Swiss Jewish group demands action after stabbing
A leader of Switzerland’s Jewish community demanded “concrete” action yesterday after the weekend stabbing of an Orthodox Jewish man, allegedly by a teenager pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group.
The 50-year-old Orthodox Jewish man was stabbed and seriously injured in Zurich late Saturday, authorities said.
“The fact that such an event has not caused a national outcry is a real problem, because it brings to light a lack of awareness of how serious the situation is,” said Johanne Gurfinkiel, leader of Intercommunity Coordination Against Anti-Semitism and Defamation.
“We now expect more concrete measures, for example, for the president (of Switzerland) to call an emergency meeting with representatives of the groups concerned to hear their expectations and suggestions,” he was quoted as saying in an interview with daily newspaper Arc Info.
Gurfinkiel judged that the attack was only a matter of time given the negative atmosphere amid the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
He said there had been a “massive” rise in anti-Semitic acts in Switzerland in recent years and that the number had shot up 68 per cent last year.
Gurfinkiel called for investment in “prevention and awareness” in schools and public life, including education about racism and anti-Semitism.
A 15-year-old Swiss boy with a Tunisian background is suspected of carrying out the attack, the youth prosecutor’s office said on Monday. Police said the suspect had made a video, threatening Jews and voicing allegiance to the Islamic State jihadist group, according to news agency Keystone-ATS.