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IMMIGRATION

Jewish man beaten in Berlin for wearing kippah

A young man reported being attacked in the east of the capital in Tuesday evening by a group of three men who spotted his religious skullcap.

Jewish man beaten in Berlin for wearing kippah
Photo: DPA

The attack happened at around 9.30pm in the Alt-Treptow neighbourhood, police report.

According to the 21-year-old victim, three men of Arabic appearance reacted to his kippah – a religious cap worn by Jewish men – and then started to insult him.

The men then went on to kick and punch him before running away from the scene.

The young man was lightly injured but did not need to go to hospital.

Instances of anti-Semitic crime are on the rise in Berlin, as are hate crimes of various forms, according to a report published in March.

Hate crime monitoring groups ReachOut and Berliner Register reported at the time that there were 320 incidents of attacks motivated by anti-Semitism, racism, or homophobia in 2015, up from 179 in 2014.

Twenty-five of the attacks last year were connected to anti-Semitism, compared to 18 the year before.

Most victims of anti-Semitic crime are wearing kippahs at the time of the attack, Tagesspiegel reports.

In one such attack, in October 2015, four men of Middle Eastern appearance insulted and spat at an Israeli travelling on the city’s underground system.

Jewish leaders have expressed concern that refugees arriving from the Middle East could pose a danger to Jews in Germany.

Salomon Korn, president of the Frankfurt Jewish community, warned in January that many refugees had grown up in environments rife with anti-Semitism.

Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière has said previously that he was more worried about home-grown extremists than anti-Semitism among arriving refugees.

RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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