A Berlin police spokesman told the
Jerusalem Post on Monday that two young Israelis were violently attacked in a Berlin disco because of their nationality. The spokesman said the attack prompted the police to issue a statement terming the attack as “anti-Semitic.”
According to statements from two male Israelis aged 18 and 22, a Palestinian man was responsible for the assault. He asked the 22-year-old Israeli about his nationality, who replied that he is a citizen of Israel.
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The Palestinian perpetrator choked the 22-year-old and punched him in
the face. A Berlin police statement said that as the 18-year-old
Israeli rushed to help his friend he was also struck by the Palestinian.
The
assault took place in the Berlin district of Friedrichshain, a location
popular among young Germans and Israelis for its lively bar and club
culture.
The Palestinian fled the disco and tossed a beer glass at the
18-year-old Israeli. The police spokesman told the
Post that the
authorities are searching for the alleged assailant. In a bizarre twist,
the disco's 43-year-old bouncer used pepper spray against the two
Israelis,who eventually fled to their hotel and notified the police
about the assault. The injured Israelis received treatment in a
hospital.
The number of attacks on Jews in Germany has risen dramatically in June.
Dr. Juliane Wetzel, a controversial member of a federally funded
commission devoted to researching and combating anti-Semitism, prompted
criticism by suggesting Israel is partially responsible for the
attacks.
In late June, according to
Die Welt newspaper, German pupils of
Lebanese, Palestinian and Iranian origin tossed stones at Jewish
dancers and shouted "Jews out!" at a dance performance in Hannover. In a
statement to the German wire service Juliane Wetzel, said "It's been
true for years that violent attacks on Jews in Germany occur mainly when
something happens in the Mideast conflict."
Dr. Clemens Heni, a political scientist who has written about Islamic
anti-Semitism in Germany, told the
Post that "Wetzel's comment is
absurd" because she makes "Israel quasi responsible for agitation and
attacks against Jews in Hannover."
Anti-Semitism experts such as the
German Jewish journalist Henryk M. Broder have also sharply criticized
Wetzel because she frequently plays down the severity of Muslim-based
anti-Semitism and has ignored Iranian anti-Semitism while focusing on
bias against German Muslims.