NEW YORK (JTA) — Two protesters were sentenced to 30 days in federal prison for throwing a pie in the face of U.S. Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan.
Ahlam Mohsen, 24, and Max Kantar, 23, both of Michigan, attacked Levin in August 2010 while Levin was meeting with constituents in a deli in Grand Rapids. Kantar read a statement before Mohsen hit Levin in the face with the pie. After being arrested, Kantar acknowledged that his message had been "lost."
Levin, who is Jewish, was targeted because of his role as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He was unharmed.
According to mlive.com, U.S. District Judge Robert Bell criticized Mohsen and Kantar at their sentencing for attacking the senator even after Kantar had been given the opportunity to share his views.
A 2008 article on the anti-war site Information Clearinghouse attributed to a Max Kantar provided a "translation dictionary" of "the unspoken meanings" of terms referring to "U.S. Foreign Policy, Israel and International relations." In it he defined "anti-Semitism" as "An accusation usually used to define criticism of Israel’s ongoing war crimes" and Israel’s "Right to Exist" as "Israel’s right to continue outwardly racist policies … apartheid … [and] a genocidal siege on Gaza."
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