Four Jews injured in brawl with locals in Uman, Ukraine

Group attacked by gang of 30 men, some armed with clubs, after dispute between Jewish person and local resident

By Cnaan Liphshiz 12 January 2020, 6:22 pm

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Cnaan Liphshiz was a Jewish World reporter at The Times of Israel

Hasidic pilgrims praying near the burial site of Rebbe Nahman of Bratslav in Uman, Ukraine, September 14, 2015. (Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images via JTA)

JTA — Four Jews were lightly injured in the Ukrainian city of Uman in a violent altercation with a group of non-Jewish locals.

The incident happened Friday night, JewishNews.com.ua reported Sunday.

Violence broke out between the four Jews and as many as 30 men, some of them wielding clubs, the report said. The incident began as a dispute between a Jewish person and a non-Jewish local. Both parties called on friends and a brawl ensued, according to the report.

Police were called and arrived at the scene. The report did not say whether they had made any arrests.

About 40,000 Jews from Israel and beyond arrive in Uman each year in the autumn for the Jewish New Year. They gather there because it is the burial place of Rabbi Nahman, an 18th-century luminary and founder of the Bratzlav Hasidic movement.

Uman also has a permanent Jewish population of several hundred people, almost all from Israel.

Friction between the non-Jewish population of Uman and the Jewish locals and tourists have resulted in multiple cases of violence, some of them anti-Semitic.