Rabbi speaks out after anti-Israel activists who accused him of stalking forced to pay $182K legal bills
Anti-Israel demonstrators accused of having deafened a Washington, D.C. rabbi as he was trying to pray for Israel's hostages outside its U.S. embassy have been ordered to pay his $182,000 legal bills after falsely accusing him of stalking.
Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld went to the Israeli embassy in D.C. on March 21, 2024, near the Jewish holiday of Purim, to pray for the Israelis taken captive by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023. He went to the embassy because it was the closest place, in his mind, to Israel itself.
When he arrived, the embassy was teeming with anti-Israel demonstrators. Among them were former UN official Hazami Barmada and Teachers Against Genocide founder Atefeh Rokhvand. Barmada and Rokhvand were staging daily demonstrations at the embassy at that time.
As the rabbi solemnly prayed for the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza to return home, he encountered a "chaotic scene" of anti-Israel protesters who berated and mocked him. Ms. Barmada likened Herzfeld and his colleagues to "Nazis" and said his presence at the embassy was "hilarious."
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"It was the loudest outdoor scene I've ever seen in my life, it was ear-splitting, it was deafening… I never saw anything like that in DC," Herzfeld told Fox News Digital.
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At some point, the rabbi referred to the anti-Israel demonstrators as "wicked," court papers said. Barmada, who was wearing headphones and speaking into a megaphone, proclaimed "it's time for the sirens" and the protesters began blasting loud sirens that Herzfeld alleged caused him ear damage. He filed a federal suit against Barmada and Rokhvand. The two women later filed their own suit against the rabbi for stalking.
"It was Shabbos, my parents were over, and my children were there, and I come home from prayers. And my wife was, you know, horrified that police had – she said police came to our door and they left and they – and they gave me, you know, this temporary restraining order," Herzfeld said.
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At the three-day trial, anti-Israel demonstrators swarmed the courthouse and taunted the rabbi as he entered and exited, he claimed. He said it was highly stressful and was extremely embarrassed at the thought that his neighbors, who saw police arrive at his door, could have thought there was merit to the case. In court, Herzfeld consoled himself with scripture.
"I was reciting Psalm 121 to myself, 'I lift up my eyes to the mountains from where will come my help.' I was reciting Psalm 132 [sic] to myself from the depths to – you know, to God as a prayer – 'From the depths I call out to you, Please, God, answer me,'" he recounted.
The judge ruled against Barmada and Rokhvand, and ordered them to pay Herzfeld's legal fees, which amounted to $182,000. The judge noted that the two often engage in constitutionally protected abrasive behavior, such as Barmada throwing fake blood in the direction of cars entering or exiting then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken's home, and that the rabbi's actions at the embassy were also constitutionally protected speech, and he had not in fact stalked them.
"There is no evidence that Respondent ever threatened the Petitioners. There is no evidence that he ever followed, monitored or placed them under surveillance. The only times he ever saw them was at the location of the protests on three occasions (only two with regard to Ms. Rokhvand). The evidence suggests that his presence on those occasions was not an attempt to locate Petitioners or any other particular individuals; he was going to the embassy to pray, observe the protests and at times (March 21 and May 2) make his own comments regarding the protests," the judge wrote.
The lawyer for Barmada and Rokhvand, Gregg Lipper, said his clients would appeal the ruling, claiming the court's decision arose from "serious errors of law, fact, and procedure." Lipper claimed the rabbi and his associates made his clients "fear for their safety."
"The court's judgment, which orders my clients to pay nearly $200,000 to the law firm opposing their petitions, improperly punishes my clients for trying to protect their rights in court," the lawyer said. "It's an especially bad time to discourage people from asking the court for help, given spikes in threats and violence against (among others) women, Muslims, and advocates for civil and human rights," he added.
Herzfeld vowed to collect "every single cent" from the two women and called their lawsuit "an abuse of the U.S. judicial system." The rabbi vowed that the incident would not stop him from praying and speaking up for the hostages still trapped in Gaza.
"I had no idea who these people were before I met them at the embassy… I only had three interactions with them. Their whole strategy was to attack me and then claim they were the victims. You know who else did that? Hamas terrorists who attacked Israel on October 7."
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Barmada and Rokhvand did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.Original article source: Rabbi speaks out after anti-Israel activists who accused him of stalking forced to pay $182K legal bills
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