Jewish teenager hospitalised with broken bones after being attacked for wearing skullcap in Germany

A Jewish teenager has been hospitalised with broken bones after he was attacked for wearing a skullcap, or “kippah”, in Cologne, Germany.

It was reported yesterday that on Friday, a Jewish eighteen-year-old was approached in a park by a group of about ten people who abused him with antisemitic insults before punching and kicking him in the face and stealing his skullcap. The Jewish man was taken to hospital with a broken nose and cheekbone.

An eighteen-year-old and a nineteen-year-old were arrested and then released. However, they are understood to still be suspects in the crime. Due to the assumed antisemitic nature of the incident, Germany’s police state security has taken over the investigation.

Dr. Felix Schotland, who sits on the board of the Cologne Synagogue Community, said: “We expect the police, the public prosecutors and the judges in this country to take action against antisemitic excesses with the necessary severity of the law. We know, however, that most representatives from politics and city society stand by our side.”

Avichai Apel, the Chief Rabbi of Frankfurt and Chairman of the conference of Orthodox rabbis in Germany, said that the attack was a wake up sign that “especially young people in schools, educational institutions or other public institutions must be taught more about Jewish life so that ignorance or fear of foreigners does not turn into hatred and violence directed against Jews who have been a natural part of Germany for the past 1700 years.”

The German Government will pay €35 million to combat antisemitism, it was recently revealed.

After a recent rise in antisemitic incidents, Germany has banned the Hamas flag. Hamas, the antisemitic genocidal terrorist group, clashed with Israel in May, which lead to widespread antisemitism in Germany with several people arrested.

A recent study found that antisemitic incidents have increased in Germany, with more reported incidents occurring in 2020 than in 2019.

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