(Berlin) A synagogue in Berlin was targeted during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday by Molotov cocktail jets, which caused no damage or injuries, an act described as “odious” by the government.
Two unknown persons “arrived on foot around 3:45 a.m. (9:45 p.m. Eastern Time), threw two flaming bottles filled with liquid in the direction of the synagogue on Brunnenstraße” which is part of a cultural complex of the Kahal community Adass Jisroel, also including a school and a nursery, announced the Berlin police in a press release.
“The bottles hit the pavement and broke. The fire then went out. The two hooded men then fled,” she describes.
An investigation was launched to find the perpetrators of the crime.
Later in the morning, a 30-year-old man, who was heading towards the same synagogue, was briefly arrested and uttered anti-Israeli slogans before calming down and being released.
The failed fire attempt provoked numerous reactions in the Jewish community and within the government.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser called it a “heinous act,” which also shows “the importance of great vigilance and complete protection” of Jewish institutions.
Germany has reinforced security around community buildings on its territory since October 7, the day of Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel, which responded with massive bombings of the Gaza Strip.
The central council of Jews said it was “shaken”. Hamas’ “ideology of extermination against everything Jewish also works in Germany,” he judged.
“Intolerable”
“Attacks against Jewish institutions, violent outbursts in our streets, it’s inhuman, abominable and intolerable,” Olaf Scholz, for his part, declared on his X account, without referring specifically to these incidents.
Berlin police also reported clashes during the night between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and the police in certain neighborhoods, the most violent having taken place in the Neukölln district, where there is a large Muslim population.
Demonstrators set fire to “objects on the road” and threw stones at the police, who used water cannons.
Other anti-Semitic acts have been reported by police in Germany in recent days, including graffiti on public roads and slogans at pro-Palestinian rallies.
Last week, the chancellor called on his compatriots to show solidarity with the Jewish population of Germany and to guarantee their security.
“Anti-Semitism has no place in Germany,” he repeated on Wednesday.
In a speech to the Bundestag a week ago, he said that Germany’s “only place” was alongside Israel, stressing that the “responsibility resulting from the Holocaust” imposed on the country the “permanent duty to defend the existence and security of Israel.
During a solidarity visit to Tel Aviv on Tuesday, Olaf Scholz also spoke about the fate of the inhabitants of Gaza. Accusing Hamas of using them as human shields, he said he had discussed with Benjamin Netanyahu “the possibilities for improving access to humanitarian aid” in the Gaza Strip.