Rabbi sues anti-Israel protesters, alleges they damaged his ears attempting to drown out prayers
FIRST ON FOX -- A prominent Washington D.C. area rabbi has filed an assault lawsuit against anti-Israel protesters, who allegedly damaged his ears while blasting "bullhorns, sirens and loudspeakers" in an attempt to drown out his prayers.
Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld alleges that he "suffered acute acoustic trauma and other harm" when confronted by anti-Israel protesters while he was praying in front of the Israeli Embassy on March 22.
"When we went there to pray, we were overcome by the presence of pro-Palestinian protesters, pro-Hamas protesters, who not only wanted to share their voice, they also wanted to make sure that our voice was not able to be heard," Herzfeld, who says he has been receiving medical treatment, told Fox News Digital.
"I feel an obligation as a rabbi, and as a Jew, to hold these people accountable, to take them before a judge and say, ‘It's not okay what they're doing, it's not okay that they're trying to stop me from praying. It's not okay when I want to pray peacefully, that they inflict pain upon me," Herzfeld continued. "I am hopeful that as a result … of this lawsuit, we're not only able to get relief from me for what they did to me, but we’re also able to get a lot more information about who these people are, who they're working with, who's supporting them."
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Fox News Digital obtained a copy of the lawsuit filed Wednesday in Washington, D.C. that further details the alleged encounter. The rabbi is bringing charges of assault, battery, and other violations, including hate based on religious identity.
"That attack was intended to, and did, injure Rabbi Herzfeld. The physical attack consisted of using speakers, sirens, and other sound-emitting devices to produce siren-like sounds in the range of 95-100 decibels—more than 1,000 times the noise level permitted under D.C. law— with the purpose and intent to injure Rabbi Herzfeld," the complaint states.
The encounter occurred on Taanit Esther, a day of religious observance immediately preceding the Jewish holiday of Purim. According to the complaint, Herzfeld and his group were attempting to offer prayers for the release of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since its October 7 terrorist attack, along with Israeli soldiers and "the innocent residents of Gaza" when they were surrounded by anti-Israel protesters wearing earplugs or sound-canceling headphones.
"Defendants had sound-producing equipment - speakers and bullhorns -- that were emitting extremely loud tones, that, upon information and belief, were intended to prevent any speech or other support for Israel," the complaint states.
"When Defendants saw that their noise emitting devices were not stopping Rabbi Herzfeld from leading his group in prayer, Defendants and their followers increased the volume of the siren-like sound being generated by the bullhorns, sirens and loudspeakers to levels that are far in excess of those allowed by District of Columbia law," the complaint continues. "Defendants’ targeted Rabbi Herzfeld in particular, and their purpose was to drown out his prayers, cause him physical injury, and force him to leave the site."
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Partial video from the encounter seen by Fox News Digital shows a man taunting Herzfeld, waving a Palestinian flag in his face as he tried to pray while loud sounds can be heard. According to the complaint, the sound level had reached the 95-100 dB range.
"Damage to hearing can be expected from sounds as low as 80-85 dB. Sounds in the 100 dB range can result in measurable hearing loss after only 15 minutes of exposure. Because the dB scale is logarithmic, a 10 dB increase in sound equals a 10-fold increase in the intensity of the sound. Thus, a sound that is 100 dB is 10 times louder than a sound that is 90 dB, and 100 times louder than a sound that is 80 dB," the complaint states.
"At the time of the attack, Rabbi Herzfeld immediately felt acute pain in his ear. On his return home, Rabbi Herzfeld continued to feel pain," the complaint continued. "He consulted with an otolaryngologist, who diagnosed acute acoustic trauma and prescribed medication."
Herzfeld has written five books, made countless media appearances and even delivered the opening prayer as guest chaplain at the U.S. House of Representatives. He was "unable to participate fully in the March 23-24 celebration of the Jewish festival of Purim, and in other religious and personal activities during days following the events of March 22," according to the complaint that notes he "continued to feel discomfort in his ears."
The defendants, Hazami Barmada and Atafeh Rokhvand, are both residents of Virginia. According to the complaint, Barmada is referred to as "The Leader" and "Rokhvand" is "The Governor" among the protesters in front of the Israeli Embassy.
Barmada and Rokhvand denied Herzfeld’s claims.
"The allegations made by Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld are factually incorrect, and an abuse of our court system to attack and silence constitutionally protected First Amendment activity. We are activists peacefully protesting and demanding an end to the atrocities in Gaza, which have claimed the lives of over 42,000 Palestinian civilians, 15,000 of which are children and 10,000 are women," they told Fox News Digital in a statement.
"In the untrue and dishonest allegations made by Rabbi Herzfeld, he fails to disclose that he came to the location of our protest on March 21, 2024, and instigated hostile contact with a group of activists who are part of an ongoing peaceful protest, since February 26, 2024, at the Embassy of Israel. During the very short time at the Embassy, Rabbi Hezfled and additional agitators in his group repeatedly walked among our peaceful and lawful protesters (who mostly remained seated and did not move), yelling vile verbal assaults e.g. ‘terrorist,’ ‘Nazi b---h,’ ‘go home Nazis,’ ‘go open a concentration camp,’ ‘evil’ etc," they continued. "Unfortunately, that is not the only day Rabbi Herzfeld accosted us. Days after filing his law suit, Rabbi Herzfeld again accosted our peaceful protestors when driving by, rolled down his window, and said ‘why do you support raping innocent women’-- which is a ludicrous and appalling thing for anyone to say, let alone a community leader."
They said "the lawsuit reads more like a politically motivated press release" designed to generate attention "and smear the reputation of respected human rights activist and organizer, Hazami Barmada."
"Not only is this an abuse of process, it is to chill our constitutional rights, extort and silence activism that does not align with Rabbi Herzfel’s personal views. It also violates the District of Columbia Anti SLAPP Act, but that’s for the lawyers to figure out," the statement continued.
"Unfortunately, Rabbi Herzfeld is demonstrating a more and more common tactic used by proponents of Israel to silence the voices of anti-war, pro-human rights and justice activists, peacefully calling for an end to the targeting of innocent children and civilians in Gaza. As to my co-defendant, Atefeh Rokhvand, it appears Rabbi Herzfeld’s legal team just arbitrarily picked another victim to silence. She was not present during the Rabbi’s visit on the date of misrepresented allegations," the statement said. "We are in the process of securing legal Counsel, they will review the lawsuit and evidence in our possession, and respond appropriately to Rabbi Herzfeld, and anyone else involved in this facade."
Herzfeld declined to respond to the statement.
Herzfeld, who is seeking a trial by jury, is hopeful to find out during the discovery process who is funding anti-Israel protests that have broken out across the nation and rocked college campuses.
"There is money that's invested in this in these protests. They're not just people who woke up one day and say, ‘Oh, let me show up at the Israeli embassy and stop a rabbi and his friends from praying,’" Herzfeld said.
"These are people who have a plan. They have a tent. They have a strategy. And it's not OK to just say, ‘OK, it's no big deal,’" he continued. "It is a big deal. Whenever you try to stop somebody from praying and inflict pain upon them because they're Jewish, that's not OK."
Fox News Digital’s Hanna Panreck and Christopher White contributed to this report.