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CRIME

Three year old child injured in ‘racist’ assault in Dresden

Police in Saxony have reported that three men attacked a mother and her toddler in a racially motivated assault, injuring the child in the process.

Three year old child injured in ‘racist’ assault in Dresden
A protester at an anti-racism demo in Germany holding a sign that says 'racists are no alternative'. Photo: DPA

The assault took place at a play park in Dresden where the men – all aged between 25 and 30 – racially abused the 32-year-old mother before one of them pushed the child. The toddler fell over and was slightly injured.

The men, who are believed to be German, fled the scene. Police are now calling for witnesses who saw the incident at the play park near Otto Dix Ring.

“There is clearly a racial motive to the crime,” a police spokesperson told Spiegel.

Saxony is considered to be one of the hot spots of racism in Germany. Numerous court cases have taken place against right-wing extremist organisations in the state in recent years. It is also the hub of the Islamophobic Pegida movement.

The subject of racism in German society has gained renewed interest since the killing of a black man by a white police officer in the US led to anti-racism protests across the western world.
 
A study released on Tuesday showed that complaints by ethnic minorities of discriminatory behaviour increased by 10 percent last year.

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ANTI-SEMITISM

Germany sees sharp rise in anti-Semitic acts

Anti-Semitic acts rose sharply in Germany last year, especially after war broke out between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in October, according to new figures released on Tuesday.

Germany sees sharp rise in anti-Semitic acts

The Federal Association of Research and Information Centres on Anti-Semitism (RIAS) documented 4,782 anti-Semitic “incidents” in 2023 – an increase of more than 80 per cent on the previous year.

More than half of the incidents – which included threats, physical attacks and vandalism – were registered after Palestinian militant group Hamas’s unprecedented October 7th attack on Israel, RIAS said.

Germany’s domestic intelligence agency last week also published figures showing a new record in anti-Semitic crimes in 2023.

A total of 5,164 crimes were recorded during the year, the agency said, compared with 2,641 in 2022.

Anti-Semitic crimes with a “religious-ideological motivation” jumped to 492 from just 33 the previous year, with the vast majority committed after October 7.

Felix Klein, the government’s commissioner for the fight against anti-Semitism, said the RIAS figures were “absolutely catastrophic”.

The Hamas attack had acted as an “accelerant” for anti-Semitism in Germany, he told a press conference in Berlin.

“Jewish life in Germany is under greater threat than it has ever been since the Federal Republic of Germany was founded,” he said.

The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 37,600 people, also mostly civilians, Gaza’s health ministry said.

Islamophobic incidents also increased dramatically in Germany last year, according to a separate report published on Monday.

The CLAIM alliance against Islamophobia said it had registered 1,926 attacks on Muslims in 2023, compared with just under 900 in 2023.

These included verbal abuse, discrimination, physical violence and damage to property.

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