The police chief in Berlin, Germany, has warned Jewish and LGBTQ+ people to exercise caution when visiting neighborhoods with large Arab populations. She said some people in these areas are “openly hostile” to Jewish and LGBTQ+ people.
“There are areas of the city, we need to be perfectly honest here, where I would advise people who wear a kippah or are openly gay to be more careful,” Chief Barbara Slowik told Berliner Zeitung. “Certain neighborhoods, where the majority of people of Arab origin live, also have sympathies for terrorist groups and are often openly hostile towards Jews.”
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Slowik acknowledged that while acts of hate against Jewish people are rare in Berlin, even one such incident is one too many.
Earlier this year, Reuters reported that antisemitic incidents in Germany, ranging from graffiti to attempted arson, surged by 83%, following the Oct. 7 terror attack by Hamas against Israel.
Recently, a youth football team from Makkabi Berlin, a Jewish sports club, was reportedly “hunted down” by a group of youths in an Arab-majority neighborhood, according to The Telegraph.
The incident occurred the same night fans of Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv football club were attacked in Amsterdam. Israeli officials later confirmed that 10 people were injured in the violence.
Chief Slowik urged all of Berlin’s residents to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activities.
Earlier this month, Germany’s Parliament passed a resolution addressing the rise in antisemitism. Officials cited the growing influence of antisemitic sentiments linked to migration from countries with state-sponsored hostility toward Jews and Israel.
The resolution also proposed that refugees convicted of antisemitic crimes could lose their asylum status.
