The New York subway has no shortage of outrageous incidents every day, and sadly, Islamophobic and racist outbursts are among those. Such an unfortunate hate crime happened to an Iranian and Palestinian couple who were just minding their business on the train when a woman who proclaimed herself as a “Jew” started calling them terrorists, among other derogatory remarks.
The incident was captured on video by Iranian influencer Ariana Jasmine. Jasmine was on the New York subway train with Youssef, her Palestinian companion, back in mid-October when, out of nowhere, an older woman supposedly came up to them and called them terrorists. Since Youssef was also wearing a classic Middle-Eastern Keffiyah scarf, the irate woman also called it a T-towel or what the couple assumed was a “terrorist” towel. Here’s a repost of the clip on Reddit where the woman was also labeled as a “Karen“:
The woman can also be heard saying Palestine “doesn’t exist,” and after she walked away from the couple she was berating (presumably to give herself a safer distance), she claims that “I’m a jew that voted for Trump.” To which Youssef replied with “I know a lot of Jewish folk, and they’re not phobic to us.”
Their heated debate continued despite the distance, and the woman kept shouting at them. Jasmine has claimed that they did nothing to provoke the supposedly Jewish woman, though they were still trying to locate her so they could take appropriate action. It’s not clear whether Jasmine and Youssef managed to find the Jewish woman, but they managed to attend a Zohran Mamdani rally later on without much incident.
People Online Have Called Out the Muslim-Hating Woman
Jasmine’s clip of the hate crime against her and her companion quickly went viral and now has 2 million views and counting on Instagram. The woman who introduced herself as Jewish quickly drew attention, with many other Muslims in Jasmine’s viewership alleging that they were also victimized by the Karen for merely wearing a Keffiyeh, even going as far as elbowing them out of her way.
“Omg this is the woman who elbowed my friend in the side (we were both wearing kuffiyeh, she was glaring and glaring and then when she got off at Met-Lorimer she went out of her way to elbow between us) can’t believe it, absolutely the same woman 😱” claims a commenter. “Why do they always have the craziest looking eyes fr,” says another person.
Meanwhile, other commenters already had her figured out prior to her introduction, “She didn’t have to say she voted for Trump. We know.” It’s also not clear where the Islamophobic and racist woman is right now, but she’s certainly bound to draw more attention with her hate-driven activities now that New York’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, is a Muslim.
