
A Staten Island pro-Palestinian activist who travelled to Manhattan in April 2021 where he beat up a Jewish man at a pro-Israel rally was sentenced to 18 months in prison, the New York Times reported.
Saadah Masoud pleaded guilty to federal hate crime changes in November 2022 stemming from that assault and a string of other violent antisemitic attacks in New York City.
Masoud, 29, allegedly beat up Matt Greenman, who is Jewish, in 2021 due to his “actual and perceived religion” after a pro-Palestinian demonstration on April 20 in Manhattan, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Manhattan US Attorney’s office, the New York Post reported.
Greenman was part of a pro-Israel counter protest. He had the Israeli flag draped around himself when he was attacked. The 28-year-old was rushed to the hospital where he was treated for a concussion and other injuries, according to the criminal complaint.
In the June 10 complaint, special agent Lavalle Jackson testified that Masoud had been part of two other assaults against Jews in 2021. Prosecutors said that he also threatened pro-Israel supporters on Instagram, writing, “I wish I could show you the things I do to Zionists but I can’t post them” and “I feel bad for you Zionist people when judgment day comes and we slaughter all of them like sheep.”
Prosecutors had requested that Masoud be given a sentence of between 18 months and two years, noting in a court filing that he had repeatedly assaulted Jews. His lawyer had asked for a six-month sentence, claiming he had not attacked his victims because they were Jewish, and that he had been “triggered” by pro-Israel demonstrators.
“You are burdened by enormous anger,” Manhattan Federal Disttrict Court Judge Denise L. Cote said to Masoud during sentencing, according to the Times. “You’re going to have to confront whatever is in your soul.”