Suspect Arrested
September 14, 2007
Police said that they found the man, who was born in Germany to Afghan parents, after he bragged about the incident in an Internet forum.
The attack occurred on Friday, Sept. 7, as Rabbi Zalman G. was walking home from his synagogue. According to witnesses, the suspect pestered the Jewish clergyman before yelling "Dirty Jew -- I'll kill you" in German and attacking the rabbi with a knife.
"He felt physically inferior to the rabbi and so reached for his knife," a Frankfurt prosecutor was quoted as saying by AP news service.
The man now faces charges of attempted manslaughter and dangerous bodily harm, according to prosecutors, who said they would give more information at a press conference later on Friday.
Attack reopens old wounds
Zalman G. is still recovering from his wounds at a hospital. Leaders of the city's Jewish community said the attack had especially shocked older Jews, who "felt old wounds and scars," as community leader Salomon Korn told AP.
Korn, who is also the vice president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said that he didn't believe that additional security for Jewish buildings was needed.
According to a government report, 1,024 anti-Semitic criminal acts, 2 percent of which were violent, were committed in 2006.