Police chief warns Jews and LGBTQ+ people to hide their identity in Berlin

Jewish and LGBTQ+ people in Berlin have been advised to be cautious about revealing their identity in certain areas of the city, particularly those with large Arab populations.

The city’s police chief, Barbara Slowik, told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper, "There are areas of the city, we need to be perfectly honest here, where I would advise people who wear a kippah or are openly gay to be more careful.”

She added, “Certain neighbourhoods, where the majority of people of Arab origin live, also have sympathies for terrorist groups and are often openly hostile towards Jews.”

Slowik, however, acknowledged that violent crimes against Jewish people were rare, although stressing that even one act of hate was one too many.

The warning comes amid rising tensions in Berlin and across Germany, where antisemitic incidents have surged since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.

In one recent incident, a youth football team from Makkabi Berlin, a Jewish sports club, was reportedly "hunted down" by a group of youths in an Arab-majority neighbourhood.

The youths, aged 13 to 15, were verbally and physically harassed, spat on, and threatened with sticks and knives. The incident occurred on the same night that gangs in Amsterdam filmed attacks on fans of the Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Since the start of the Gaza war, Berlin's police have opened more than 6,000 investigations related to antisemitism, most involving online hate speech or graffiti, according to Slowik.

Other incidents include attacks on Jewish individuals, such as a football fan assaulted for wearing a Star of David scarf, and a petrol bomb attack on a synagogue shortly after the October 7 Hamas massacres in Israel.

On the day of the Hamas attacks, men were seen handing out sweets in celebration in Neukolln, a neighbourhood with a significant Arab population. The incident sparked widespread anxiety in Germany, raising concerns about the safety of Jewish people in the country.

Neukolln, known for its vibrant LGBT nightlife, has also seen several incidents of physical assaults against gay couples in recent years.

In response to growing concerns, a new resolution against antisemitism was passed by a large majority in the Bundestag earlier this month.

The resolution, crafted by the Greens, Social Democrats, and Christian Democrats, highlighted the "alarming extent of antisemitism" linked to migration from countries where hostility towards Jews and Israel is widespread owing to state-sponsored indoctrination.

It proposes that refugees found guilty of antisemitic crimes could face the revocation of their asylum status.

The migration debate resurfaced in the summer, fuelled by concerns over potential increases in terrorism. However, it is expected to be overshadowed by Germany’s stagnating economy in the upcoming elections.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has used the need to protect Germany's Jewish community as a rationale for advocating a much stricter policy of mass deportations, targeting refugees from countries like Syria.