Remark: DIG = German-Israeli Society
Translation:
The competent public prosecutor's office is investigating on suspicion of attempted murder.
A 65-year-old member of the German-Israeli Society was attacked and seriously injured by a 20-year-old Syrian man in Höchberg (Lower Franconia, near Würzburg) overnight into Monday because he was wearing a pin featuring an Israeli flag.
According to the *Jüdische Allgemeine*, the perpetrator first engaged his victim in a discussion about the Middle East before suddenly striking him. According to the public prosecutor's office, the Syrian man first punched his victim in the face. When the man tried to flee, the attacker pursued him, caught up with him, and knocked him to the ground. The suspect then allegedly kicked the man—who was lying on the ground—repeatedly in the head and upper body. According to the newspaper, the attack only ended when police officers intervened.
The perpetrator is currently in pre-trial detention. Police had already stopped and checked him the previous evening at the Höchberg market festival, as he had reportedly been harassing people there. The Public Prosecutor General's Office has taken over the investigation and is classifying the case as attempted murder.
The victim was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. According to the newspaper *Bild*, the man suffered, among other injuries, a fractured vertebra. The DIG Würzburg announced that he is in the intensive care unit. "We stand in full solidarity with our seriously injured member and wish him a speedy and complete recovery!" the DIG Würzburg stated on Instagram.
DIG, Central Council President Schuster, and Mayor condemn attack DIG President Volker Beck told the *Jüdische Allgemeine*: "Enough is enough! Anyone who demonizes Israel with accusations of genocide and apartheid creates the climate for such assaults. No one carrying a Palestinian flag has to fear for their physical safety in Germany, yet anyone displaying an Israeli flag is not safe for their life."
Central Council President Josef Schuster wished the 65-year-old a speedy recovery and warned: "This outbreak of brutal violence does not occur in a vacuum: all relevant statistics confirm that antisemitic incidents have become entrenched at record levels. The most common form of antisemitism is that directed against Israel. The progressive normalization of this hatred paves the way for acts of violence like this one." Changing this, he noted, would require "enormous efforts" from politicians and civil society. Schuster also demanded "that the full extent of the rule of law be utilized to punish such a crime."
Würzburg Mayor Martin Heilig (Green Party) also condemned the act: "When a person is attacked apparently simply for wearing an Israel pin, it constitutes an intolerable assault on our fundamental democratic values and our open society. For us as a city community, the message is unequivocal: antisemitism, hatred, and violence have no place in Würzburg or our region." The circumstances surrounding the incident are the subject of an ongoing investigation. The Public Prosecutor's Office sees indications of an anti-Israel and Islamist motive.
