Washington D.C. – A group of Jewish New York City high schoolers who attended Tuesday’s massive pro-Israel rally in Washington were verbally attacked onboard a DC train by a woman who accused them of supporting genocide.
Shira Rouhani, Lea Applebaum, and Leah Borenstein, students at the Yeshiva University High School for Girls in Queens, were riding the DC Metro with their teacher when the unidentified woman launched her vulgar and vile attack that left them feeling frightened.
In a video, shot by Rouhani, 17, and obtained by The Post, the woman can be heard screaming at the girls, telling them they were supporting the “killing of innocent people” and that they were “fucfking disgusting.”
“You are stupid. You are really dumb….Fuck you. Fuck all you guys,” the woman said. “What’s wrong with you? Why are you supporting kids who are being murdered?”
“I was very scared of this lady,” Borenstein, who was reduced “to tears” over the interaction, told The Post Wednesday over the phone.
The woman allegedly also called the girls “dirty pigs, “fat and ugly,” and accused them of living “rich and privileged” lives, according to Borenstein.
The 17-year-old senior said she had already been hesitant about the rally prior to going, although she was “happy” she attended in the end, after seeing the rise of antisemitism across the US, especially in her home city.
The Yeshiva University High School for Girls, as well as its boys school and university, cancelled classes Tuesday to allow the New York City-based students to travel to DC for the pro-Israel rally, which Rouhani called “peaceful.”
It wasn’t until the girls’ group got on the subway that they started to feel threatened.
“I was very scared,” Rouhani, who hails from Iranian-Jewish immigrants, said. “I’ve never dealt with antisemitism before.
“She meant it from her gut,” the senior, who was wearing an Israeli flag on the train, continued. “Her voice was very aggressive.”
None of the girls said anything to the woman out of fear, they told The Post, but their Jewish history teacher, Richard Issacs, defended the group, telling the “aggressive” woman to “fix your government first.”
The Post has attempted to contact Issacs for comment.
Rouhani said she was afraid the woman would physically “attack” them if they spoke up.
The teen also said her group had not been loud or disruptive and had simply been riding the subway like everyone one.
Borenstein, who said she was shaking after the incident, said: “It’s very scary she had the audacity to get up and yell at us in front of everyone.”
Applebaum, 16, said she was “high” off the rally as she boarded the train car and was upset “someone attempted to ruin it.”
“I was scared,” she said over the phone. “I wanted to speak, but I didn’t know what to she’d do… She verbally harassed us, saying we support genocide.”
After the women got off the train, several others came up to the girls to say they support them, all three recalled.
The three girls have noticed a rise in antisemitism across the Big Apple and Borenstein said that as a result some of her friends have started taking Ubers around instead of the subway.
The senior said she’s “never been scared” of the subways before, but has found herself hiding her Star of David necklace until she was in safe spaces.
Rouhani also said she had begun to hide her Jewish jewelry because she doesn’t want to “risk it.”683
Applebaum said her area of Queens was “very scary” and she has seen people ripping down posters.
“I shouldn’t have to be so aware [of my surroundings],” Rouhani said. “I’m not going to hide my Judaism.”
And the girls wants people to know that Jews are “grieving for everyone” on both sides of the fight.
“It’s really sad,” Applebaum said. “I never thought I’d live through a war.”
