A Jewish student ends up in the hospital with broken bones in his face. According to police, a fellow student is suspected of punching and kicking. Berlin’s head of government is shocked.
Lahav Shapira doesn’t want to show his shattered face – in an interview with the Israeli broadcaster N12, the 30-year-old can only be seen from behind as he tells his story. The Jewish student from the Free University of Berlin was injured and taken to the hospital on Saturday night. A pro-Palestinian fellow student is said to have hit and kicked him on the street in Berlin-Mitte. The horror is great.
The case is not only seen as renewed evidence of the hostility against Jews in Germany since the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7th. Not just as a sign of the bitter conflicts on the streets as well as at Berlin universities. The victim is also the grandson of one of those murdered in the 1972 Munich Olympic attack and the brother of comedian Shahak Shapira.
“This vile attack leaves me stunned,” wrote Berlin Prime Minister Kai Wegner on the X platform, formerly Twitter. “Jewish people must feel safe everywhere in Berlin – including at our universities!”
What the police announced about the crime
The Berlin police reported on the case under the heading “Dispute between students escalated”. “An argument initially developed between the 30-year-old man of Jewish faith, who is said to represent pro-Israel views on social media, and the 23-year-old student, who is said to have pro-Palestinian attitudes,” the police report said.
“During the course of the argument, the younger man is said to have suddenly hit the older man several times in the face, causing him to fall. The opponent is then said to have kicked the man who was lying on the ground and finally fled across Torstrasse in the direction of Ackerstrasse.” The suspected perpetrator was caught. State security is now investigating the possible political motivation, a police spokeswoman said. A possible anti-Semitic motivation is also being examined.
Lahav Shapira told it this way in the Israeli television interview: “He suddenly gave me a punch from the side, and then another,” said the injured man in the hospital. “Then I lost my balance. I tried to get up and then he kicked me in the face.” The attacker then ran away. An Israeli friend who witnessed the incident told the Israeli broadcaster: “I was shocked. It was terrible. And it all happened so quickly.”
The victim’s brother feared escalation
Lahav’s brother Shahak Shapira was even more clear on
And he clearly linked this to his brother’s political engagement in Berlin since October 7th: “The way in which he has defamed and ‘tagged’ on the Internet in recent months for his fair or unjust resistance in the FU “This outcome was almost unavoidable and I feared it from the start.”
How the alleged perpetrator presents the matter is unknown. The Berlin lawyer Ehssan Khazaeli, who is defending the accused, explained in response to a dpa request that the extensive investigations by the Berlin police’s Special Development Organization (BAO) for the Middle East should first be awaited. “On my advice, the accused will not comment on matters relevant to the proceedings,” said Khazaeli.
Since October 7th, there have been repeated incidents at universities in Germany that were viewed as anti-Semitic or anti-Israel: In Berlin, for example, there were actions, graffiti and posts in chat groups. The President of the Jewish Student Union, Hanna Veiler, complained in an interview with the German Press Agency at the end of 2023: “There are hardly any consequences for such students.”
However, the FU filed several criminal charges, many of them for trespassing in connection with an occupation of a lecture hall in mid-December by the group “FU Students for a Free Palestine”. Some groups criticize what they perceive to be one-sided solidarity between universities and Israel.
University wants to consider legal action
Now the FU also reacted with dismay. The university executive committee led by Günter Ziegler said they were “deeply horrified by the brutal, presumably anti-Semitic attack on a Jewish student at our university.” “If it is confirmed that the perpetrator is a student at the Free University of Berlin, the university will immediately examine possible legal steps within the framework of house law and, if necessary, enforce a ban on the house.” The university sent well-wishes to the injured person. The FU emphasized that it was doing “everything in its power” to prevent Jewish students from being threatened on campus.
The federal government’s anti-Semitism commissioner, Felix Klein, called for the background to be clarified in detail and, if necessary, the consequences. “If the previous indications are confirmed and the attack is based on anti-Semitic motives, then the perpetrator must face the full force of the law,” Klein told the Germany editorial network. In this case, the Free University should also consider exmatriculation.
Berlin’s head of government, Wegner, also warned that he expects university management to take consistent action against anti-Semitism and to actively intervene “if such developments become apparent.”