Jewish men beaten with belt in Berlin anti-Semitic attack

There has been public outrage in Germany after video footage emerged of two Jewish men being violently assaulted in an apparent anti-Semitic attack in central Berlin.

The two men, who were both wearing kippah, traditional Jewish skullcaps, were insulted before being set upon and whipped with a belt in one of the city’s most fashionable neighbourhoods.

A group of three unidentified men can be heard on the video clearly shouting “Yahudi”, the Arabic word for Jew.

The two victims stood their ground and threatened to call the police before their main assailant was dragged away by his companions.

The incident was videoed by one of the victims, who was named by Israeli television as Adam Armoush, a 21-year-old Israeli citizen living in Berlin. 

“They kept cursing at us and my friend asked them to stop,” Mr Armoush, who suffered minor injuries, told Kan TV. “They started to get angry and one of them ran at me and I knew it was important to film it because there would be no way to catch him by the time the police arrived.”

The video shows the attacker whipping Mr Arnoush with a belt. The 21-year-old said he had suffered bruises and minor injuries. The other victim, a 24-year-old Israeli citizen, has not been named.

The incident is the latest in a disturbing series of attacks on Jewish people in the German capital, which have seen men in skullcaps assaulted on the streets and Jewish children threatened in schools. Most of the incidents have involved Muslim assailants.

“It is intolerable for young men to be attacked here just because they are wearing a kippah,” Heiko Maas, the German foreign minister, said in a statement. “Jews must never again feel threatened here. It is our responsibility to protect Jewish life.”

“Anti-Semitism doesn’t belong to the Berlin we want to live in,” Michael Müller, the city’s mayor said.

“It is unbearable to see a young Jewish man being attacked on the street in the well-heeled Berlin neighbourhood of Prenzlauer Berg because he recognizes himself as a Jew,” Levi Salomon of the Jewish Forum for Democracy and Against Anti-Semitism. 

“This shows that Jewish people are not safe here. Politicians and civil society have to act. We do not need Sunday speeches anymore, we need action.”

“It makes me angry when I see such hateful violence,” Aiman Mazyek of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany said. “Anti-Semitism must not be given an inch of space.”