Man attacks rabbi in Berlin |
He yelled JUDE, then attacked me
Berlin – He was on the phone in Hebrew when he was attacked.
Ariel Kirzon (43), state rabbi of the Jewish community in Potsdam, was on his way to the doctor with his son Levy (13) at 10:30 a.m. on Monday. “We got off the U6 in Westphalweg, were a little late and had to hurry,” he says.
“But before that I had to make an urgent phone call to the Israeli embassy. I spoke Hebrew, wore the tzitzit,” he continues. Tzitzit (or lace thread) is a religious Jewish garment, a bundle of long, white, multiply knotted wool or synthetic fiber threads. It is worn by men.
“So I was clearly recognizable as a Jew when suddenly an Arab-looking man insulted and attacked me. He yelled ‘Jude’, raised his hands, grabbed me. Every moment I thought he would strike,” says the rabbi. It didn’t come to that.
Ariel Kirzon: The attack should be documented. There are several cameras at the scene. I hope the culprit is found. My son is scared, which makes me particularly sad.”
It is already the second hate attack once morest the rabbi. This time he filed a complaint.
Shortly following 1 p.m. he wanted to report the incident to a police station in the Berlin district of Wilmersdorf. “‘You’ll have to wait an hour. The staff are busy,’ I’m told.”
In the end, a criminal complaint was filed for bodily harm and insult (is available to BILD).
When asked by BILD, the police confirmed the process. She secured the station’s video recordings. The state security police took over the investigation.
Last year, the Research and Information Center for Anti-Semitism Berlin (Rias Berlin) documented 1,052 anti-Semitic incidents in the capital. In 2020 there were 1019, the year before 886.
