Jewish NY barber stabbed with own scissors by ‘boozed up’ patron after angry debate over Israel: ‘I want to kill you’
A Jewish barber was stabbed with his own scissors after a customer raged over the Gaza war – allegedly shouting “I want to kill you, you f–king Jew,” the victim said.
Allegedly boozed-up Ahmed al Jabali, 34, was getting his long beard cut by Yonkers barber Slava Shushakova on Aug. 29 when he lashed out against Israel — and the trim descended into bloody violence, according to the victim and city officials.
“He cut me one time, and I asked him to stop and [leave] my store,” Shushakova, who’s seen al Jabali around the neighborhood for years, told The Post. “He didn’t. And he said, ‘No, I have to finish [you], and after I’ll go. That’s what he wanted.
“He told me, ‘This is right to do, and he’s right, and he has a right as a Muslim to punish Jews,'” Shushakova said, adding that al Jabali also said he wanted to burn the Yonkers Avenue shop down.
“This is what he tried to do, if I gave him the chance.”
Before the outburst, Al Jabali had been talking about the ongoing Israel offensive in Gaza during the trimming in the Yonkers Avenue shop, Shushakova told The Post.
The barber tried to get Al Jabali to change the subject, but it didn’t work, according to the criminal complaint — and in a flash, the customer grabbed a pair of Jaguar scissors from the counter and lunged at the 51-year-old stylist shouting the vile antisemitic threat.
Shushakova told al Jabali the cut was serious, and that he’d go to jail for it. But that didn’t matter to the crazed assailant, who said he didn’t care about jail and wasn’t afraid to die, according to the barber.
Shushakova tried to ward off the attack, and was at least partially successful — the shears didn’t slice into his head or body, despite al Jabali’s best efforts, he said.
“Thank God he didn’t touch my face, because he tried to hit me different ways,” Shushakova said. “This is how I stopped him, with my hands.”
He grabbed a kitchen knife to fight back, but al Jabali took off. Cops picked him up not long after.
Jabali, who Shushakova said is originally from Yemen, is now charged with two counts of second-degree attempted murder as a hate crime.
Authorities brought the barber to the hospital, where he said he needed 30 stitches to close the gruesome wounds.
Shushakova suffered deep, bloody cuts on his right hand and wrist that will keep him out of work for at least a month — and maybe longer.
His shop has been closed since the attack.
Meanwhile, al Jabali was charged and brought to Westchester County Jail, where he remained after his Friday arraignment in Yonkers Criminal Court, city officials said.
He’s being held without bail ahead of his next court date.
Shushakova said he’d known al Jabali — who has a lengthy rap sheet — from around the neighborhood, and claimed he once heard him say Iran was going to blow up Israel.
He would often come in and ask for money, or to charge his phone, Shushakova said. But he was never a client, and never paid the barber a dime.
He was being aggressive the day of the attack and had likely been drinking, the barber added. He thought about turning al Jabali away, but didn’t want to further antagonize the man, he said.
“He didn’t want to pay — he told me, ‘I don’t have money, but you have to do this for me,'” Shushakova said. “And I did it for him, because I didn’t want problems. I saw he was very aggressive, drunk and he didn’t want to move.”
Shushakova — who is originally from Uzbekistan — believes al Jabali became radicalized by disinformation about the nearly year-long war in Gaza that started last October.
Al Jabali has been arrested at least four other times over the last two years, most recently in July for allegedly threatening his mother and breaking a window at her house in violation of a restraining order, according to the Journal News.
He was hit with criminal contempt and other charges for that incident.
Ironically, Shushakova said al Jabali’s mom — who he has also known for years — came and apologized for her son’s violent, erratic behavior.
“She said, ‘I’m sorry what happened,’ Shushakova said. “And she said, ‘He has to pay for this.’ She’s happy that he’s going to jail.”
He agreed that al Jabali should be jailed — for decades, if possible.
“I think he has to sit in jail for a minimum of 20 years,” Shushakova said. “He’s not supposed to be outside, and he doesn’t know what to do outside.”
“If he’s 34 years old, and he … just attacks people for no reason — and for what? The jihad?” Shushakova asked.
“He has to sit in jail, because he tried to kill me.”
