Holding a traditional Arab scarf, or keffiyeh, Ashish Prashar says, it is his favorite.
“Anyone who knows me knows that this scarf is around my neck,” Prashar said. “I wear it like two thirds of the year, until it gets too cold where you need a heavier scarf.”
The design and colors are known to represent solidarity with the Palestinian people. The scarf was a gift from a woman in the West Bank back when Prashar worked as an adviser for Middle East Peace Envoy and Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The treatment he received earlier this month though is a far cry from the respect he was given overseas and here in the U.S.
He recorded a video, of what police say, is an attack on him and his 18-month-old son in Fort Greene’s Edmonds Playground.
“As an adult, you expect bad things can happen to you,” Prashar said. “But the sadness really in this is that he had to experience this, that he, at 18 months, had to go through that trauma, and that is something no child should have to deal with that young.”
He says the woman threw a hot drink on him and accused him of supporting Hamas, a terror organization.
“She targeted me because of my keffiyeh, and because of the color of my skin, it’s plain and simple, that is whatever you want to frame it, it’s a hate crime,” he said.
Police and prosecutors agree. They’re charging 48-year-old Brooklyn resident Hadasa Bozakkaravani with multiple crimes including assault, harassment and menacing as hate crimes.
"This scarf is so viscerally being connected to people of Muslim descent, clearly Islamophobic, but it’s a hate crime against all communities of color,” Prashar said.
Prashar says he’s not even a Muslim, and as a British and American citizen, he’s also worked for the Obama and Biden presidential campaigns.
He’s now been living in the U.S. for about a decade and hopes to reclaim the park where the incident occurred. But believes the outpouring of support he’s received has helped bring the community together.
“Me and my wife are those parents that basically let my son run free, and we follow him around, and let him do his own thing, kinda like self-direct. Have we been a bit closer to him when he plays outdoors? Yes,” Prashar said. “We don’t want someone to come up to him and attack him again, we don’t want someone to do something crazy, but you know what? The absolute response from the community has made us feel safe.”
The woman accused of carrying out the attack has pleaded not guilty to all charges. She is scheduled to be back in court by January 24, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.