Soccer players from U17 Berlin Jewish club assaulted after match
During a youth football match in Berlin, players from TuS Makkabi, a local Jewish team, were reportedly assaulted and chased following a game against DJK Schwarz-Weiß Neukölln on Thursday evening.
According to a report in the Tagesspiegel daily, Makkabi players were pursued by opponents and spectators wielding sticks and knives after the match.
The father of one of the Makkabi youths told the newspaper that the children faced repeated insults and spitting without intervention from the referee. Players from the Under 17 Bundesliga team repeatedly shouted “Free Palestine.”
The newspaper quoted a spokesperson from Schwarz-Weiß Neukölln, who said, “If it is confirmed that one of the players participated in antisemitic remarks, then it’s clear that he will no longer be part of the club this evening.” The club has a constitution that excludes antisemitism, and the incidents are to be investigated, he added.
Alon Meyer, president of Makkabi Deutschland, said that “we are currently discussing our next steps.”
In the Netherlands on Thursday night, Israeli fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv were chased and brutally attacked by pro-Palestinian youths following an Europa League soccer match with Ajax Amsterdam.
And on Wednesday, during a Champions League match hosted by Paris Saint-Germain against Atletico Madrid, a large banner reading “Free Palestine” was unfurled, featuring a map that omitted the State of Israel.
