Horrific violence against a 65-year-old man in the Würzburg district! A 20-year-old Syrian is alleged to have beaten him up and seriously injured him simply because he was wearing a badge featuring the Israeli flag. The Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the case as attempted murder.
According to information obtained by the newspaper BILD, the Syrian man was standing next to the victim at a traffic light in Höchberg (Bavaria) in the early hours of Monday morning when he spotted the pin on the German man’s clothing. He is said to have initially spoken to him about it and then suddenly punched him in the face, whereupon the man tried to run away. However, the attacker caught up with him and knocked him to the ground.
The Syrian man is alleged to have kicked the victim repeatedly in the head and upper body until the police arrived. The 20-year-old then attacked the officers. Several patrol car crews were needed to arrest the 20-year-old. Police spokesperson Maximilian Basser said: “One police officer was slightly injured in the process.” Chief Public Prosecutor Sebastian Murrer confirmed information obtained by BILD, according to which the victim sustained a serious spinal injury: “In addition to numerous bruises, the 65-year-old suffered a fractured vertebra.”
According to Konstantin Mack (aged 29), chairman of the German-Israeli Society (DIG) in Würzburg, the victim is a member of the DIG. Mack told BILD: “We are deeply shocked. He is in intensive care. We hope he will not suffer any lasting damage. Further examinations will now have to show whether this is the case.”
The Public Prosecutor’s Office has classified the incident as attempted murder. The investigating judge in charge concurred with this assessment and issued an arrest warrant for the Syrian man, who was already known to the police as a violent offender. Hours earlier, he had been harassing visitors to the Höchberg market festival and had consequently been stopped by the police.
The DIG is calling for a rally against anti-Semitic violence on Würzburg’s market square this Friday at 5 pm: “We need to take a clear stand – on the streets, in political alliances and wherever anti-Zionism is presented as legitimate protest.”