From "Totally Jewish" (UK), Friday 15th of September 2006, by Justin Cohen ....
Six youths were arrested by Barnet [UK] police this week in connection with a vicious anti-semitic attack on a 12-year-old girl, that left her unconscious with a fractured eye socket. The young victim who asked not to be named told the Jewish News yesterday how the incident last month had shattered her confidence and left her suffering from terrifying nightmares.
The police said that four 14-year-old girls, a 10-year-old girl and a boy aged 10, had been arrested and released on bail in connection with the attack, which shocked London’s Jewish community.
The victim ... was allegedly travelling with a friend ... when the pair were approached at Mill Hill Broadway by a group of girls and a boy. The group allegedly sat close to the girls and began quizzing them about their clothing before asking if they were Jewish. One of the assailants allegedly told them to stand up and frisked them for their belongings before snatching a bracelet from the victim. As the girls tried to leave the bus at Mill Hill Broadway station their way was allegedly blocked. The 12-year-old said: “She started hitting me with a phone on my cheekbones to wind me up and she slapped me three times really hard. “I don’t remember what happened until I was on the floor screaming. My friend was in the corner screaming for help. I woke up with someone stamping on my face .... Despite her screams of terror, fellow passengers looked on and said nothing until eventually a boy forced the door open so they could make their escape.
A passing motorist stopped to help and the girl was taken to Barnet hospital where she was treated for a fractured eye socket and bruising to her face and chest. Her injuries were so severe that her 42-year-old father decided it was better for her mother not to visit the hospital......His daughter, who will celebrate her batmitzvah next month, remains traumatised that her plight was ignored by bystanders. She said: “...I’m scared and get frightened more easily.”Constant nightmares mean she is unable to get a full night’s sleep which, in turn, has affected her school work. She said: “I wake up screaming and my mum has to comfort me.” She added: “It is just not human not to help someone who is being attacked. I understand if people were scared but at least they could tell the driver to call the police. As soon as we got off the bus, the driver closed the doors and went off like nothing happened.”
....Mark Gardner, of the CST [Police], said: “This was one of the most shocking anti-semitic attacks in Britain in recent years. It was extremely important that the police investigated it fully, for the sake of the victim, her family, and the community as a whole. We welcome the arrests and hope that prosecutions will follow.”
...and from Ynet News, 17/8/06, by Meital Tzur ...
Shots fired at Oslo synagogue
.... perpetrators fire gunshots at synagogue in Norway’s capital from passing car; police open investigation....
The incident occurred at 2:30 a.m. and the gunshots were apparently fired from a passing car, which quickly fled the scene. No one was wounded, but local police opened an investigation into the incident.
Yael, a 35-year-old resident of Oslo, told Ynet that the synagogue was located in central Oslo, next to the municipality and a Jewish kindergarten. As the only synagogue in the Norwegian capital, it serves Oslo’s small Jewish community. She said the building’s façade was hit by the gunshots....
Worsening atmosphere
Yael noted that since July, with the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hizbullah, attitudes towards Jews in Norway have worsened.
“Since the war in Lebanon,” Yael said, “there is an unpleasant atmosphere here. There were a lot of (verbal) attacks on Israel by religious leaders, and there were demonstrations against the war by Muslims and the Norwegian left wing, mostly attended by adolescents.”
....demonstrators carried anti-Semitic symbols and called for bombing Tel Aviv. After the protest, the demonstrators hurled stones at the synagogue and one of them even defecated on the stairs of the temple,” she said.
With that, she said the most recent incident indicated an escalation, due to the unprecedented use of an automatic weapon. According to Jewish Agency data, some 1,200 Jews live in Norway, most of whom reside in Oslo. An additional 500 Israelis can be found throughout Norway.
Roee Nahmias contributed to the report
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