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Awawdeh receives longer sentence of 18 months for antisemitic attack

He previously was to receive a lighter sentence of six months, which caused a public outcry.

Apr. 28, 2023

Awawdeh receives longer sentence of 18 months for antisemitic attack

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Joseph Borgen
The antisemitic assault on Joseph Borgen in New York City on May 21, 2021. Source: Screenshot.
( Apr. 28, 2023 / JNS )

Waseem Awawdeh, who said “If I could do it again, I would” of his 2021 antisemitic attack on Joseph Borgen, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to attempted assault and criminal weapon possession.

He will be sentenced to a year-and-a-half in prison for the two crimes, a Manhattan district attorney spokesperson told Jewish Insider.

Awawdeh, 23, struck Borgen four times with a crutch in May 2021, which hospitalized the Jewish man. Borgen had been on his way to a pro-Israel rally, in response to more than 4,000 rockets that terror groups based in the Gaza Strip fired at Israel.

“They hit me with fists, kicked me, hit me with crutches, hit me with signs,” Borgen told the New York Daily News in 2021. “They were saying, ‘You dirty Jew, [expletive] Israel, go back to your country.’ ”

Awawdeh previously was to receive a lighter sentence of six months, which drew public outcries.

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