On Friday, a 64-year-old Jewish man and his 29-year-old daughter (Israeli tourists) were attacked by a group of youths at the Brugges (Belgium) train station after they were seen removing an anti-Israel poster. The man reportedly received a broken jaw from being kicked in the head.
The below article from the Belgian Dutch-language daily, De Morgen, is translated by Fousesquawk. It is only a partial translation due to the subscriber block. This incident occurred Friday in Brugges.
"It is dangerous to come here.": Serious violence against Jew who took down anti-Israel poster in Brugge station.
"It is not just verbal abuse or spitting, but now there are also physical attacks, which can end in disaster," says Rabbi Menachem Margolin, chairman of the European Jewish Association (EJA) told the Times of Israel.
The images of a man who was kicked and beaten in the Brugges station have been commented on in the Israeli press and widely circulated on social media.
"Anti-Semitism!" says Antwerp City Council member Andre Gantman (N-VA) on X. "The result of continuous, rabid Israel-bashing!"
"Free Palestine".
The images spread predominantly on Friday, but the incident turned out to have happened on Monday. The 64-year-old Amnon Ohanah had been living in Belgium for 7 years and was having his 29-year-old daughter for a visit. He was eager to show her our country. On Monday, he took her to Brugges for a tourist visit.
It went well until on the way back in the station, Ohanah reportedly took down a "Boycott Israel" poster.
"A group of people began to shout, "Free Palestine", he says. "I paid them no attention and wanted to leave. And then someone came up to me and broke my jaw. I was able to grab him so that he couldn't escape. Then the rest of the group came and were kicking me."
Video was recording
The police arrived, interviewed the man, and took a statement for intentional assault and battery. The police advised Ohanah to get examined in a hospital.
The next train was delayed, and while Ohanah and his daughter were waiting, they were again attacked by youths. At that moment, his daughter decided to film the violence.
A medical report shows that his jaw is, indeed, broken, his ribs bruised, and he has abrasions to his legs and arms. Ohanah is unable to work for a week.
Anti-Semitism
Ohanah is hesitant to tell his story. He has German-Israeli citizenship and feels it is his right to defend Israeli policy. He himself has served in the army, and his son is fighting in Gaza. But he is not pleased that the images have gone viral and fears another attack.
"I am afraid to be an Israeli in Belgium," says Ohanah. "My message to Israelis is: It is dangerous to come here, to walk the street with a kippah (yarmulke), BST) or openly speak Hebrew. I thought that this was a country of democrats, that it was safe on the streets, but those days are over."
Though it seems that the violence in this case is mostly over Israel and the war in Gaza, since the war, there has been an upsurge in anti-Semitism in our country. Rabbi Margolin, from EJA, is asking the Belgian authorities to catch the perpetrators as soon as possible. "Don't wait to act until they start killing us," he says through the Jewish press agency, European Jewish Press.
The Brugges police could not be reached Friday evening. The prosecutor's office could provide no additional information.
No comments:
Post a Comment