Berlin Jewish Youth Soccer Team Attacked by Pro-Palestinian Mob

A Jewish youth soccer team in Berlin was put under police protection after being attacked by a pro-Palestinian mob with sticks and knives on Thursday.

‘Hunted down’: The boys, ages 13 to 16, were harassed and followed off the field by a group of adults and children after their game in Neukölln, a neighborhood known for its large Arab and Turkish population.

• Witnesses said attackers shouted threats and “Free Palestine” at the team.
• Attackers were “chasing people with knives” and sticks.
• One man said his son returned home “deeply shaken” and was spat at during the game.
• The boys said they were “hunted down” by a gang of Arab youths.

The opposing team, Schwarz-Weiss Neukölln, promised it would expel the attackers once they were identified. They said: “Incidents like this don’t belong on soccer pitches—and certainly not on ours.”

Police protection: The team, Makkabi Berlin, was established in the 1970s by Holocaust survivors as Berlin’s first Jewish sports club since World War ii. The club’s adult team has received police protection ever since Hamas’s attack on Israel.

In the wake of Thursday’s assault, as well as previous anti-Semitic incidents, police officers now attend all the club’s home games across Berlin.

Anti-Semitic Europe: Around the same time these youths were being attacked in Berlin, Jewish soccer fans were also being chased and mobbed by pro-Palestinians in Amsterdam. Anti-Semitic hatred and aggression is becoming more common throughout Europe.

Learn more: Read “Amsterdam’s Kristallnacht Pogrom.”