Hege Storhaug, HRS
Antisemittisme vekker naturlig nok sterke følelser i Tyskland, og antisemittismen skal være økende. Etter angrepet på rabbineren på tirsdag i forrige uke, gikk rektoren ved en jødisk skole som utdanner rabbinere ut og oppfordret studentene til å skjule sin jødiske identitet i det offentlige rommet.
The rector of the Abraham Geiger College in Potsdam, an academic seminary for rabbis, warned his students against wearing the kippah, or yarmulke, the traditional Jewish head covering, after a rabbi was beaten up in broad daylight earlier this week in Berlin.
«If you are no longer seen as a Jewish person, you are safer,» Walter Homolka told the Berliner Morgenpost daily.
Den 53 år gamle rabbineren Daniel Alter ble angrepet på høylys dag i den innvandrertunge bydelen Potsdam i Berlin, som blant annet førte til kjevebrudd. De fire unge mennene med arabisk opprinnelse, brydde seg åpenbart ikke om at Alters seks år gamle datter ble vitne til det brutale overfallet. Tvert om ble det rettet drapstrusler mot barnet.
Daniel Alter, 53, was attacked by four youths of Arab background in front of his 6-year-old young daughter after collecting her from a piano lesson on Tuesday. One youth smashed the rabbi in the face several times after asking him if he was Jewish, apparently because he was wearing a traditional head covering, police said. They also shouted religious insults.The assailants fled, but not before aiming death threats at the young girl, according to authorities, who have launched an investigation into the Tuesday attack.
Hendelsen fikk 1 500 personer til å samle seg i Berlin i går i protest mot overfallet.
About 1,500 people rallied in Berlin Sunday in support of a rabbi who was brutally beaten in front of his young daughter, allegedly by a group of Arab youths.
The protest against anti-Semitism and racism took place near the scene of the attack on 53-year-old Daniel Alter in the western district of Schoeneberg on Tuesday.
Alter, who attended the demonstration, thanked the crowd for the «wonderful outpouring of moral support» for his family.
«My cheekbone was broken but these guys did not break my will to stand up for dialogue between religions,» he said.
Police have launched an investigation but made no arrests in the case.
A Berlin city government official of Turkish origin, Dilek Kolat, called for more vigilance in the face of what she called a rising tide of hate crimes and for a firm response to anti-Semitism from Muslim groups.
«We must act where we see racism and xenophobia,» she said to applause from the crowd.
The Jewish community of Berlin’s point man on anti-Semitism, Levi Salomon, welcomed support from local leaders, noting that Mayor Klaus Wowereit wore a Jewish skullcap late Saturday at an event showcasing the German capital’s diverse religious groups.
«That was a good sign,» he said.
During the attack, one youth smashed Alter in the face several times after asking him if he was Jewish, apparently because he was wearing a traditional skullcap, police said.
The four assailants fled, but not before hurling death threats at his young daughter, according to police.
The attack comes against the backdrop of frequent altercations on German streets over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and outrage in the Jewish community over a recent German court ruling against religious circumcision.