On Saturday night police arrested a man in Miami Beach for shooting two men he thought were Palestinians. Both victims, who were later identified as Israeli, survived but were sent to the hospital for their injuries.
Mordechai Brafman, 27, shot at the men’s vehicle 17 times with a semi-automatic handgun and faces two counts of attempted second-degree murder. “While I was driving my truck, I saw two Palestinians and shot and killed both,” he told police.
Israeli media identified Brafman as a Jewish plumber. A 2023 report by local news referred to Brafman as a “frequent customer at Bagel Time Cafe, a Miami restaurant that had its Israeli and United States flags torn down multiple times.
“It’s absolutely abhorrent to see this kind of vandalism for not only showing pride for Israel, but pride for the United States,” said Brafman, regarding the flags. “To see this level of fragmentation and is, is very, very unfortunate.”
WPLG Local10 News in South Florida confirmed that the victims were not Palestinian, but a father and son from Israel.
Ironically, one of the victims reportedly made social media posts falsely claiming that they were targeted for being Jewish. He also wrote, “Death to Arabs.”
“It is deeply ironic and telling that both the alleged pro-Israel perpetrator and the pro-Israel victim in the Miami Beach shooting reportedly hold racist anti-Palestinian views,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad in a statement. “This just the latest example of the hate targeting the Palestinian-American community in this country and Palestinians in their homeland. Policymakers in our nation should stop fomenting the anti-Palestinian hate that led to the genocide in Gaza and to hate crimes in America.”
Reactions
Analysts and pundits reacted to the news across social media.
“If a Muslim shot two people in Miami because he thought they were Israelis it would be called terrorism and there would be wall-to-wall media coverage,” tweeted DAWN fellow Assal Rad.
“American Jew shooting Israelis in Miami because they looked Palestinian is really the ne plus ultra of deranged Zionist culture,” wrote author Jeff Melnick.
Jewish Voice for Peace South Florida put out a statement highlighting the anti-Palestinian sentiments of local lawmakers.
“We believe that this ugly act of anti-Palestinian racism has been fueled by a City administration that has acted as a vocal cheerleader for Israel’s genocidal assault on the Palestinian people of Gaza and has sought to silence those of us who have expressed a different point of view,” it reads. “It is time for the City to stop its support for Israel’s genocide—from abetting Israel’s aggression through the purchase of Israel bonds or other financial donations, to having the Consul General of Israel speak at Commission meetings, shutting down City residents from speaking out against Miami Beach’s ongoing support of Israel, and adopting an anti-protest law designed to silence those who seek justice for the Palestinian people.”
Group pushes for hate crime charges
CAIR’s Florida chapter is calling for hate crime charges to be filed.
“We urge state and federal law enforcement authorities to bring hate crime charges in this case based on the alleged perpetrator’s statements to police that reportedly indicate an anti-Palestinian motive,” said CAIR Florida communications director Wilfredo Amr Ruiz . “It is the alleged shooter’s reportedly bias-motivated actions, not the actual ethnicity of the victims, that should be the determining factor for charges in this disturbing case.”
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) National Executive Director Abed Ayoub echoed this point on Twitter.
“What matters when bringing hate crimes charges is the intent of the perpetrator. In this case the shooter believed that the victims were Arab/Palestinian,” he wrote. “It doesn’t matter that they weren’t. It also doesn’t matter that the victims themselves are Israeli.”
“The shooters mental state, his intention, as well as his actions and words are anti-Arab,” Ayoub continued. “He told detectives that he ‘saw two Palestinians and shot and killed both.’ The FBI does have a category for anti-Arab hate crimes. If hate crimes charges are brought, and I believe they should be, then this is an anti-Arab hate crime.”
Thank you Michael Arria,
And, who do you suppose radicalized Mordechai Brafman, 27, a young Florida Jewish Plumber?
Peter Beinart said it bluntly in 2012, The Crisis of Zionism, Chapter: The Future, p.165,
“…there is ample evidence that Orthodox institutions indulge such bigotry, even when it incites violence…”
Does Mordechai Brafman attend a synagogue with corrupt Rabbinate inciting violence? If so, will Miami/Dade Police consider charging Mordechai Brafman’s Rabbi for inciting violence within their community?
a small significant detail left out:
“It should be noted that, while in custody in our interview room, the defendant spontaneously stated that while he was driving his truck, he saw two Palestinians and shot and killed both.” Authorities added that Brafman told investigators he believed he had killed the men. (Ynet News)