It’s hate on wheels.
Residents in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, are aghast over a souped-up Ford F-150 that rolled into the Jewish neighborhood and hipster haven a few months ago, delivering a menacing antisemitic message dripping in blood.
The black pickup truck is draped in a sadistic pro-Palestine wrap job that includes images of splattered blood and bloodstained handprints – a symbol of the infamous Ramallah lynching of 2000, where two Israeli reservists were savagely killed by a murderous mob.
It also boasts faux bullet holes, and a giant portrait of late Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat on the front hood. Two Palestinian flags fly atop the truck.
“Never in my life did I think I would feel scared to be Jewish in Brooklyn — especially Williamsburg,” said a woman who’s lived in the neighborhood 15 years and declined to give her name out of fear.
“And while I recognize that the person who owns that truck must be in a lot of pain to decorate it that way, I can’t help but feel targeted by it being parked at the epicenter of our neighborhood — across from our Chabad. It feels very intentional,” she added.
“I think it’s an intimidation tactic,” said Williamsburg resident Michael Safir, who calls the vehicle “Hamas Truck.”
“There’s so many things on it that are offensive to Jews, and what really bugs me is that I feel it’s a response” to the ongoing Israel-Hamas War in Gaza.
Safir, who is Jewish and lives in the neighborhood with his wife and three kids, said he and many other local residents are “insanely offended” by the “God-awful truck and want it gone from the neighborhood.”
The vehicle’s paint job might be allowable under the Constitution, but it’s breaking all sorts of other laws in plain sight.
The truck shows no required registration and inspection stickers on the front windshield — only a “Free Palestine” sticker.
It also lacks license plates – except what appears to be an illegal vanity “ghost” plate that reads, “OH GAZA.” Fake ghost plates are typically used to avoid traffic tickets and tolls.
And if you want to see who’s behind the wheel, forget it. All the windows – including the windshield – sport dark tint. Excessive tinting is illegal.
The truck typically parks near the corner of North 4th Street and Bedford Avenue, and is owned by Jose Littef, 21, according to his half-brother Anas Arman. Both Arman, 34, and Littef operate
The Original Caribbean King food truck on the same corner.
Less than a block away on Bedford Avenue is the Chabad of North Brooklyn, which provides preschool and other services for Jewish children. It’s less than a mile from South Williamsburg, which is home to one of the largest Hasidic communities in New York City.
On Wednesday, a Post reporter spotted the pickup truck parked illegally at the intersection, halfway up a curb – and mere inches from scraping a mailbox.
When asked about the community complaints, Littef declined comment and jumped in the front seat to hide behind the tinted windows and avoid being photographed.
For about five minutes, he sat in the vehicle blasting Arabic music from speakers installed outside the pickup.
After spotting two NYPD cops, he illegally drove onto a crosswalk on the other side of the intersection, got out and claimed a reporter and a photographer were “harassing” him.
“I don’t have to show them anything!” fumed Littef, insisting he wanted to file a complaint.
The cops, however, told him the reporter and photographer weren’t breaking any laws. They then briefly examined the vehicle’s rear end and questioned whether the “license plate” and window tint were legal, but ultimately walked away without taking action.
The hate-filled motorist got back in the vehicle and drove away.
Arman, however, insisted Littef is “too young” to understand why bloody red handprints and other features on the pickup truck are offensive to Jews.
During the Ramallah lynching in 2000, two Israeli military reservists made a wrong turn into the Palestinian-controlled city and were murdered and mutilated.
One of the killers, Aziz Salha, was filmed waving his bloodstained hands in celebration.
“He doesn’t know about the hand — nothing! I swear!” said Arman.
Littef was born in the United States, said the older half-brother, adding both of them are of Palestinian descent and “love” Palestine.
They’ve operated the Caribbean food truck for six years in Williamsburg without incident, and want to be good neighbors, insisted Arman.
“I told him to take the hands off,” he said. “This is a business.”
However, on Thursday, the pick-up truck returned to the intersection with no change.
Councilwoman Inna Vernikov (R-Brooklyn), a staunch opponent of anti-Israel hate, said the truck is the latest example of “terrorist-minded thugs living among us” and “committed to making life unbearable for Americans, while attempting to strike fear in the heart of the Jewish community.
“They want us to cower in our homes; they want to scare us into submission; and ultimately, they want to destroy us.”
