Father & Toddler face Racist Attack in New York City

A father was left trying to protect his 18-month-old son after they were subjected to a racist attack in New York City.

Ashish Prashar, who is originally from London, said his only instinct was to make sure his son was unharmed.

He was able to film the attack and report it to the police.

Ashish, who was formerly Boris Johnson’s press secretary when he was London’s mayor, said:

“I was wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh (scarf) given to me by a Palestinian woman when I went to the West Bank in 2011.

“I went to my son’s favourite playground in New York City, everyone with a baby will tell you they change their favourite playground every week but right now he loves it as he gets to run around.

“Edmonds Playground in Fort Greene has basketball courts and he gets to play on playsets and swings before all the kids from the school come out for their break.

“We go every day and went from the playset to the basketball court where the incident happened.

“I let him run around as he loves to run away and make me chase him.

“He saw a seven or eight-year-old kid in the basket court so my baby ran up to him, and babies love big kids so he was in awe.

“Big kids usually ignore and shrug off but this kid played with my son and passed him the ball.

“I gave him space to play and then a woman approached me from the bench on the other side and said to me ‘Do you support Hamas? Do you know they’re terrorists?’

“I got the sense that this was something she didn’t want an answer about and it was a provocative question to cause conflict.”

Ashish tried to distance himself from her but she told him to get away from her child.

He told MyLondon: “She then said you and your son don’t belong here and said I’m Jewish American and you don’t belong here.

“As any ethnic minority, I feel when people say such things she meant you don’t belong in the country, not just in the playground.

“She kept shouting across the court, then she said ‘Your people are dogs, all Arab people are dogs, do you know your people burn babies, I hope someone burns your baby’.

“I thought this could get worse and even more racial, but I also believe in standing my ground and I still wanted my son to enjoy the playground so I thought let me diffuse the situation.

“I took my phone out and assumed people don’t want to be filmed and it would diffuse the situation.

“I knew my son knew something was wrong, though he doesn’t know what happened, he kept standing behind me and he usually runs around the playground.”

As Ashish began filming, the woman allegedly threw her phone at him and his son.

“If she had hit my toddler in the head it could have been a serious condition. So I slide my son down and put him behind my legs.

“As I turned around a hot cup of tea came flying and it clipped my shoulder, a tiny bit hit my neck and I could feel the heat.

“She then hit me and tried to grab my phone.

“She retrieved her phone and then she only stopped because a passerby eventually walked about to the fence to ask if I was ok and that’s the only reason she stopped as the guy wouldn’t leave.

“She then went to the middle of the court and got the boy, I was then holding my son and had my back turned to her as I knew the guy who came was watching my shoulder.

“I was holding my son and telling him I love him and that he’s gonna be okay.

“She was willing to try to burn the child and assault him and me.”

“I will never stop wearing the scarf, I wear it because I believe in the liberation of Palestinians, once you’ve been to West Bank you can’t unsee the apartheid. It represents oppressed people.”

Watch the Racist Attack. Warning – Distressing Scenes

“I hope your baby burns in an oven”

A Zionist hate crime occurred in Brooklyn yesterday when a woman threw hot coffee at a man and told him his baby should burn in an oven, all because he wore a Palestinian scarf (Keffiyeh). pic.twitter.com/TvVz1d05Dz

— SZH (@StopZionistHate) November 9, 2023

A passerby who checked on Ashish and his son walked them home.

The woman has since been identified as Hadasa Bozakkaravani.

She was arrested and charged with nine counts, including four hate crimes, assault, assault of a person under 11, reckless endangerment, aggravated harassment and menacing.

She pleaded not guilty to all charges and is due in court on January 24, 2024.

An order of protection has been issued for Ashish and his son.