Jewish student attacked in Dublin nightclub in suspected hate crime amid fears of rising antisemitism

A Jewish student suffered a concussion after he was attacked by three men in a Dublin nightclub in a suspected antisemitic assault.

The victim, who is from the United States and studying in Ireland, said he was asked: “Are you Jewish?”. He said he confirmed that he was and was then attacked and beaten by the men in the early hours of Saturday, November 9th.

Gardaí have confirmed they are investigating the attack and treating it as a potential “hate-related” crime.

The attack is part of what Jewish leaders say is a growing trend of abuse and violence directed towards Ireland’s small Jewish population.

The alleged assault occurred as the victim was out with friends in Flannery’s Nightclub on Camden Street in Dublin city centre after watching the Ireland-New Zealand rugby match.

The young man, who asked not to be named due to safety concerns, was wearing a necklace depicting the Star of David. He said at around 2am three men followed him into the bathroom and asked him if he was Jewish, and that when he said that he was they started to attack him.

He said during the attack his knee gave out, causing him to collapse on the ground.

“I stumbled out of the door and hit the ground,

Security intervened and stopped the attack, he said, before bringing him to another area of the bar. Gardaí turned up a few minutes later and began taking witness statements.

The young man said one witness told gardaí it was an unprovoked assault. He said that as gardaí were speaking to people, another person, who had not witnessed the incident, interrupted and said: “The Jews in Amsterdam – they got what they deserved.”

“It definitely showed to me there was an awareness that there was a religious aspect to this,” the victim said.

Following the Dublin nightclub assault, one of the alleged attackers was detained at the scene and the victim went home to bed.

Maurice Cohen, chair of the Jewish Representative Council Of Ireland, said it had noted “an increase in Jewish people being subjected to increased threats and abuse in Ireland over the last year”.

Mr Cohen noted the nightclub attack occurred on the 86th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the Nazi pogrom against German Jews in 1938.

“We implore the Government and Gardaí to act swiftly and decisively to bring the perpetrators to justice and to address the disturbing trend of antisemitism that endangers our community and violates Ireland’s core values,” he said.

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