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ANTI-SEMITISM

LATEST: What do we know about the stabbing of Jewish man in Zurich

The unidentified man was ‘critically injured’ in the attack late on Saturday, with a Swiss teen suspected of being the perpetrator arrested on site. The Swiss president also spoke out on Monday.

Published: 4 March 2024 14:43 CET
LATEST: What do we know about the stabbing of Jewish man in Zurich
Police stand guard at the Synagoge Agudas Achim in Zurich, on March 3, 2024, after an Orthodox Jewish man was stabbed. Photo by Arnd WIEGMANN / AFP

The 50-year old victim, who is a member of Zurich’s Orthodox Jewish community, is reportedly out of danger, but still remains in the intensive care unit.

While the  exact circumstances of the stabbing are not yet known, a 15-year-old alleged perpetrator was arrested at the scene.

A ‘radicalised’ teen

According to Swiss media reports, the 15-year-old suspect is a naturalised Swiss citizen  “with Tunisian roots, who became radicalised in that country.”

The media also reports that a video of the alleged assailant has surfaced on an American platform, SITE Intelligence Group, which has been monitoring online forums for terrorist and extremist  threats. 

The victim’s family reportedly identified the photo on that site as that of the assailant.

According to Blick newspaper, which has viewed the video, “the teenager calls himself Ahmed al-Dabbah and swears loyalty to the terrorist organisation IS [Islamic State]. He goes on to say that he wanted to ‘attack a synagogue and try to kill as many Jews as possible.’ Then he wanted to take to the streets and try to ‘slaughter all the unbelievers out there.+

These reports have so far not been confirmed by Zurich police.

Beefed-up security

After Saturday’s attack, authorities increased security around the institutions that “have a Jewish connection as precautionary measure,” Zurich police announced.

Various groups in Switzerland have swiftly condemned the attack.

The GRA Foundation, which is working against racism and anti-Semitism, said that Saturday’s “hate crime” was not an isolated incident “but clearly part of a pattern linked to the tensions over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.”

“Since the escalation in the Middle East, anti-Semitic incidents in Switzerland have skyrocketed,” it added.

One of the recent widely reported ones occurred in the ski resort of Davos in February, where a shop refused to rent sleds and other equipment to Jewish customers. 

READ ALSO: Swiss police probe anti-Semitic ‘discrimination’ at Davos ski station

Anti-Semitism has no place in Switzerland

Swiss President Viola Amherd voiced alarm Monday at the stabbing over the weekend of an Orthodox Jewish man, insisting
that “anti-Semitism has no place in Switzerland”.

“The knife attack in Zurich shocked me,” she wrote on X, adding that her thoughts were with the victim and all Jewish citizens in the country.

Anti-Semitism on the rise around Europe

Anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim hate crimes have been on the rise in many countries since Hamas militants from Gaza carried out an unprecedented attack inside Israel on October 7th.

That attack resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures. It also saw the militants abduct 250 hostages, of whom 130 remain in captivity, including 31 presumed dead, according to Israel.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive against the Palestinian territory has killed more than 30,500 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
 

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CRIME

‘Your permit is invalid’: How scammers in Switzerland target foreigners

Scores of foreign residents have received an email recently telling them their residency rights in Switzerland have been revoked.

Published: 26 April 2024 11:17 CEST
'Your permit is invalid': How scammers in Switzerland target foreigners

A number of foreign nationals, especially in the German-speaking part of the country, have received an official-looking letter, purportedly from the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) informing them that the Free Movement of People agreement between Switzerland and the EU has been nullified, and therefore “your residence permit is no longer valid.”

Faced with enquiries from concerned recipients, SEM responded that the letter is fake, advising recipients to ignore it and, above all, not to click on the QR code on the top.

“Fake letters from the SEM have been circulating since the beginning of this week,” the immigration authority said on its website as well as on X (formerly Twitter).  

“The letter has no impact on the recipient’s  residence status,” SEM added.

Fake jobs, real threats

However, this is only the latest scam perpetrated in the name of SEM.

There have been others in the past.

For instance, many foreigners have also received emails from addresses swissimmigration@consultant or eu_immigration@consultant, that pretend to be the Swiss immigration authority.

“In most cases, a fictitious job in the hotel industry is offered, with the senders demanding payment of 300 to 1,000 euros for a permit in Switzerland and for health and accident insurance,” SEM reported.

The first clue that this email doesn’t come from  SEM, which is part of Switzerland’s government, is that it is asking for payment in euros. If the scammers were smarter, they’d demand Swiss francs.

“These e-mails do not come from the SEM and should be considered as an attempt at fraud,” the agency said. 

Extortion attempt

And a few years ago, a number of foreigners received emails coming allegedly from SEM, Swiss border control authorities, or even the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol).

They threatened to revoke the victim’s residence permit or even expel them from the country altogether if they didn’t pay a certain sum of money into an anonymous account.

Needless to say, no government authority would ever resort to blackmail or demand payment for such ‘services’.

So a good rule to remember (for foreigners and Swiss alike) is that if threats and pressure are involved, letters / emails / phone calls ( WhatsUp messages are more than likely scams.
 
READ ALSO: The common scams foreigners in Switzerland need to be aware of 

Don’t respond

SEM as well as police urge everyone contacted by scammers, by whatever means to:

  • Ignore these messages by hanging up the phone and / or deleting emails, moving them to the Spam folder
  • Never give out your credit card number or bank account information to people you don’t know
  • If you did give your card number, contact your credit card company immediately to have the card blocked. Likewise, if you gave out your banking details, get in touch with your bank.
  • In the event of threats of extortion attempts, consider filing a criminal complaint. You can search for police stations in your area on the Police website. 
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