Anti-Jewish stonings of buses are apparently not limited to the roads of Samaria. A bus belonging to the Lubavitcher Yeshiva and transporting children home from school was hit with a barrage of rocks and stones Monday afternoon in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The attackers appeared to have been ready and waiting for the school bus,

The attackers appeared to have been ready and waiting for the school bus.

which has Hebrew writing on its sides and has a regular route in the neighborhood.

According to the CrownHeights.info website, bus driver Dovid Astulin and three other witnesses saw a large group of youths who began pelting the vehicle as it pulled away from one of its stops. Flying stones caused some damage to the bus, including three rocks that smashed through the windows and just missed some of the children on board.

Realizing what happened, Astulin said he stopped the bus and tried to chase after the group of rock-throwers while calling police and the local Shomrim civilian security service. He was unsuccessful in catching any of the attackers, none of whom appeared to be older than 13 years of age. Police and the community volunteer patrol responded to the incident after a short time.

CrownHeights.info reported that witnesses said it appeared that the attackers, all of whom were identified as African-American youths, already had the stones in their possession.

Earlier this year, a 38-year-old Brooklyn Heights resident, Ivaylo Ivanov, was arrested on weapons-possession charges and for perpetrating a series of hate crimes. He allegedly painted swastikas on synagogues and cars throughout his neighborhood last year. Police said they found a cache of illegal guns and bombs in Ivanov's apartment. The Brooklyn Supreme Court is currently hearing the case.

According to the New York Police Department, the number of anti-Semitic hate crimes reported in New York City as of Passover 2008 is somewhat less than during the equivalent period last year. There were a total of 24 anti-Semitic crimes reported in the first three months of this year, compared with 26 over a similar period in 2007. Police officials presented the statistics during their annual meeting with leaders of the New York Jewish community, which took place just before the recent Passover holiday in April.