A latest incident of school bullying has again highlighted the issue of antisemitism among Germany’s Muslim youth. The case involves a second-grade Jewish girl at a Berlin elementary school who was bullied by her Muslim classmates.
The authorities apparently tried to downplay the incident, with school headmaster initially describing the death threat issued to the Jewish girl by her Muslim classmates as a conversation “on the topic of faith and religion.”
According to local media reports, this nature of ‘religious’ bullying is not limited to the Jewish students alone and is exclusively carried out by their Muslim peers.
“Apparently, Muslim circles have turned their focus on Jews. But non-Jews shouldn’t consider themselves lucky, or lean back and relax. I fear other minorities could soon be targeted as well,” Josef Schuster, the head of Germany’s Central Council of Jews told the public broadcaster DW News.
Berlin-based newspaper Der Tagesspiegel reported the details of the incident:
Religious bullying coupled with an antisemitic incident at the Paul-Simmel elementary school in Berlin’s Tempelhof district has again brought the problem to notice of the public. A girl was verbally attacked by Muslim classmates during the course of two years–[she was subjected to phrase such as] “non-believers deserve to die.” The fact that she had a Jewish father was not known [to the classmates initially].Apart from that an ISIS beheading video had been making rounds on the WhatsApp group of the students of the school. School authorities and police were informed.Antisemitic incidents are on the rise at the school in recent years, especially involving Muslims. [Translation by Author]
“On the whole, the religious motivated mobbing is widely prevalent in Berlin schools and–as known so far–only from Muslim side,” Der Tagesspiegel confirmed in a separate report.
The German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung revealed the extent of the problem in the city of Berlin while reporting on the latest incident of antisemitic mobbing:
“You Jew” as a term of abuse is a “widely witnessed phenomena at Berlin schools,” says [a survey carried out among teachers]. This is “very common,” said several members of teaching staff. […]”It is not an isolated case,” says Marina Chernivsky, the head of an anti-Semitic watchdog in Berlin […], “We are not surprised by it. Such cases occur practically every week. It is even an issue in kindergartens. [Translation by Author]
Der Tagesspiegel apparently tracked down the toxic source of the antisemitic and Islamist tendencies at this particular elementary school:
Templehof’s Paul Simmel elementary school is located in the vicinity of the Ibrahim al Khalil mosque that has been classified as Salafist (radical Islamic) by the German domestic intelligence agency [BfV]. The authorities are aware of 176 Salafists that regularly attend the extremist house of worship. The domestic intelligence agency has been warning about the Ibrahim al Khalil mosque and other Islamist facilities in the city. [Translation by Author]
Since Germany opened its border in the wake of the migrant crisis of 2015, Berlin has seen an upsurge in Islamist activities. The number of Islamists in the city has reached a record high, with authorities monitoring up to 1,000 Muslim radicals.
So far, the Merkel government has failed to address the issue of growing Muslim antisemitism in the country.
Last December, when hundreds of Muslim demonstrators shouted “death to Jews” and chanted other genocidal slogans at Berlin’s landmark Brandenburg Gate, Chancellor Angela Merkel vaguely condemned their actions. “We oppose all forms of antisemitism and xenophobia.” she said without mentioning the obvious Islamic elephant in the room.
Even the law enforcement failed to act at that time, with the spokesman of the Berlin police describing the Muslim gangs chanting “death to Jews” as “behaving emotionally.”
If Germany wants to remain a home for its tiny Jewish population, it can’t go on like business as usual.
In December 2017, Demonstrators in Berlin chanting ‘Jews, remember Khaybar, the army of Muhammad is returning’
[Cover image via YouTube]
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