March 11, 2013

(JTA) — A New York Jewish attorney asked a federal judge to exclude all Jews from a jury involving a client facing charges for lying about joining the Taliban.

Frederick Cohn is representing Abdel Hameed Shehadeh, who is facing charges in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn for lying to the FBI about his involvement with the Taliban. Shehadeh was indicted in 2010

Cohn believes Jews on the jury would be biased automatically against his client, according to the New York Post.

“Given that there’s going to be inflammatory testimony about Jews and Zionism, I think it would be hard for Jews to cast aside any innate antipathy,” said Cohn, who himself is Jewish. “The American Jewish community is heavily aligned with Israel and Zionism. Here is a guy who is a Muslim, who is opposed to those things.” 

The subject of Jews on Shehadeh trial’s jury first arose in February, when Cohn told Judge Eric Vitaliano that he wasn’t “wild about having Jews on the jury in this case” while acknowledging his request was a “long shot.” 

ADVERTISEMENT: Visit OneHappyCamper.org to find a Jewish camp and see if your child qualifies for a $1,000 grant.

Click to write a letter to the editor.

This article was made possible by the support of readers like you. Donate to JTA now.