Drunk Attacker Hurls Antisemitic Slurs, Wields Knife at Berlin Man

A Berlin man was the victim of an apparent antisemitic assault on Tuesday.

The 33-year-old man was insulted in an antisemitic manner by an intoxicated individual, 28, who then attacked the man with a knife. The victim defended himself with pepper spray, according to the paper.

In a Sept. 2020 report, the Department for Research and Information on Antisemitism Berlin documented 410 antisemitic incidents during the first half of the year — more than two per day. These acts included included six physical attacks, 25 cases of property damage, 20 threats, 58 examples of antisemitic propaganda and 301 examples of malicious behavior. Another analysis, published by the German government in May, showed that in 2019, antisemitic crimes in the country had reached the highest level since record-keeping began.

In December, a prominent leader in the country’s Catholic Church spoke out against a rising tide of antisemitic conspiracy theories tied to the coronavirus pandemic. “What worries me even more is the theory of the world Jewish conspiracy, sometimes at subliminal level, at other times quite openly,” Bishop Ulrich Neymeyr of the central state of Thuringia told local broadcaster MDR.

Monday’s Berlin attacker was temporarily arrested, and will face charges of using antisemitic insults, dangerous bodily harm and assaulting police officers.

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European Jewish Congress calls on EU and UN leaders to cease its one-sided Israel bashing that has direct consequences for Jews in Europe

“The constant flow of Israel-bashing by senior leaders in the EU and the UN with little to no criticism of Hamas terror is clearly the main contributory factor to huge growth in antisemitism recorded by all European Jewish communities since October 7 last year,” said EJC President Dr Ariel Muzicant.