On the evening of October 7th, after a basketball game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Israeli team Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Palestinian-American Nerdeen Kiswani was attacked by a group of Maccabi Electra fans. The 20-year-old Hunter College student was punched in the stomach, and a Palestinian flag was torn from her hands.

Among her attackers was Leonard Petlakh, a professor of Jewish history at her own school, and the executive director of the Kings Bay YM-YWHA (Young Men’s Hebrew Association). According to witnesses present during the assault, along with video evidence, Petlakh and his accomplices were plotting their attack on the young woman.