Jersey accused of subjecting an Israeli college student to an anti-Semitic tirade on a New York City Subway was indicted Wednesday on hate crime by a Manhattan grand jury.

Lihi Aharon, the victim, and another Jewish man were targeted while aboard a subway train in December. Aharon asked the woman to shift her belongings in order to make space for her but she refused. Aharon then sat next to the man who was wearing a yarmulke, a skullcap worn by orthodox Jewish men. The woman, identified as Zarinah Ali, 38, reportedly started to foul-mouth both of them thereafter.

Ali also allegedly physically attacked Aharon. Police arrested her shortly after and charged her with assault.

Aharon, who immigrated to the United States from Tel Aviv in 2013, said she was humiliated by the incident. “It makes me feel very humiliated and sad that anti-Semitism still exists,” she told Fox News in December. “It’s disturbing and it’s scary to think that our world is going in that direction. We must stop this.”

The Manhattan district attorney was opposed to prosecuting Ali under hate crime initially considering the fact that Ali too is from a minority community. However, he switched course considering the public outcry sparked by the incident, Aharon’s lawyer Kenneth Belkin, told the publication.

“I still bear the physical and emotional scars from my attack, and I expect they will be with me for many years to come. Today, at least I can feel satisfied that my attacker will be held responsible for her actions and I hope that my experience may help bring this type of hatred to light," Aharon said.