Article

2007-09-10 Europe

The stabbing of a rabbi in Frankfurt by a young man speaking Arab has prompted Germany's Jewish community to renew its warnings about no-go areas for minorities in Germany, and to warn that Germany's young Muslims are becoming radicalized by hate preachers.

The head of Germany's Jewish community condemned the stabbing of a rabbi in Frankfurt on Friday night and said it made her wonder whether "no-go areas" for immigrants were emerging in western Germany as well as the east, which has seen many racist assaults since unification in 1990.

Rabbi Zalman Gurevitch, 42, was walking home from his synagogue in Frankfurt's Westend district with two guests on Friday evening when he was approached by a young man described by witnesses as being of "southern" in appearance.

The man, flanked by two women, spoke to Gurevitch in what sounded like Arabic and then switched to German and said: "You shit Jew, I'm going to kill you." He stabbed him in the stomach and ran off.

Gurevitch was rushed to hospital and underwent emergency surgery. He is now recovering and told Bild newspaper in a statement passed on by a friend: "I am much better. My wife is by my side all the time. The last thing I want is for this attack to be trivialized and swept under the carpet."

German politicians expressed outrage at the attack, which was reported in the national media.

Charlotte Knobloch, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said in a statement: "I have visited the victim in hospital and I'm shocked and angry. In light of the increasingly frequent acts of violence against minorities in this country, one has to ask whether the debate about no-go areas shouldn't be extended to other parts of Germany and not just the east."

Talk of no-go areas resurfaced after last month's attack on eight Indian men (more...) in the eastern town of Mügeln by a group of Germans shouting "Foreigners Out." The economically depressed east has seen a high incidence of attacks on foreigners ever since unification in 1990.

Dieter Graumann, the vice president of the Jewish Council, said Islamic hate preachers in Germany were partly to blame for assaults such as Friday's attack.

"We oppose leveling blanket accusations at the Muslim community because the majority of Muslims in Germany comdemn acts of violence in the name of Islam, but leading representatives of Islamic groups have to be asked what they are doing top stop hate preachers and the growing radicalization among young Muslims in this country," Graumann said in a statement.

Posted by mrp 2007-09-10 08:14|| || Front Page|| [15 views ] Top

#1 Maybe it's time to leave.

Posted by Perfesser 2007-09-10 11:51|| 2007-09-10 11:51|| Front Page Top

#2 being of "southern" in appearance

Was he wearing Dickies overalls, with a Skoal ring in the back right pocket? If not, then choose some other adjective to describe him, because he ain't Southern!

Posted by WhitecollarRedneck 2007-09-10 12:06|| 2007-09-10 12:06|| Front Page Top

#3 Meet Germany v2.0, essentially the same as version 1.0 only with the Koran-expansion pack already included.

Posted by Laurence of the Rats">Laurence of the Rats 2007-09-10 18:59|| 2007-09-10 18:59|| Front Page Top

#4 Meet Germany v2.0...

Europe may have turned a blind eye to the muslim threat living down the street, but they've never forgotten Germany, v1.39 thru 1.45. If they thought v2.0 was about to be "released", they'd go Duke Nukem on them.

Posted by Steve 2007-09-10 20:27|| 2007-09-10 20:27|| Front Page Top

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