Jewish leaders have expressed alarm over a rise in anti-Semitism in the German capital Berlin, following two violent incidents on the city’s public transport system. Late Saturday, two 23-year-old women and a 25-year-old man were beaten and insulted with anti-Semitic slurs on a subway train.
The Jewish Community of Berlin warned of an alarming rise in anti-Semitic violence by Arab and Turkish immigrants. "There's an urgent need to fight the roots of anti-Semitism, especially coming from young Turks and Arabs, and to effectively counter it," the community said in a statement. "That the violence from the immigrant community is being increasingly aimed at Jews or people they assume are Jews is alarming," it added.
Police reported at the weekend that two women and a man were beaten, struck on the head with beer bottles and insulted by a gang of immigrants in an underground station.
Local media reports said the three were first asked if they were Jewish. The attack started after they said yes. Police said they were searching for the assailants. In a separate incident, a 61-year-old German was detained after shouting anti-Semitic slogans at two 10-year-old girls at a train station. He threatened to beat a 28-year-old man who tried to protect them with a beer bottle. He was detained and faces charges of inciting racial hatred and attempted bodily harm.
