Earlier this week, the heads of some 40 Jewish organizations based in Germany penned an open letter to the government, urging Berlin to crack down on anti-Semitism, pointing to a string of intensified anti-Jewish attacks in the country.

A 50-year-old Jewish-American professor of philosophy was visiting the German city of Bonn as a guest lecturer when he was assaulted by a young man of Palestinian descent who reportedly knocked the yarmulke off his head, shoved him and shouted: "No Jews in Germany!”

The Israeli, who was walking in a local park with a friend, tried to defend himself and chased the 20-year-old perpetrator, who fled after the professor’s companion called the police.

The 50-year-old failed to stop when police arrived at the scene and ordered him to do so, which made officers suspect that the professor was the assailant rather than the victim, which resulted in him being hit in the face and wrestled to the ground.

Only after the witness clarified the situation did police arrest the Palestinian, who appeared to be known to them for drug and violence offenses. Authorities claim the attacker was under the influence of drugs at the time of the assault and was sent to a psychiatric clinic.

Upon learning about the incident, Bonn police chief Ursula Brohl-Sowa apologized personally to the professor:

"A terrible and regrettable misunderstanding in the field, for which I have expressly apologized to the professor concerned. We will examine exactly how this situation came about and do everything possible to avoid such misunderstandings in the future,” she said in a statement.

In an interview with a local newspaper, German Anti-Semitism Commissioner Felix Klein stated that it was essential to probe the attack as quickly as possible.

"We must show that any and every form of anti-Semitism in Germany will be punished immediately,” he said, with the outlet adding that the official was "deeply disgusted” by the attack.

Sputnik