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Europe
Grandson of Israeli Athlete Murdered at Munich Olympics is Badly Beaten in Berlin Assault
2024-02-05
[TheAlgemeiner] The grandson of a member of the Israeli Olympic squad who was murdered by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics has been badly beaten up in an antisemitic assault outside a Berlin bar on Friday night.

Lahav Shapira, 30, was attacked by his assailant as he left a bar where he had been drinking with his girlfriend. He was rushed to hospital where he underwent surgery for non-life threatening injuries. Images of Shapira posted on social media after the attack by his brother, Shahak — a popular comedian based in Germany — showed him with his face and lips badly swollen.

Shapira — whose grandfather Amitzur, the head coach of the 1972 Israeli Olympic track and field team, was among the 11 squad members murdered after being taken hostage by Palestinian terrorists inside the Olympic village — is a student at the Free University in Berlin, where he has emerged as a vocal advocate for Israel in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas pogrom in which over 1,200 were killed and more than 200 seized as hostages.

The official account of the assault published by the Berlin police differed dramatically from Shapira’s own recollections of what occurred, which were broadcast through an interview with the Israeli channel Mako as well as his brother’s social media feeds.

According to the police, Shapira became embroiled in an argument with a 23-year-old with a “pro-Palestinian attitude … In the course of the dispute, the younger man is said to have suddenly slapped the older man in the face several times, causing him to fall,” the statement claimed. It said that Shapira was taken to hospital suffering from facial fractures while the assailant was later found at his home in the Schöneberg district of the capital, where police searched his home and confiscated his cellphone. The statement made no mention of whether the accused assailant had been taken into custody.

In a social media post, however, Shahak Shapira disputed this version of events, insisting that there had been no verbal conflict before the attack.

“He was recognized by the attacker in the bar, who followed him and his companion, spoke to them aggressively and then punched him in the face unannounced,” Shahak posted on X/Twitter. In his interview with Mako, Lahav said that an Arab student had been observing him and his girlfriend in the bar and followed them outside when they left. He punched Shapira in the face and kicked him as he lay on the ground, fleeing the scene as his victim struggled to his feet.

A statement from the Free University issued on Sunday night declared: “We are deeply horrified by the brutal, allegedly antisemitic motivated attack on a Jewish student at our university and strongly condemn the crime.”

However, Shapira’s relatives accused the university of ignoring antisemitic agitation on campus. The university authorities had “supported these pro-Palestinians by simply closing their eyes,” Tzipi Lev, Shapira’s mother, told Israeli news outlets.

That point was echoed in a letter sent by Germany’s Jewish student union, the JSUD, to Free University President Günter Ziegler. The letter warned that “antisemites are spreading hatred on your campus” and urged Ziegler to “stop putting things ‘into perspective’ or denying them.”

Berlin’s Mayor, Kai Wegner, separately condemned what he described as a “vile attack.”

“Jewish people have to feel safe everywhere in Berlin – also at our universities!” Wegner posted on X/Twitter.
Related:
Free University in Berlin: 2006-11-19 In Europe, it's East vs. West on the death penalty
Posted by:Elmerert Hupens2660

#1   the 1972 Munich Olympics
One of the more shameful bits of the history of Paleostine. And that is without even mentioning the cluster-fook response.
Posted by: SteveS   2024-02-05 18:19  

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