Israelis attacked, called ‘dirty Arabs,’ in Dresden

Two Israeli students have been attacked in the German city of Dresden, after apparently being mistaken for Arab refugees, Israel’s Channel 10 News reports.

A group of six attackers called the two “dirty Arabs,” according to the report. The pair managed to escape and the extent of their injuries was not immediately known.

Dresden has been at the center of simmering anti-migrant anger in Germany.

On Saturday, thousands of far-right protesters from the xenophobic German PEGIDA group took to the city’s streets chanting “Merkel out” and waving placards with slogans like “Rapefugees not welcome,” venting their fury Saturday against migrants after mass sexual assaults on New Year’s Eve.

Amid clashes with police, the far-right protesters took aim at Chancellor Angela Merkel, accusing her of allowing migrants to run amok through her liberal stance towards those fleeing war.

Tensions escalated when followers of the movement — about half of them violence-prone hooligans, according to police — marched and hurled beer bottles and fire crackers at police, screaming “Where were you on New Year’s Eve?”

Riot police beat back the agitated protesters with batons, teargas and water cannon in clashes that left three police and one journalist injured and in which police detained multiple demonstrators.

— with AFP