At Yehia Amin’s sentencing last week, he was “smiling,” according to reporters.
By Rafael Medoff
Yehia Amin spotted a group of yarmulke-wearing Jews in New York City’s Times Square and headed straight towards them, yelling, “Hamas should kill more of you!” and “May Allah kill all the Jews!”
Amin followed his Jewish targets into a subway station, yelling “All Jews should die!” and “I want to kill you!” Then he punched one of them in the head.
The date of Amin’s assault was October 18, 2023. He was not upset about any alleged “Israeli genocide”; not a single Israeli soldier had yet entered Gaza. Nobody “provoked” Amin. He was not “protesting” anything other than the existence of Jews.
Amin, whom court records describe as “of Middle Eastern descent,” pled guilty to “assault as a hate crime.” At his sentencing last week, he was “smiling,” according to reporters.
The judge sentenced Amin to just 90 days in prison.
It’s the latest in a series of instances in which individuals who committed violence against Jews have been given shockingly light sentences.
Kasem Noubani viciously assaulted two Jewish students at DePaul University in Chicago in 2024. One of Noubani’s victims suffered what was described as a “very serious concussion” and was still experiencing symptoms eight months after the attack. The other victim suffered a fractured wrist and had to undergo multiple surgeries.
Noubani was sentenced to eight months in prison.
Tarek Bazrouk, a Palestinian-American college student, assaulted Jews while taking part in protests at Columbia University and elsewhere in 2024 and early 2025.
In one instance, Bazrouk kicked a Jewish student in the stomach. In the other two assaults, he punched Jewish students in the face. During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence from Bazrouk’s telephone that he proudly described himself as “a Jew hater” and a supporter of Hamas.
Bazrouk was sentenced to 17 months in prison.
Loay Abdel Fattah Alnaji, a Jordanian-American, struck an elderly Jewish man, Paul Kessler, in the face during an anti-Israel protest in Thousand Oaks, California, in November 2023. The assault caused Kessler to fall and hit his head on the pavement. He died the next day.
Alnaji was sentenced to one year in prison.
How would politicians, human rights advocates, and the news media respond if such sentences were given out for assaults on members of a different ethnic group?
Dr. Medoff is director of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, and the author of more than 20 books about Jewish history, Zionism, and the Holocaust.
Do You Love Israel? Make a Donation - Show Your Support!
Donate to vital charities that help protect Israeli citizens and inspire millions around the world to support Israel too!
Now more than ever, Israel needs your help to fight and win the war -- including on the battlefield of public opinion.
Antisemitism, anti-Israel bias and boycotts are out of control. Israel's enemies are inciting terror and violence against innocent Israelis and Jews around the world. Help us fight back!