Jewish youth football team ‘hunted down by knife-wielding Arab mob in Berlin’
A Jewish youth football team has been placed under police protection after they were “hunted down” by an armed pro-Palestinian mob.
Players from Makkabi Berlin’s youth team said that they were chased by a crowd wielding sticks and knives following a game against local rivals last week.
The team, composed of players aged 13 and 16, said that they were pursued by a group of Arab youths.
One father said that his son was “deeply shaken” following the incident, which saw players from the opposing team allegedly spit at the Jewish players.
The team also chanted “free Palestine” and “f***ing Jews”, before they threatened Makkabi Berlin youth members with knives and sticks.
The under-17 match took place in Neukölln, a neighbourhood known for its large Arab and Turkish population.
Schwarz-Weiss Neukölln, the opposition team, said they would identify and throw out the people involved.
“Incidents like this don’t belong on soccer pitches – and certainly not on ours,” a spokesman said.
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Alon Meyer, the president of Makkabi Germany, said that witnesses confirmed that the attack “undoubtedly took place”.
Members of the youth team will now be placed under police protection by Staatsschutz, the unit responsible for investigating politically motivated crime.
Makkabi Berlin’s adult team began receiving police protection after the October 7 attacks.
Berlin Interior Senator Iris Spranger condemned the attacks, according to the German press agency DPA International.
“Just recently, there were attacks on players from the sports club TuS Makkabi Berlin. These acts show that antisemitic violence and discrimination have not disappeared in our city either.”
Makkabi Berlin was founded in the 1970s by Holocaust survivors and it was the city’s first Jewish sports club following the Second World War.
Earlier this month, a fan of the club who was wearing a scarf in the team’s colours was punched by an individual who asked him if he was Jewish.
It comes amid fears that Jews across Europe are at risk of danger, with Israel warning its citizens to avoid sporting and cultural events.
Following attacks against football fans in Amsterdam last week, the country’s National Security Council said that it had intelligence that pro-Palestinian groups were trying to harm Jews and Israelis across Europe.
It said that these attacks would come under the guise of protests and demonstrations.
Israelis who are travelling abroad have also been warned not to disclose their identity, and be wary if their destination country has a “large migrant population from countries opposed to Israel”.