A New York City couple says that they were recently assaulted by a family shouting pro-Palestinian slogans at an elementary school graduation.
The New York Post published an exclusive interview with the couple, named Lana and Johan, on Saturday. Lana is Jewish, while her husband is Dominican-American and practices Catholicism.
The couple watched their 10-year-old twins graduate from P.S. 682 in Gravesend, Brooklyn, on June 14 before the assault occurred. Lana told the New York Post that the altercation began when she and her husband tried taking pictures with their children in front of a school banner, when the family of a boy with a pro-Palestinian graduate cap pushed them aside.
“We told them there was space for both families,” Lana said. “An older man turned to us and said ‘Free Palestine!’ for no reason.”
“My husband told him this was not the time or place for that but the man cursed at him in Arabic, and shouted, “Free Palestine, Gaza is Ours, Death to Israel.”
Lana said that she believes the family targeted her because she is Jewish. When her husband defended his wife and children, another man “came out of nowhere” and punched him in the head.