A 39-year-old Jewish woman was almost "lynched" in an antisemitic attack in Christiania, Copenhagen, last week, Danish outlet BT first reported on Wednesday.
The woman told BT that she was driving her moped through the Danish capital on Friday, wearing an Israeli flag, when she was confronted by a man dressed in black.
According to the woman, the man asked her if she was Jewish, to which she replied yes.
He reportedly replied: "Are you proud of that?" When the woman responded again with yes, the man spat on her and called her a 'child murderer'," she told BT.
The woman straight away called the police. However, in the meantime, another man appeared and ordered that she throw her Israeli flag away.
"Before I could even get answers from the police, things escalated further," the woman recalled.
"Suddenly, a group of men rushed towards me. A strong man with a Middle Eastern appearance shouted at me to take off the flag immediately," she added.
When she refused, the men began to tear the flag apart. "There were at least 50 people watching, and when I screamed for help, one of the men smiled mockingly and said, 'Nobody will help you here.' Then he grabbed me by the throat and started choking me with his hands," the woman told BT.
"One of them pulled the flag over my head so I couldn't see what was happening. I kept shouting for help, but no one intervened. Then they started dragging me off the asphalt."
At this point, the woman said that one of the men found a knife and cut off her jacket. She then called the police again, while the group of men surrounded her and taunted her as she was crying, "calling her a Jewish whore," she said.
"When I finally got through to the police, the policeman didn't ask if I was okay. Instead, he asked me why I was carrying an Israeli flag in an area like Christiania. I felt completely abandoned. I had to beg and convince him that I was in extreme danger. Finally, he agreed to send two female officers," she added.
Nevertheless, the woman told BT that she "always carries the [Israeli] flag. I am not ashamed to stand up for our people."
Copenhagen Police confirmed to BT that they received a report late Friday afternoon that a woman carrying an Israeli flag had been attacked in Christiania and that the case is now being investigated.
The woman was left with scratches and hematomas over her body, according to a discharge note from the emergency room seen by BT.
Experiences of antisemitism
The woman also gave an interview with Israel Hayom in which she said that she proudly displays her Jewishness at all times. She hung an Israeli flag on her balcony and also wears her Star of David at work as a nurse.
She told Israel Hayom, "The patients notice it immediately, sometimes I see their faces contort, but this is my identity, and I don't intend to hide it."
However, the antisemitic responses to her proud display have recently worsened. "People look at me differently," she told Israel Hayom. "A week ago, someone called me a 'Zionist s**t.' Others refused to talk to me because I'm Jewish. I could live with that – as long as it didn't turn into physical violence."
This attack was her first experience of violence. "They broke my phone and tried to tear up the flag. I almost got lynched. I was afraid they would burn it, so I held on to it with all my strength," she told Israel Hayom.
"They shouted 'Free Palestine' at me. They shouted 'Allahu Akbar.' It was so humiliating."
Michael Bjorn, member of the Danish Parliament for the Danish People's Party, tweeted "a Jewish woman is brutally attacked in Christiania by a group of men with a Middle Eastern background. Spit on, called a “child murderer”, choked and dragged along the ground while 50 people watch and laugh. No one helps. Is this the import of hatred we want to accept in Denmark?"
Joanna Bywater of the Liberal Alliance condemned the attack: "Dear brave woman, You did what few dare, but many dream of, to openly show who you are. The consequences of your trip to Christiania are deeply reprehensible."
The Jerusalem Post reached out to the victim for comment.