London – A Jewish judge stepped down from an antisemitic assault case after asking whether the defendant objected to him hearing it.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
Waeil Hammed, 38, was convicted of racial abuse and racially aggravated assault at St Albans Crown Court. But before the jury was sworn in, the original judge, David Altaras, revealed that his parents were of Jewish origin and asked if there were any objection to him sitting. After consultation with his barrister, Hammed asked for a different judge and the case was transferred.
Mr Altaras, who is originally from a Manchester Sephardi family, said that he had felt the case was "just a little bit too close to home".
Hammed, of Derby Road, Watford, was convicted over an incident at the Caffé Nero coffee-shop in Watford High Street.
Hammed was reading aloud from an Independent on Sunday report on Israel's War in Lebanon and exclaimed: "F— g Jews. Get out of my country. We should kill all of them. These f— ing Israelis, they should all be killed."
When a Jewish customer, Justin Nathan, asked him to keep the noise down, he had shouted: "You are a f— ing Jew aren't you?" He then pushed Mr Nathan. Mr Nathan called the police from his mobile but Hammed left the shop. When Mr Nathan followed, Hammed threatened to kill him and grabbed him by the arm. Mr Nathan received a small cut and punched Hammed twice in self-defence. Two police officers later overheard Hammed shouting: "You f — g Jewish bastard."
Hammed denied making antisemitic remarks, telling the jury that he had been upset by the newspaper article. [thejc]
The Judge in this case, seems to be
a Tzaddik, a Saint. Perhaps a “Brisker”, of the school of Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, (former) publisher of the New York Times, or
Caspar Weinberger YMSHV”Z. He does not state that he is Jewish, himself. Only, that his parents were of Jewish descent. By that scale, a judge who was a stickup-man, himself, or his parents were criminals, should decline to hear a case of armed robbery.