The European Jewish Congress released a statement saying that an “attacker ran towards two hasidim who were on their way to the synagogue, stabbed one of them in the throat and got away. The injured man was taken to the hospital and his life is not threatened. Police are currently investigating the case, local security team is controlling the situation and protecting the neighborhood.”
The stabbing occurred under a train bridge on Pelican Street, in the Jewish quarter of Antwerp, Belgium.
A suspect has been arrested by Belgian police. The local Shomrim unit went out to the streets immediately after the attack, to protect Jewish residents on their way to Shabbat synagogue services.
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Chief Rabbi of the Netherlands Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs told Ynet on Friday that “anti-Semitic incidents occur on a daily basis” across Europe.
“There were Jews in Holland before and after the Holocaust, but what is happening today reminds many of them of the situation before World War II. I am very careful not to make such comparisons, but on the other hand, I am against turning a blind eye, ” Rabbi Jacobs told Ynet.
U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, told European leaders at a conference on anti-Semitism in Berlin on Thursday they should appoint high-level envoys to focus on anti-Semitism and impose tougher measures against hate-crimes without trampling over the basic democratic right of free speech.
“A Europe where anyone feels afraid or endangered because of the actions, beliefs or speech of a neighbor is a Europe where everyone’s rights are at risk, ” Power said, urging that that “robust steps must be taken.”
“Make no mistake – we have a problem, ” Power said.
Four people, including two Israelis, Emanuel and Mira Riva, were killed in a shooting attack at the Brussels Jewish Museum in May. The gunman, Mehdi Nemmouche, 29, a French-Algerian, was arrested in France and extradited to Belgium in July.
