German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed outage over an attack outside of a synagogue in Berlin on Wednesday saying, “Antisemitism has no place in Germany.”
In the attack, two Molotov cocktails were thrown by hooded men, Reuters reports. One of the men began shouting antisemitic slogans while police were investigating the scene and was subsequently arrested.
“Two unidentified people came on foot and threw two burning bottles filled with liquid in the direction of the synagogue on Brunnenstrasse,” police said in a statement. “The bottles landed on the pavement and broke, extinguishing the fire.”
They also called the attack a “serious attempted arson.”
The Guardian reports that no one was harmed inside the building.
"I want to expressly say that I am outraged. It outrages me personally what some are shouting and doing," Scholz said during a visit to Egypt.
"Attacks on Jewish institutions and acts of violence on our streets are despicable and cannot be tolerated. Antisemitism has no place in Germany,” he added in a social media post.
Security in Germany has been amped up around Jewish institutions since Palestinian terrorist group Hamas brutally attacked Israel, inciting a war. Scholz has condemned the attack as well, calling it “inhumane, abhorrent and intolerable.”
The police force has declined most requests for pro-Palestinian protests to be held and have broken up unapproved gatherings in Germany.
The Central Council of Jews in Germany released a statement: “We are all shocked by this terrorist attack … Above all, the families from the neighbourhood around the synagogue are shocked and unsettled.”
