(JTA) — A 24-year-old man who was convicted of attacking the grandson of a Munich massacre victim over a year ago in Berlin was sentenced to three years in prison on Thursday.
The sentence, which was higher than what prosecutors sought, came after the judge determined that the assault was motivated by antisemitism, according to the German news agency DPA.
The case drew close attention in Israel because the victim, Lahav Shapira, 30, is the grandson of Amitzur Shapira, an Israeli athletics coach who was murdered by Palestinian terrorists in the Munich Olympics terror attack in 1972. Shapira moved to Germany from Israel with his mother and brother Shahak Shapira, a prominent comedian and writer, as a child.
“He was full of hate,” Shapira’s mother, Tzipi Lev, told Ynet about her son’s attacker, whom German police identified as Mustafa S. “We won’t be silent about this. We already have a bloody history here, but I’m not afraid. I raised my sons to be proud of their Judaism and their Israeli identity. If we start to fear, we lose our right to exist.”
The attack occurred in February 2024, amid heightened tensions at the Free University of Berlin, where both men were students, over the Israel-Hamas war. Police reports at the time said that the younger man assaulted Shapira after the pair argued, while Shapira said there had been no precipitating incident. He suffered severe facial fractures, a brain hemorrhage and significant eye damage in the assault.
Testimony during the trial showed that Mustafa confronted Shapira outside of a bar for allegedly tearing down pro-Palestinian posters, according to Ynet’s report, which said the two had known each other from a teacher training program, and Mustafa had previously accused Shapira of treating him unfairly for removing members of a WhatsApp group who shared antisemitic content.
Key evidence
Key evidence determining the antisemitic nature of the attack was found in a video on Mustafa’s phone where a friend is heard saying, “Mosti beat the shit out of that Jewish son of a bitch,” according to Ynet’s report.
Mustafa apologized to Shapira shortly before the verdict, saying, “I am sorry to have caused you pain,” according to DPA.
Shahak Shapira suffered an assault in 2015 when several Arab men beat him on a Berlin train after he objected to them singing anti-Israel and antisemitic chants. He has championed for justice for his younger brother on social media, and called on the Free University in Berlin to be held to account.
“The court declared the antisemitic motive proven beyond doubt. It’s a huge relief for us,” Shahak Shapira wrote on Instagram.” We’re not done yet. The university who put Jewish students in danger, hateful organizations like Jewish Voice for Peace and Young Struggle who dehumanize and put a target on Jewish individuals, all the students who doxed their fellow students and called for violence upon them — I hope they will all get the what they deserve. We will try.”