Dutch Rabbi considers appeal of dropping of charges against alleged attacker

• Published date: 26 April 2024
• Author: MICHAEL STARR
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Rabbi Aryeh Leib Heintz said that a 40-year-old suspect demanded "why are you dressed like a Jews" and hit him on the head at the Overvecht Shopping Center on March 29, but security cameras outside an Action supermarket weren't working properly

The alleged attacker claimed that he hadn't confronted the rabbi because he was Jewish, but because Heintz was looking askance at Moroccan women, which the rabbi said was "nonsense." The suspect also reportedly told investigators that he had only hit the rabbi's hat.

Heintz said that he had fled from his attacker into the supermarket, where he credited two women of Moroccan extraction for intervening and preventing further assault.

The failure to prosecute antisemitic crimes was "Unfortunately quite normal in the Netherlands, my son had such a case a few years ago," said Heintz. In his son's case they filed an article 12 appeal, and ultimately the attacker received jail time and paid for Heintz's son's broken glasses.

Anxiety about situation in Utrecht

In the meantime, Heintz said that he has continued with his work preparing for Passover, but notes anxiety about the situation in Utrecht.

"It's quite disheartening, and of course I go to the same shopping center,"...