Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) National President Morton Klein released the following statement:

Yesterday morning, ZOA Director of Research & Special Projects Elizabeth (Liz) Berney, Esq. and close to 100 friends and activists supported “Justice for Joey,” at the wild sentencing hearing of Mahmoud Musa, one of the antisemitic Arab gang members who brutally attacked Joey Borgen in May 2021, while calling Joey a “filthy Jew.” Joey was wearing a kippah and simply walking in midtown Manhattan when he was viciously attacked. Musa kicked and stomped on Joey’s face.

Many hearing attendees thanked ZOA for our action alert the previous day urging friends to attend the hearing to support Joey as he courageously faced his attacker and gave his heart-rending victim impact statement. ZOA thanks all of you for attending! Especially now, it is important for us to be there to support victims, to send a message that antisemitic hate crimes must be punished. Judge Mennin noted that Musa’s crime “will not be tolerated in any civilized society,” and sentenced Musa to seven years in prison plus five years’ probation. An Arab then called the judge a racist.

Yesterday afternoon, Liz Berney appeared on Russian media RUSA, hosted by Kirill Zadov, to discuss the sentencing hearing, the Gaza situation and related Biden administration actions, international law, and last week’s UN Security Council Resolution 2712. You can watch the conversation here.

For more information on bringing Joey Borgen’s attackers to justice: See New York Post article on yesterday’s hearing; Hamodia article; and ZOA Justice for Joey letter signed by 23 Jewish organizations regarding another of the attackers. The sentencing hearing for the remaining two gang members who attacked Joey is tentatively scheduled for December 18. We’ll publish more information when it is available. Please watch for ZOA’s action alerts.