In New York, a man armed with a machete stormed a Jewish celebration in a rabbi’s house. The host succumbed to his injuries months later.
- A man stormed a Jewish celebration in New York.
- He was armed with a machete.
- The rabbi died three months after the attack, and more people were injured.
Update of March 31, 2020: About three months after the knife attack on a Jewish Hanukkah celebration in the US state of New York, the rabbi injured in the attack died of his wounds . The 72-year-old died on the weekend, the region's Jewish association said via short message service Twitter. One now hopes that the charges against the alleged perpetrator will be tightened.
Update from December 31, 2019: After the knife attack on a rabbi’s house during the Jewish Hanukkah Festival , more and more details about the perpetrator become known. The US police found diaries with anti-Semitic entries and a reference to Adolf Hitler in the alleged attacker. Prosecutors and the federal FBI announced on Monday. According to the police report, handwritten diaries containing statements hostile to the Jews were found when the 37-year-old's home was searched. There are also references to Hitler, "Nazi culture" as well as a painted swastika and a star of David.
The arrested man also searched the Internet for Jewish places of worship in the region, the prosecutors said. The investigators accuse the 37-year-old of a hate crime.
Update 8.30pm: The governor of the US state of New York, Andrew Cuomo, classified a knife attack on a rabbi’s house as an “act of terrorism” on Sunday. "This is an act of terrorism . I think these are local terrorists. They are trying to spread fear," Cuomo told journalists in Monsey, 50 kilometers north of New York City . Driven by hatred, the perpetrators launched "mass attacks," Cuomo said, citing earlier attacks against Jewish institutions.
The attacker did so during a celebration of the Hanukkah Jewish Festival . A large Jewish community lives in Monsey. With 90,000 inhabitants, it represents around a third of the population. According to the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council (OJPAC), two injured were in mortal danger. The eyewitness Aron Kohn described the weapon as a machete the "length of a broomstick".
The New York Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted that every conceivable means must be used "to stop these attacks once and for all". Anti-Defamation League director Jonathan Greenblatt called for increased safeguards for the Jewish community. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin was also shocked. He called for a joint fight against the "evil" of anti-Semitism, which "around the world" posed a danger.
An attack also occurred in a Texas church in the United States on Sunday. In Germany, anti-Semitic statements apparently sounded during a demonstration against a WDR video in Cologne.
New York: Man storms Jewish celebration with machete - eyewitness: "Prayed for my life"
First message from December 29, 2019: New York - An attacker stabbed five people in the house of a rabbi in the US state of New York . The five injured were taken to hospital with stab wounds, the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council (OJPAC) said on Saturday evening (local time) on the online service Twitter. Two injuries are therefore in mortal danger. The attack occurred during a celebration of the Jewish Hanukkah Festival. The alleged attacker was arrested, police said.
Knife attack during New York Jewish celebration
© dpa / Allyse Pulliam
Knife attack on Jewish celebration in New York: perpetrator flees
The CBS New York broadcaster reported that a man had penetrated the rabbi's house in Monsey with a machete during the celebration. There injured at least three people and then fled. The eyewitness Aron Kohn told the New York Times newspaper that the attacker's knife was "the length of a broomstick". "I prayed for my life," said the 65-year-old.
Yossi Gestetner, spokesman for the organization OJPAC, told the New York Times newspaper that one of the injured was a son of the rabbi. "There were many dozen people in the house," said Gestetner. "It was a Hanukkah celebration."
New York state governor Andrew Cuomo condemned the attack. He was "horrified" by the "hideous and cowardly deed". There is "no tolerance for anti-Semitism" in the state.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin was also shocked by the attack. He called for tackling the "evil" of anti-Semitism together.
There has been an increase in anti-Semitic violence in the United States in recent years. Greater New York, where many Jews live, is also affected. A few weeks ago, two attackers in Jersey City had killed six people. The man and woman first shot a policeman near a cemetery. They then drove to a Jewish grocery store, opened fire, and entered the store. Inside the store, the owner's wife, employee, and customer were killed.
In April, a man opened fire in a Jewish church in California and killed a woman.
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