Jewish diners at LA sushi restaurant attacked by pro-Palestine mob

Convoy of pro-Palestine protesters are filmed brawling with LA restaurant diners ‘after asking if any of them were Jews’

  • Attack took place at Sushi Fumi in Beverly Grove section of LA Tuesday 
  • Witnesses reported seeing members of car convoy flying Palestinian flags attack diners after asking ‘who’s Jewish?’
  •  Bystander video shows pro-Palestinian brawling with diners, one of whom picks up and swings stanchion
  • Witnesses said attackers hurled glass bottles and shouted ‘death to Jews’ and ‘free Palestine’
  • Five people suffered injuries in the attack but no one was transported to a hospital 
  • LAPD is investigating the attack as a hate crime and looking for three suspects 
  • LA Mayor Eric Garcetti condemned what he called an ‘organized, anti-Semitic attack’
  • Video emerged showing Jewish Orthodox man being chased by pro-Palestinian convoy waving flags on Monday  
  • Incident comes amid escalating violence in Israel and Gaza Strip  

Shocking video shows pro-Palestinian protesters brawling with LA restaurant diners after allegedly asking if any of them were Jewish.

The footage, recorded on Tuesday night, showed kicks and punches exchanged, as well as bottles being thrown and a velvet rope being swung outside Sushi Fumi in Beverly Grove.

Onlookers said the violence erupted after the Palestine supporters asked if any of the diners were Jews, with some responding that they were.  

The Los Angeles Police Department said on Wednesday that the incident is being investigated as a hate crime.

It comes amid escalating protests across the US amid clashes between Israeli and Palestine forces in the Gaza Strip. 


A car convoy flying Palestinian flags is pictured rolling through the Beverly Grove section of LA on Tuesday. Witnesses said members of the caravan yelled ‘death to Jews’ and ‘free Palestine’ 

A wild brawl broke out outside Sushi Fumi after pro-Palestinian activists were said to have asked diners: ‘who’s Jewish?’ 

The attackers were observed throwing glasses and yelling anti-Semitic slurs

The Los Angeles Times said a witness, who asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons, said some people from the caravan threw bottles and chanted ‘death to Jews’ and ‘free Palestine.’

‘Somebody in one of the cars driving by started throwing glass bottles or glass cups at the tables and they shattered everywhere,’ a woman diner, who didn’t want to be identified, told KCBS-TV.

Several cars stopped and men got out, began running toward the tables and began asking ‘Who’s Jewish?’ the woman said.

KTLA-TV reported that a witness, who was not identified, said fighting broke out when two men replied they were Jewish.

Video showed a man being punched on a sidewalk.

The man, who wished to be identified only as M, told KABC-TV that he was helping plan an upcoming wedding with four Jewish friends when the car caravan rolled up.

Video showed some men dressed in black getting out of a car and pushing M’s friend to the ground. M, who described himself in a separate interview with NBC Los Angeles as an ethnic Armenian who grew up in Lebanon and spoke Arabic, said he grabbed a metal stanchion. Video showed him swinging it at attackers.

M said he grabbed the heavy metal pole to scare the men after his initial efforts to ‘make peace’ failed.

‘There were many girls behind us. I was scared that they would attack everybody,’ he said.

Five people were injured in the melee, including an Arabic-speaking ethnic Armenian who came to the defense of his Jewish friends  

Police are looking for three suspects and a Jeep in connection to the attack

M was followed to his car, punched, had his finger sliced with a knife and pepper sprayed, and was treated at a hospital for multiple injuries, he said.

Restaurant staff rushed patrons inside, locked the doors and called police, who arrived and restored order. The melee was said to have lasted about 15 minutes.

No arrests were immediately made. At least three suspects were being sought.

Police said five victims were punched or hurt by broken glass, but nobody was seriously injured. 

LA City Councilman Paul Koretz, who is Jewish, called the attack ‘absolutely outrageous.’ 

After touring the scene of the melee on Wednesday, Koretz told reporters: ‘We’re not going to bring the conflict from the Middle East here and allow people to be attacked on our streets because of what they look like and what they appear ethnically.’ 

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, in tweets posted Wednesday afternoon, said the LAPD is looking into the assault as a hate crime and condemned what he called an ‘organized, anti-Semitic attack.’

On Monday night, a Jewish Orthodox man was chased by a pro-Palestinian convoy as he walked to a synagogue (pictured)

The victim, who was not hurt, said his pursuers were yelling ‘Allahu Akbar’ at him

‘Jewish Angelenos, like all residents, should always feel safe in our city,’ he posted. ‘L.A. is a city of belonging, not of hate.’

‘There is simply no place for anti-Semitism, discrimination, or prejudice of any kind in Los Angeles. And we will never tolerate bigotry and violence in our communities.’ 

A day earlier, a Jewish Orthodox man was walking to his synagogue when he said he was chased and nearly run over by members of a pro-Palestinian convoy in LA’s Fairfax District. 

The incident took place in the parking lot of a Bank of America near Rosewood Avenue and La Brea Boulevard, and was captured on video, which shows the unnamed Jewish man running for his life from a vehicle flying a Palestinian flag.

‘All along they were screaming, “Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar,”‘ the victim told KABC. 

The man said he managed to reach the synagogue safely and lock the door behind him. 

A weekend protest in West Los Angeles in support of Palestinians drew thousands of peaceful protesters. An earlier Tuesday demonstration outside the Israeli consulate also was peaceful and an organizer, Amani Barakat, told KCBS-TV that he wouldn’t condone violence.

A pro-Palestine protestor fought with a pro-Israel protestor outside of the 17th Police Precinct in Manhattan on Tuesday 

Multiple arrest and fights break out at a Palestinian March in New York City on Tuesday

Nearly 300 protestors of all ages stood on the sidewalk across from the Israeli embassy in Atlanta on Tuesday evening to call for an end to Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip 

‘We’ve organized many protests, Saturday’s protest we had more than 20,000 people that showed up and not one single incident,’ Barakat said.

In New York, violence broke out on Tuesday during a ‘Free Palestine’ protest outside the Israeli consulate in Midtown Manhattan, resulting in more than a dozen arrests. 

There were also protests in Atlanta, Washington D.C., Boston and Dearborn, Michigan, where President Joe Biden was visiting.  

The Council on American-Islamic Relations for Greater Los Angeles condemned the attack in LA on Tuesday night.

‘As a civil rights and advocacy organization, we support everyone’s right to free speech, the right to assemble and rally in support of their respective political views,” Executive Director Hussam Ayloush said in a statement. ‘However, despite heightened tensions in Palestine and Israel, it is never acceptable for that conflict to spill over into our streets and cities. Violence and intimidation should be condemned, investigated, and if warranted, prosecuted.’

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