A Berlin synagogue was attacked with Molotov cocktails early on Wednesday amid an increase in antisemitic incidents in the German capital following the escalating violence in the Middle East.
The Kahal Adass Jisroel community said its synagogue in the Mitte area of the city was attacked with two incendiary devices.
— Kahal Adass Jisroel (@KAJ_Berlin) October 18, 2023
Police confirmed the incident.
“Unknown persons threw two Molotov cocktails from the street,” the community wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
On Wednesday morning, dozens of police officers were investigating in front of the synagogue.
The entire street next to the building was cordoned off and closed to traffic.
— Kahal Adass Jisroel (@KAJ_Berlin) October 18, 2023
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Germany’s leading Jewish group said two people were involved in the attack, but did not give any further details.
“We are all shocked by this terrorist attack,” the Central Council of Jews said in a statement.
“Above all, the families from the neighbourhood around the synagogue are shocked and unsettled. Words become deeds. Hamas’ ideology of extermination against everything Jewish is also having an effect in Germany.”
The building complex of the Kahal Adass Jisroel community in the centre of Berlin houses a synagogue, a nursery school, a yeshiva school and a community centre.
Police also said there were riots overnight between Muslim immigrants and police in the city’s Neukoelln and Kreuzberg neighbourhoods and at Berlin’s landmark Brandenburg Gate, in which several officers were injured.
Following Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7th and the subsequent war in Gaza, police have increased security for Jewish institutions in Berlin and all over Germany.
Nevertheless, Israeli flags that were flown as a sign of solidarity in front of city halls all over the country have been torn down and burned.
Several buildings in Berlin where Jews live had the Star of David painted on doors and walls.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz strongly condemned the synagogue attack on Wednesday, saying: “We will never accept when attacks are carried out against Jewish institutions.”
Speaking to reporters during a trip to Egypt, he said Germany will not accept violent and antisemitic protests and that the protection of Jewish institutions will be further increased.
“It outrages me personally what some of them are shouting and doing, and I am convinced that Germany’s citizen are of the same opinion as me,” he said.
“We stand united for the protection also of Jews,” he added.
