An Israeli man was assaulted in Berlin by a gang of Palestinian Arabs who had earlier asked him about his nationality.
Six Palestinian Arabs punched an Israeli man in the face on Friday in Berlin after having questioned him about his national background.
The 31-year-old Israeli has filed a criminal complaint, according to the German daily BZ newspaper.
The man had left his apartment with his wife when he was confronted by a group of Palestinian Arabs. The young men proceeded to surround the man and his wife and then struck him in the face.
An ambulance rushed the Israeli to a hospital. The assault victim’s wife was not injured.
German police are investigating the attack.
The Israeli man told police that the same group of Palestinian Arab men had asked him about his nationality earlier in the day in front of his apartment building. After answering that he was Israeli, the suspects replied in Arabic that they were Palestinians and proceeded to taunt him with derogatory remarks about the Jewish state.
European Anti-Semitism on the Rise on Eve of Holocaust Memorial Day
The attack on a Jew in Berlin by self-described Palestinian Arabs took place a couple of days before the publication of a Tel Aviv University report that says that anti-Semitic attitudes are becoming more acceptable, particularly among European youth, amid a rise in popularity of extremist parties in Hungary, Greece and elsewhere.
The annual report shows that violent attacks around the world against Jews dropped in 2013 but warns that anti-Semitism is becoming more widespread in Europe.
The report, released Sunday, recorded 554 violent anti-Semitic acts in 2013, including attacks on people and vandalism against synagogues, cemeteries, and other Jewish institutions.
Israelis stand for a minute of silence as a siren is sounded across Israel marking Holocaust Memorial Day. (Photo: Miriam Alster/FLASH90)
The anti-Semitic assault on a Jewish person in the capital of Germany took place as Israel prepares to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the following remarks at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting:
“This evening we will mark Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day. The State of Israel will honor the memory of the six million victims of the Holocaust. The main difference between the helplessness of the Jews during the Holocaust and the situation of the Jews today is that today we have a strong, sovereign state with a strong military that can defend us against those who seek our lives…”
Meanwhile in Europe, 185 Israeli police officers from all the different units are currently visiting concentration camps and will also participate in the March of the Living, ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day.
The Israeli delegation is headed by Bentzi Sao, commander of the Tel Aviv District of the Israel Police, and includes police cadets, bereaved families of terror victims and Holocaust survivors.
On Monday, Israeli police chief Yohanan Danino, together with his Polish counterpart, will lead the March of the Living from Auschwitz to Birkenau.
Written By: Gidon Ben-Zvi, contributor, United with Israel