2018 Berlin antisemitic attack

Last updated

The 2018 Berlin antisemitic attack was an attack on a street in the German capital of Berlin. Two young men wearing Jewish skullcaps were insulted by Arabic-speaking passers-by. One of the two, an Arab Israeli citizen, was beaten with a belt by a Syrian attacker. Video footage led to public outrage. [1] [2]

Contents

Background

There have been other similar incidents involving Muslim assailants in particular. A spokesman for the Jewish community said the attack showed that "Jewish people are not safe here". [1]

The number of overall antisemitic offenses in Berlin had risen in prior years. In 2017, police had registered 288 antisemitic acts; in 2016, 197 antisemitic cases had been recorded. The Research and Information Center Antisemitism Berlin (RIAS) counts a total of 947 antisemitic incidents for 2017, but there may be unrecorded cases. [3]

Incident

On 17 April 2018, Adam Armoush, a 21-year-old Israeli Arab living in Berlin and his German friend of Moroccan origin went through a street in Prenzlauer Berg taking selfies while wearing kippot. [4] [5] According to Armoush, he was trying to win an argument with Jewish friends of his in Israel by proving that he could walk through Berlin wearing a Jewish skullcap. [6] At one point, an argument with three Arab-speaking young men started, which was followed by a violent attack. [6] Armoush managed to document the violence with his cell phone and later allowed the video to be shared on Facebook, where the video went viral. [7] [8] [9] The video shows the main attacker, later identified as Knaan Al-S., [10] a 19-year-old Syrian refugee, beat Armoush repeatedly with his belt. [11] During the onslaught, the attacker shouted the word "Yahudi", the Arabic word for Jew, before one of his companions intervened and dragged him away. According to Armoush, the main attacker had also tried to hurt him with a glass bottle. As a consequence of the beating, Armoush suffered minor injuries. Before turning himself in to police, the main attacker contacted a representative of the Palestinian student community of Berlin and appeared in a short video that was distributed on social media. They denied he was hostile towards Jews or that his actions had been motivated by antisemitism. [12]

The main attacker turned himself in, accompanied by his lawyer, the day after the incident. An arrest warrant against him was executed. [11] He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to four weeks in juvenile detention. [10]

Reactions

Several politicians, among them chancellor Angela Merkel and foreign minister Heiko Maas, condemned the attack. [1] [11] On the Israeli television, Merkel warned of persistent hatred of Jews in Germany. She spoke of a "different form of anti-Semitism" coming from people of Arab descent. [13] After this and other incidents, the President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, warned Jewish men "not to show themselves openly with a kippah in the metropolitan milieu in Germany". [13]

Under the slogan "Berlin Wears Kippah" the Jewish community in Berlin called all citizens to wear the kippah on 25 April in solidarity with the victims. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

Antisemitism has increased greatly in the Arab world since the beginning of the 20th century, for several reasons: the dissolution and breakdown of the Ottoman Empire and traditional Islamic society; European influence, brought about by Western imperialism and Arab Christians; Nazi propaganda and relations between Nazi Germany and the Arab world; resentment over Jewish nationalism; the rise of Arab nationalism; and the widespread proliferation of anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist conspiracy theories.

New antisemitism is the concept that a new form of antisemitism developed in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, typically manifesting itself as anti-Zionism. The concept is included in some definitions of antisemitism, such as the working definition of antisemitism and the 3D test of antisemitism. The concept dates to the early 1970s.

This is a list of countries where antisemitic sentiment has been experienced.

Antisemitism at universities has been reported and supported since the medieval period and, more recently, resisted and studied. Antisemitism has been manifested in various policies and practices, such as restricting the admission of Jewish students by a Jewish quota, or ostracism, intimidation, or violence against Jewish students, as well as in the hiring, retention and treatment of Jewish faculty and staff. In some instances, universities have been accused of condoning the development of antisemitic cultures on campus.

Antisemitic tropes or antisemitic canards are "sensational reports, misrepresentations, or fabrications" that are defamatory towards Judaism as a religion or defamatory towards Jews as an ethnic or religious group. Since as early as the 2nd century, libels or allegations of Jewish guilt and cruelty emerged as a recurring motif along with antisemitic conspiracy theories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of antisemitism in the United States</span>

Different opinions exist among historians regarding the extent of antisemitism in American history and how American antisemitism contrasted with its European counterpart. In contrast to the horrors of European history, John Higham states that in the United States "no decisive event, no deep crisis, no powerful social movement, no great individual is associated primarily with, or significant chiefly because of anti-Semitism." Accordingly, David A. Gerber concludes that antisemitism "has been a distinctly minor feature of the nation's historical development." Historian Britt Tevis argue that, "Handlin and Higham’s ideas remain influential, and many American Jewish historians continue to present antisemitism as largely insignificant, momentary, primarily social."

Antisemitism—prejudice, hatred of, or discrimination against Jews—has experienced a long history of expression since the days of ancient civilizations, with most of it having originated in the Christian and pre-Christian civilizations of Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antisemitism in the United States</span> Hatred towards the Jewish people within the US

Antisemitism has long existed in the United States. Most Jewish community relations agencies in the United States draw distinctions between antisemitism, which is measured in terms of attitudes and behaviors, and the security and status of American Jews, which are both measured by the occurrence of specific incidents.

Antisemitic incidents escalated worldwide in frequency and intensity during the Gaza War, and were widely considered to be a wave of reprisal attacks in response to the conflict.

Antisemitism in Canada is the manifestation of hostility, prejudice or discrimination against the Canadian Jewish people or Judaism as a religious, ethnic or racial group. This form of racism has affected Jews since Canada's Jewish community was established in the 18th century.

The Jewish community in Sweden has been prevalent since the 18th century. Today Sweden has a Jewish community of around 20,000, which makes it the 7th largest in the European Union. Antisemitism in historical Sweden primarily manifested as the confiscation of property, restrictions on movement and employment, and forced conversion to Christianity. Antisemitism in present-day Sweden is mainly perpetrated by far-right politicians, neo-Nazis, and Islamists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criticism of Israel</span> Disapproval towards the Israeli government

Criticism of Israel is a subject of journalistic and scholarly commentary and research within the scope of international relations theory, expressed in terms of political science. Israel has faced international criticism since its establishment in 1948 relating to a variety of issues, many of which are centered around human rights violations in its occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Antisemitism in France has become heightened since the late 20th century and into the 21st century. In the early 21st century, most Jews in France, like most Muslims in France, are of North African origin. France has the largest population of Jews in the diaspora after the United States—an estimated 500,000–600,000 persons. Paris has the highest population, followed by Marseilles, which has 70,000 Jews. Expressions of antisemitism were seen to rise during the Six-Day War of 1967 and the French anti-Zionist campaign of the 1970s and 1980s. Following the electoral successes achieved by the extreme right-wing National Front and an increasing denial of the Holocaust among some persons in the 1990s, surveys showed an increase in stereotypical antisemitic beliefs among the general French population.

Since World War II, antisemitic prejudice in Italy has seldom taken on aggressive forms.

British Jews have experienced antisemitism - discrimination and persecution as Jews - since a Jewish community was first established in England in 1070. They experienced a series of massacres in the Medieval period, which culminated in their expulsion from England in 1290.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campaign Against Antisemitism</span> British non-governmental organisation

Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) is a British non-governmental organisation established in August 2014 by members of the Anglo-Jewish community. It publishes research, organises rallies and petitions, and conducts litigation.

Belgium is a European country with a Jewish population of approximately 35,000 out of a total population of about 11.4 million. It is among the countries experiencing an increase in both antisemitic attitudes and in physical attacks on Jews.

Antisemitism is a growing problem in 21st-century Germany.

In 2018 and 2019, antisemitism in the United States was reported to have increased compared to previous years according to statistics collected by both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Anti-Defamation League. These statistics include both violent antisemitic attacks on Jews and cases of harassment. Antisemitism has also been reported during the 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses.

Zionist antisemitism or antisemitic Zionism refers to a phenomenon in which antisemites express support for Zionism and the State of Israel. In some cases, this support may be promoted for explicitly antisemitic reasons. Historically, this type of antisemitism has been most notable among Christian Zionists, who may perpetrate religious antisemitism while being outspoken in their support for Jewish sovereignty in Israel due to their interpretation of Christian eschatology. Similarly, people who identify with the political far-right, particularly in Europe and the United States, may support the Zionist movement because they seek to expel Jews from their country and see Zionism as the least complicated method of achieving this goal and satisfying their racial antisemitism.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Jewish men beaten with belt in Berlin anti-Semitic attack, Telegraph.co.uk, 18 April 2018
  2. ↑ Angelos, James (21 May 2019). "The New German Anti-Semitism". New York Times. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  3. 1 2 "Berlin trägt Kippa": Jüdische Gemeinde ruft Bürger auf, Der Tagesspiegel, 20 April 2018
  4. ↑ Attacker in anti-Semitic video turns himself in to police, DW.com, 19 April 2018
  5. ↑ "Anti-Semitic crimes increase dramatically in Germany". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 9 August 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  6. 1 2 Attackiert - weil sie Kippa tragen?, Tagesschau.de
  7. ↑ German police investigate anti-Semitic attack in Berlin, BBC, 18 April 2018
  8. ↑ Eddy, Melissa; Curry, Andrew (18 April 2018). "Fury in Germany as Rap Duo With Anti-Jewish Lyrics Gets Award". New York Times. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  9. ↑ "'Jewish Man' Attacked in Berlin Admits He's an Israeli-Arab Who Didn't Believe Germany Was anti-Semitic". Haaretz. DPA, AP. 18 April 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  10. 1 2 admin (2018-07-30). "Migrant Who Attacked Kippah-Wearer Demands Compo". Unzensuriert (in Austrian German). Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  11. 1 2 3 Suspect in anti-Semitic attack in Berlin turns himself in, Reuters, 19 April 2018
  12. ↑ Berliner Gürtel-Schläger will kein Antisemit sein, t-online.de, 20 April 2018 (German)
  13. 1 2 Zentralrat der Juden warnt vor Tragen der Kippa, Spiegel.de, 24 April 2018
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.