10 arrested in Germany for beating Jewish man wearing Star of David necklace

[grossproffit]

Ten people were arrested in Berlin after an anti-Semitic attack in the heart of the German capital, police announced Sunday. The victim, a 25-year-old Jewish man of Syrian descent, said he was beaten by a group of men and women when they noticed he was wearing a Star of David necklace.

The attack occurred Friday night in a park in the city center. The young man told the police that he approached the group to ask for a light for his cigarette. One man gave it to him, but then began to argue with the victim and apparently took the cigarette out of the victim’s mouth.

According to the victim’s account, when the man noticed that he was wearing a necklace with a Star of David pendant, he ripped off the necklace and sounded anti-Semitic slurs towards the victim.

“This dog star won’t help you now,” he allegedly shouted, among other things, according to media reports. The victim also told the police that the assailant punched him several times until he fell to the ground. He tried to run away but fell down again, and the group members that had chased him then punched and kicked him again.

Only when passersby tried to intervene did the attackers finally stop and attempted to flee the scene. Police officers nearby apprehended the group — three women and seven men, between the ages of 15 and 25 and of Syrian and German nationalities.

Groups are demanding state funding to 'honestly' dealing with anti-Semitism among the Muslim community

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/europe/179025-180709-ten-arrested-in-germany-for-beating-jewish-man-wearing-star-of-david-necklace

[DetlefK]

1. I read recently that it's a particular problem among middle-eastern children.

They get all their anti-semitism from their parents and don't even understand WHY they hate Jews. They just hate them. And german social workers then have the job to talk these children out of anti-semitism.

[DFW]

4. My wife was a German social worker

They get NO support from the justice system at all. In one case, an elderly worker was framed for a theft he didn't commit, but since his accuser was a "respected" Protestant church member, he was forced out of her work program and back onto welfare.

In another case, she tried to have welfare payments stricken for an immigrant from Lebanon who claimed he had "back pain," but had sired 15 children while in Germany, used the child care money ("Kindergeld&quot to rent a separate apartment for himself where he sat around and watched TV all day. She had visitied him in his home(s). Even though it was clear he was scamming the system, he brought the case to court, which ruled for him, and required the social services to reinstate his full welfare payments and didn't require him to look for a job. My wife still voted Green and SPD, but it became clearer to her why some people turned to the extreme right to vent their frustration. The judgment was made in the name of "tolerance," but its real rationalization was pure stupidity. There are plenty of people here, both Germans and immigrants, who are legitimately in need of assistance to survive, and yet the justice system here abets the far right by letting lazy scam artists steal from the people.

[DFW]

2. This is an unfortunate defect in the German justice system

They tend to let anyone go unless 1.) a gun was used in the crime or 2.) it's a tax violation.

Anything else, theft, assault, hate crimes, and the perps walk first, and usually get suspended sentences when convicted at all. I once helped catch the boss of an organized band of Croatian thieves. When the cops demanded an ID, the guy produced a stolen German passport with his own photo replacing the original, and then claimed not to speak German when they started interrogating him. I gave the local cops the names of the inspectors in both Munich and Berlin that were looking for these assholes. The cops carted him off, but three days later, when he came before a judge, the judge said, "ahh, the only thing proved here is a minor passport violation. Let the man go." The cops were furious, and so were we, but that's how it works here. So far, anyway. As always, the biggest fuel for right wing extremism in Europe is stupidity on the left, where all that is needed is to treat all criminals equally. Assault is assault. "Tolerance" for the sensitivities of Muslim immigrants and their German sympathizers only breeds neo-Nazis where there otherwise would have been none.

Seventy-three years after the fall of the Third Reich, the Germans are still sensitive to handing down "severe" sentences for fear of being compared to the Nazis. The fact that victims are starting to feel like it's open season on them, and someday (sooner rather than later) will start to organize and retaliate in kind, will no doubt shock the "justice" authorities here, who don't mind sending in ten tax inspectors to terrorize small businesses, but won't keep anti-semitic hooligans in jail overnight.

[BeekeeperInVermont]

5. Absolutely correct.

My family has told me that the next time I come to visit in Germany I should immediately buy myself pepper spray, which I never, ever had to do before. Relatives had their pictures in the local paper welcoming refugees a few years ago; now most of them are voting AfD because of the constant assaults on women and young girls, including one in my own family. A cousin sent me link to 120 db: http://www.120db.info/.

In the meantime, my husband's family in England are pretty much on the same track. When the grooming gangs of Pakistanis in Rotherham (among many other places) finally hit the news, it was widely reported that the authorities had known about these groups prostituting young girls for over a decade, but did nothing for fear of being labeled racist. Per Wikipedia:

"In August 2014 the Jay report concluded that an estimated 1,400 children, most of them white girls, had been sexually abused in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013 by predominantly British-Pakistani men.

The failure to address the abuse was attributed to a combination of factors revolving around race, class and gender—contemptuous and sexist attitudes toward the mostly working-class victims; fear that the perpetrators' ethnicity would trigger allegations of racism and damage community relations; the Labour council's reluctance to challenge a Labour-voting ethnic minority; lack of a child-centred focus; a desire to protect the town's reputation; and lack of training and resources."

From what I hear from friends in Sweden, it's even worse there.

[DFW]

6. My Swedish friends have told me some ugly tales as well.

One even moved to Denmark.

We have to figure, all the same, that these horror stories are still the exception rather than the rule, but the justice systems have been reluctant all over Europe to treat criminal activity by immigrants far more lightly than they would their own people, all in the name of tolerance and understanding. They did the immigrant community as a whole no favors at all with this stance, and only ended up pouring fuel on what used to be a dying flame of far right sentiment here.

As one whose job requires the use of five or six languages in any given week, I couldn't believe that the German government, at least, didn't hire a small army of Arabic-speakers to explain the rules of German society to every arrival, and make sure they understood in no uncertain terms that certain societal norms they were used to were completely unacceptable here, and that if they didn't take that seriously, they would find themselves hated by the locals at best, in jail or on a one-way trip home at worst.

Here, beating a woman or a girl for not wearing a head scarf is a CRIME.
Here, sexually assaulting a woman just because you find her provocatively dressed is a CRIME.
Here, disfiguring a girl for open displays of affection with a boy is a CRIME.

If the host country makes exceptions, those allowed to get away with it think it is no crime.

[BeekeeperInVermont]

7. Maybe so, but

when you move to another country - or even a different part of the same country - it is YOUR responsibility to learn about the norms and laws and TO CONFORM. (Sorry about the caps, this is a big issue for me). To treat newcomers as if they're somehow too fragile/too special/too incapable of following the rules is to infantilize them; for newcomers to think that they can ignore the culture and rules in a new country and carry on as they did in their native country is absolutely disrespectful. I haven't seen any articles in German newspapers or heard from family whether or not the mosques in Germany stepped up to make sure the arrivals understood what they could and could not do; if not, they should have. In fact, that's where the instruction should have come from first.

My parents and I came to the US from Germany when I was a kid and we all worked very hard to fit in and speak English flawlessly. Mom and Dad expected that from me. We spoke German at home, but never in public, because Mom was concerned that it would make other Americans uncomfortable - imagine that! My husband and I have lived in a lot of places within the US (and there are tremendous cultural differences just in this country) and every time we move we observe the locals carefully and conduct ourselves according to their norms. It is a sign of respect. Doesn't cost much, but the benefits are immense. I don't have much patience for people who don't even try.

[BeekeeperInVermont]

9. Maybe so, but

when you move to another country - or even a different part of the same country - it is YOUR responsibility to learn about the norms and laws and TO CONFORM. (Sorry about the caps, this is a big issue for me). To treat newcomers as if they're somehow too fragile/too special/too incapable of following the rules is to infantilize them; for newcomers to think that they can ignore the culture and rules in a new country and carry on as they did in their native country is absolutely disrespectful. I haven't seen any articles in German newspapers or heard from family whether or not the mosques in Germany stepped up to make sure the arrivals understood what they could and could not do; if not, they should have. In fact, that's where the instruction should have come from first.

My parents and I came to the US from Germany when I was a kid and we all worked very hard to fit in and speak English flawlessly. Mom and Dad expected that from me. We spoke German at home, but never in public, because Mom was concerned that it would make other Americans uncomfortable - imagine that! My husband and I have lived in a lot of places within the US (and there are tremendous cultural differences just in this country) and every time we move we observe the locals carefully and conduct ourselves according to their norms. It is a sign of respect. Doesn't cost much, but the benefits are immense. I don't have much patience for people who don't even try.

[BeekeeperInVermont]

10. Oops!

I got interrupted and forgot I'd already posted. My reply isn't so wonderful you need to read it twice

[DFW]

11. No problem

And I agree about the assimilation.

However, this is a difficult thing to explain to people who all their lives have had one culture drummed into their brains, and have never even been taught that other countries have other ways of life. Mosques in Germany may have a moral responsibility to prepare their people for the norms of the country they live in, but, it's unrealistic to expect an imam to do this when he thinks his job is to spread the word of the Koran. For that matter, Christian missionaries have been going around the world for centuries telling the locals that their own local religion is wrong.

You're right in principle, but the government of the host country has to get involved, because as a practical matter, no one else will.

[mindem]

3. The whole world is a mess

with all of the endless hate and stupidity. I really think it is the result of people having a sense of hopelessness.

[EllieBC]

8. I see nothing in GD.

Must not fit the narrative that antisemitism is a super new thing.