Another anti-Semitic attack in the city of Zurich

A Kosovar with a criminal record and no Swiss residence has attacked an orthodox Jew in the city of Zurich. The cantonal Zurich Security Director Mario Fehr calls for the Deportation of the perpetrator.

The 40-year-old man had knocked out the orthodox 26-year-old Jew with punches. The attack took place during the day. The victim was injured and required medical treatment.

The attacker was overpowered by passers-by and held until the police arrived, reports the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. According to the Zurich city police, the attacker repeatedly made insulting and anti-Semitic remarks, even in the presence of the police officers. Criminal proceedings have been opened against him. The act is classified as anti-Semitically motivated.

Zurich’s cantonal security director, government councillor Mario Fehr, condemned the anti-Semitic attack in harsh terms. “The Kosovar perpetrator must leave Switzerland quickly – the canton will make every effort to do so with the relevant authorities”, said Fehr, according to the NZZ.

This is not the first such anti-Semitically motivated attack in the city of Zurich since the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023, which claimed the lives of 1,200 people. In March 2024, an Orthodox Jew was attacked with a knife and critically injured by a 15-year-old Muslim with Tunisian roots. On that occasion, too, it was passers-by who overpowered the perpetrator.