A Wall Street banker and his wife who shouted vile anti-Semitic slurs at a Jewish man while covering up posters depicting hostages kidnapped by Hamas have apologized.
Kurush Mistry and his partner Shailja Gupta were criticized for their insensitive bigotry after a two-minute video of the confrontation between 68th Street and Riverside Boulevard was posted on social media.
Mistry, who subsequently lost his job, and Gupta apologized humbly after facing severe backlash and admitted their actions were “misguided and thoughtless”.
“After taking time to reflect and reflect on our recent actions, we would like to sincerely apologize to the Jewish gentleman to whom we yelled, gestured and said unkind things, and also to the global Jewish community for our recent ones “Excuse actions” in NYC,” they wrote.
Kurush Mistry and his partner Shailja Gupta have apologized humbly after they were embarrassingly caught hurling anti-Semitic slurs at a Jewish man in New York
“Our behavior was simply unacceptable and we are ashamed of our actions and words.”
“We hope to have the opportunity to speak to the gentleman personally in the near future and apologize to him directly.”
The couple claim they “never supported Hamas” and “always believed it was a terrorist organization.”
As they battled their demons, the couple revealed that it was “the first time they had participated in civil protests” and their goal was to “highlight the plight of Palestinian men, women and children who are also dying in Gaza.” and suffer.”
“Our actions were misguided and thoughtless.” “For example, our poorly worded poster was intended to promote violence, and for that we sincerely apologize,” they continued.
“We fully recognize the pain of the Jewish people in the United States, Israel and worldwide and regret that our actions have increased that pain.”
After the callous attack by a Jewish man, Mistry and Gupta said they received a series of violent threats.
Mistry, who subsequently lost his job, and Gupta apologized humbly after the backlash and admitted their actions were “misguided and thoughtless”.
“We share this knowledge not out of sympathy, but to factually tell the whole truth,” they said.
“We learned a valuable lesson about the need to love everyone as brothers and sisters rather than highlight differences and cause more pain.”
“We unequivocally condemn anti-Semitism, violence and terrorism in all forms.”
Mistry and Gupta reiterated their request for redemption and finally apologized again.
“Again, we apologize from the bottom of our hearts to all those we have offended and caused harm, especially to the global Jewish community, our fellow Americans and our fellow Indians,” they wrote.
“We hope that through our future actions and words we will slowly regain your trust in our good intentions for all of humanity and that hopefully you will be able to see that we are more than our worst actions and mistakes.”
In the now-viral video, Mistry is seen taping a poster to a lamppost with Gupta by his side when they are approached by a Jewish American who asks: “What is your name, sir?” “You must be very proud be.”
As tensions boil over, the couple responds by giving the middle finger to the Jewish man, who has not been identified.
The man continues, “You’re really proud of yourself.”
Mistry sticks the poster on a lamp post with Gupta next to him. A man asks him: “What is your name, sir?” “You must be very proud.” The couple responds by giving him the middle finger
Gupta records the man on her cell phone before getting into an argument with him
Looking directly at him, Mistry replies, “Very proud.”
As his partner appears to be filming the man, Mistry holds up a piece of paper that says: “Israel is an apartheid state and is committing genocide.”
After continuing with the act and doing their best to appear unfazed, they then try to push the man away by aggressively shouting, “Go back to your country.”
He replies, “I’m an American.”
Pointing out that he is an American Jew, he adds: “They also want my country not to exist, so where should I go?”
Gupta responds, seething with anger: “You don’t want my damn country to exist.”
He asks, “Which country is this?”
She answers suddenly: “Palestine.”
According to the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish advocacy group, the number of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States has quadrupled since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
Since October 7, there has been an avalanche of disputes online, with residents tearing down posters related to the conflict.
According to his LinkedIn page, Mistry worked at Freepoint Commodities for nine years.
He previously worked at Morgan Stanley, Barclays and Lehman Brothers.
According to Gupta’s LinkedIn account, she has worked as a visual artist, filmmaker and strategic advisor in emerging technologies for 29 years.
The couple does their best to appear unfazed as they continue with the crime. Then they lead the man away and say, “Go back to your country.”
In a statement after the footage was shared online, Freepoint said it was “aware of the recent anti-Semitic incident reported on social media and the individual involved is no longer associated with Freepoint.”
Two people familiar with the matter identified the person in the video as Mistry and confirmed that he had been fired from the company, according to the Financial Times.
Freepoint operates in the energy, metals and agricultural markets and is based in Connecticut.
“We welcome the diversity of views and opinions of our employees, but Freepoint does not tolerate discrimination and hate speech against any group,” the company said.
In August, senior U.S. leaders and financiers expressed anger at a statement by groups at Harvard University that “held the Israeli regime solely responsible for all of the unfolding violence.”
Law firms have withdrawn offers to students over their involvement in groups criticizing Israel over the war and called on universities to do more to combat anti-Semitism among students.
Scientists from some of the country’s most prominent institutions will meet next week to explore ways to defuse tensions.
Home to 1.6 million to two million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Muslims, New York City has been rocked by demonstrations, rallies and vigils in support of Palestinians and Israel since Hamas’s brutal and bloody attack on Israel on October 7.
In the attack, about 240 people were taken hostage by the terrorist group and about 1,200 Israelis were killed.
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, more than 11,200 Palestinians have died since the war began – two thirds of them women and minors.
Mayor Eric Adams, who governs a city of nearly nine million people, including the world’s largest Jewish community outside of Israel, has repeatedly asserted at pro-Israel rallies that Israel’s “fight” is also New York’s fight.
Kurush Mistry and Shailja Gupta apologize fully:
After taking the time to reflect and reflect on our recent actions, we would like to sincerely apologize to the Jewish gentleman to whom we yelled, gestured, and said unkind things, and also to the global Jewish community for our recent actions sorry NYC. Our behavior was simply unacceptable and we are ashamed of our actions and words. We hope to have the opportunity to speak to the gentleman personally in the near future and apologize to him directly.
We have never supported Hamas and have always assumed that it is a terrorist organization. This was the first time we took part in a citizen protest and our goal was to draw attention to the plight of Palestinian men, women and children who are also dying and suffering in Gaza. Our approach was misguided and thoughtless. For example, our poorly worded poster was designed to support violence, and for that we sincerely apologize. We fully recognize the pain of the Jewish people in the United States, Israel and worldwide and regret that our actions have deepened that pain.
Since the incident, we have both received many threats of violence. We do not share this knowledge out of sympathy, but rather to tell the whole truth objectively. We learned a valuable lesson about the need to love everyone as brothers and sisters rather than highlight differences and cause more pain. We unequivocally condemn anti-Semitism, violence and terrorism in all forms.
Once again, we apologize from the bottom of our hearts to everyone we have offended and caused harm to, especially the global Jewish community, our fellow Americans and our fellow Indians. We hope that through our future actions and words we will slowly regain your trust in our good intentions for all of humanity and that you will hopefully be able to see that we are more than our worst actions and mistakes.
Sincerely,
Kurush Mistry and Shailja Gupta