A former high ranking US government official has been arrested after being captured on video calling a halal food vendor in New York City a “terrorist” and saying the death of 4,000 Palestinian children in Gaza “wasn’t enough”.
Stuart Seldowitz, 64, a former deputy director of the US State Department’s Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs, was arrested on Wednesday. The arrest was made on charges including aggravated harassment, hate crime stalking, stalking causing fear, and stalking at a place of employment, as stated by the New York Police Department.
According to the police, a 24-year-old male victim reported that an individual, identified as Stuart Seldowitz, approached him multiple times at his workplace, making anti-Islamic statements on different occasions. These statements caused the victim to feel afraid and annoyed. A former high ranking
Incidents involving Seldowitz, 64, gained public attention after videos went viral depicting heated arguments over Israel’s actions in Gaza between Seldowitz and an Egyptian man working at a halal cart in Manhattan. In one captured exchange posted on the social media platform X, Seldowitz is heard saying, “If we killed 4,000 Palestinian kids, it wasn’t enough.” The vendor responds by telling Seldowitz to leave and asserts that he won’t entertain such remarks. Seldowitz then accuses the vendor of supporting terrorism, escalating the confrontation.