Berlin, Feb 8, (dpa/GNA) – A beating in central Berlin last weekend that left a Jewish student at the city’s Free University (FU) hospitalized, appears to have been a targeted attack, according to investigators.
The assault appears to have been politically motivated, over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and is being investigated as a potential anti-Semitic attack, according to a spokesman for Berlin’s public prosecutor’s office.
Because of the apparent political motivation, the incident has been classified as a hate crime, the spokesman said.
Lahav Shapira, 30, suffered broken bones in his face and was treated in hospital at the weekend. A 23-year-old fellow FU student allegedly punched and kicked him on the street in a bustling area of central Berlin on Saturday.
The attacker reportedly holds strong pro-Palestinian views, while the Israel-born Shapira has been vocal in his support for the Israeli side in the conflict, according to police.
The alleged attacker, a German citizen, is being investigated on suspicion of dangerous bodily harm, according to prosecutors.
The attack is said to have been preceded only by a brief verbal interaction, and Shapira was surprised by the physical attack, the spokesman said.
Berlin police had initially said the attack came after an argument between the two students escalated, an account that Shapira’s brother, well-known German comedian Shahak Shapira, pointedly disputed.
The beating has attracted widespread media attention in Germany and public outrage. FU has faced demands to promptly expel the suspected student, a demand that university officials said is not legally possible.
Berlin Mayor Kai Wegener, has spoken out in favour of changing local laws to kick the student out of the university.
Further protests over Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip continued on FU’s campus on Thursday, with around 85 people gathering in front of the university’s cafeteria to express solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
They were confronted by about 25 counter-protesters, some of them waving Israeli flags, who said they were there to denounce anti-Semitism.
The atmosphere at the protest appeared heated, although police told dpa they were not aware of any “significant incidents.”
The months-long war in the Gaza Strip, which Israel launched after the Palestinian militant group Hamas led brutal attacks and massacres against Israel on October 7, has led to tensions in Germany as well as many other Western countries.
GNA