Q Train Beating Twist: Muslim Helped Jewish Victims Fight Off Attackers!

The story around the possible hate crime attack on a Q train the other night seems to be made for the season. Not only does it come while subway violence is a big topic, it also involves a group of Jewish subway riders being called "dirty Jews" and "Jew bitches" and attacked by people who cried, "Happy Hanukkah, that's when the Jews killed Jesus." And here's the kicker: The only person who stepped in to stop the beating was a Muslim rider! One of the victims, Walter Adler, said, "A random Muslim guy jumped in and helped a Jewish guy on Hanukkah - that's a miracle."

Adler and his girlfriend, Maria Parsheva, students at Hunter and Baruch respectively, had been celebrating Hanukkah with friends Angelica Krischanovich and Nick Rosenbaum. They spoke to the Daily News:

On the train, they said [Joseph] Jirovec, [Kimberly] Babajko and their friends loudly yelled "Merry Christmas" - and became infuriated when Krischanvich responded, "Happy Chanukah."

"[One woman said,] 'You can't say that, we are Catholic,'" said Krischanvich, a Hunter College student who is not Jewish. "That's when two guys stood up and showed us their Jesus tattoos," she said. "They started yelling at us and telling us we have no savior."

"I started to yell back when one of them spat in my face," Krischanvich said. "I didn't let it bother me, and I told him, 'Jesus turned the other cheek,' and that is when the fight started."

Adler pulled the emergency brake and the police arrested six people for assault and four for unlawful assembly. Adler praised Hassan Askari, a Berkley College student who also works at an East Village restaurant, for trying to help stop the attack. Adler, who sports a black eye and cuts, said, "He's basically a hero. Hassan jumped in to help us....I'm bleeding all over the place, there's lots of people, they're fighting with Hassan still, and I'm like, why isn't anyone else doing anything?"

The incident is being investigated as a hate crime, but Jirovec, the son of a city firefighter fighting in Iraq, says the fight was not a hate crime, claiming two of his friends are Jewish.

Still, the Daily News found Facebook and Myspace photos showing Jirovec and Babajko appearing to "revel in recklessness" and "making a mockery of violence."

Jirovec did plead guilty to "attempted robbery in the third degree as a hate crime" for beating and robbing a black teen in Brooklyn last year. Jirovec told the Post, "I'm trying to stay out of trouble. When I get out, I want to go into the military."

The Post has video of Adler discussing the attack. And Askari is modest about what he did, saying he got involved because the attackers were targeting the women, too. Askari, who also has a black eye, who said he was grabbed and beaten, puzzled, "I don't understand" why the others were attacked. "They were just being nice."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on December 12, 2007 10:20 AM

Comments [rss]

sonyactivision

Geez, cute little jewish girls won't even let me look at them, much less beat them up. What's these guys' dating secret? Write the book in Rikers, feed me some lines.

steve1128

New York, New York, it's a hell of a town

rudeolly

wow, i was totally stuck on this train friday night. if i had known why these fucking idiots got arrested, i would have totally kicked them in the nuts as they got dragged by me by the cops. i thought they were just a bunch of drunk goombas.

schadenfreudian mensch

The irony is they would so kick Jesus's ass if they ever him on the subway or attempt to i should say since he was a Jew.

freshyill

I love the irony of Christians making ridiculous comments about the Jews killing Jesus. Isn't Jesus's crucifixion THE ENTIRE BASIS FOR THEIR RELIGION?

slappy

Religion dumbs down everyone.

We're supposed to be astonished that a "muslim" guy helped a "jewish" guy? GMFB! It even happens occassionally in Jerusalem. Religion is not a genetic feature. Didn't we get over that after Hitler?

Listening to the latest repub crap in Iowa, you would never know the constitution separates church and state. God god god god god god god. Phew. What a bore. Padering to the "christian voters". Politicians should set the bar above religion. Not the other way around.

Guest

The problem isn't religion. The problem is people. If we could just get rid of all of them, the planet would be a great place to live. Wait... D'oh!

schadenfreudian mensch

@edEx

In this city, yes it is far fetched.

schadenfreudian mensch

@nonumentalart

They're probably Serbian neo-nazis. Apparently they're in vogue these days in Serbia.

ptwnbkr

santacon sure wasn't like that.... dreydals, hannakuh harry, a menorah perhaps, a "hasid" or two, jewish santas(?), and even a few jesuses (who was a jew, dammit!) were all there mixed with lotsa santas. cool!

-totally lapsed (screwed?) roman catholic and a german one at that... oy vey!

(may post more than once......)

ptwnbkr

santacon sure wasn't like that.... dreydals, hannakuh harry, a menorah perhaps, a "hasid" or two, jewish santas(?), and even a few jesuses (who was a jew, dammit!) were all there mixed with lotsa santas. cool!

-totally lapsed (screwed?) roman catholic and a german one at that... oy vey!

ed_Extinct

*"A random Muslim guy jumped in and helped a Jewish guy on Hanukkah - that's a miracle."*

Or perhaps a human helped another human. Is that so far fetched?

sandradayoconnor

My favorite part is where the Jewish guy who got saved pipes up with, "Holy crap, a towelhead actually helped some of God's chosen people. I mean, that shit is, like, a miracle. I didn't know they could even use words."

So much for gratitude.

ny2102

Wow, what a bunch.

It's worth noting that you SHOULDN'T pull the emergency brake unless the train's already in the station. The brake is really for when people are being dragged. Hit the intercom button on newer trains or yell for help at the next station.

In fact, the latest trains won't even stop if they are between stations and the brake is pulled, they will simply be disabled at the next station.

JacqueMehoff

Holiday cheer and alcohol, bad mix in the last car of a subway.

One group yelling Happy chanukah and the other yelling Merry christmas.

nonumentalart

so are those guys polish? ya...

Vidiot

Brings Bill Hicks to mind:

Redneck: "Hey buddy! We're Christians and we don't like what you were saying about Jesus!"

Hicks: "Then forgive me."

emilydickinson

Well if they are so 'Christian', or at least 'Catholic' then they would know that the Church officially repealed its' writ with a Papal Bull declaring that the jews DID NOT kill Jesus. That's the party line at least according the Catholics.

Ignorant, violent Christians? How suprising, that's something you don't hear about every day. The cops should also track down that G-19 he's holding in the photo, I'm sure it isn't registered.

petebfd

too bad none of the guns in those pics went off.

EnriqueB

I feel weird about how you make this become a sensacionalistic story.

Why don´t you go all the way and write "Muslim Helped Jewish Victims Fight off Catholics"?.

mmm.

I prefer to think instead that this story is not about religions, its about normal people helping each other against a bunch of violent ignorants.