SINGAPORE, May 22 — A man who was previously jailed for telling an Israeli man that he would kill him was sentenced again after verbally abusing a 14-year-old boy wearing a Jewish skullcap on a bus in March 2026, according to The Straits Times Singapore.
Mohammad Arif Ismail, 40, was jailed for 20 weeks on May 21 after pleading guilty to three charges involving separate incidents, including uttering words to wound the racial feelings of another person, assault, and theft.
According to the report, court documents stated that Arif had earlier been convicted in 2024 after pleading guilty to making threatening remarks to a 34-year-old Israeli man with the intent to wound his religious feelings.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Khong Zi-Wei told the court that he was previously sentenced to three weeks’ jail for that offence.
Following his release, Arif reoffended on March 20, 2026, while on board bus service 858, when he saw a 14-year-old boy wearing a kippah, a skullcap traditionally worn by Jewish men.
He turned towards the teenager, hurled vulgar language at him and flashed a lewd hand gesture in an unprovoked act, court documents said.
The prosecution said the accused directed the abuse at the victim in a manner intended to injure him, noting the incident took place amid the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Straits Times reported that the court also heard that Arif was involved in another unrelated assault case involving a 79-year-old man at a taxi stand along Commonwealth Avenue in October 2025.
In another offence, Arif also admitted to stealing two bottles of liquor worth more than $100 from a supermarket along Tanglin Road in November 2025.
Arif, who was unrepresented in court, pleaded for leniency and told the court he would not reoffend.