Saudi Man Stabbed in Boston

A Saudi Arabian man was stabbed in downtown Boston in the early hours of Sunday morning, in what Boston Police Department (BPD) say may be a hate crime.

The Boston Herald reported on Tuesday that the victim is a student at Boston University (BU), though the university would not confirm this for The Crimson yesterday.

And The Free Daily Press, BU’s student daily, yesterday identified the victim as Sultan Sindi, a student in BU’s Metropolitan College.

The police report from Sunday’s incident says that the man was leaving a fundraiser for victims of last week’s terrorist attacks on New York City, at Club Nicole, part of Back Bay Hilton, when he was attacked by “at least one white male.”

The victim was treated at Mass. General Hospital for two stab wounds to the arm and one to his back.

BPD notes that he is currently in stable condition.

Due to the ethnicity of the victim, and the timing of the attack, Mariellen Burns, a BPD spokesperson, says the department is investigating the stabbing as a possible hate crime.

Burns noted that the Community Disorders Unit is investigating the stabbing, a division of BPD that deals with civil disputes.

The Boston Mayor’s Office and BPD both noted yesterday that there will be “zero tolerance for any ethnically motivated attack” in Boston-no matter what the circumstances.

Liz Sullivan, a spokesperson for Mayor Thomas M. Menino, said he hopes residents will get back to their normal lives: “Boston has great diversity and we want people to embrace this diversity,” she said.

When reached for comment yesterday, BU officials would not confirm that the victim in Sunday morning’s attack was a BU student.

BU Media Relations Director Colin Riley said yesterday it was “for the police to disseminate information” regarding the victim, but pointed out that the incident had not taken place on campus. Riley said , “the safety and well being of our students is our highest priority.”

BU Deputy Chief of Police Enrico C. Cappucci said, “We are aware of the stabbing, but things have been extremely quiet on campus.”

Cappucci notes that independent of Sunday morning’s events, campus police had already “stepped up patrols” and had been “interacting with students to get a read on potential situations” since last week.

Atizaz Mansoor, president of the BU Arab Student Association, said he was shocked to learn of the attack.

He wrote in an e-mail , “People need to differentiate between the actions of a select group of terrorists, and Arabs and Muslims, and not associate one with the other.”

President of the Harvard Society of Arab Students Rita Hamad ‘03 said that Sunday’s attack brings anti-Arab sentiment “a lot closer to home.”

“Arabs have been concerned and talking about the incident,” she said.

Tawfiq I. Ali ‘03, secretary of the Harvard Islamic Society, wrote in an email that he hopes “that community leaders and university officials will take appropriate steps to help protect the safety and liberty of Muslim Americans, Arab Americans, and South Asian Americans during these trying times.”

Meanwhile Sogand Zamani, a Muslim student at the Kennedy School of Government, said that “blaming a group of people for the suspected actions of one person is regretful and shows the degradation of America’s ideals.”