German foreign minister condemns attack on Israeli reporter in Berlin

Antonia Yamin was filming a report on Brexit for Israeli public broadcaster KAN.

NOVEMBER 26, 2018 18:30

Updated: NOVEMBER 28, 2018 07:16

Supporters of the Anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany (AfD) hold German flags during a protest in Berlin, Germany May 27, 2018 (photo credit: REUTERS/HANNIBAL HANSCHKE) — Supporters of the Anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany (AfD) hold German flags during a protest in Berlin, Germany May 27, 2018

(photo credit: REUTERS/HANNIBAL HANSCHKE)

Germany's Foreign Minister Heiko Maas condemned a Sunday attack against a reporter for the Israeli public broadcaster KAN in Berlin.

"The assault against journalist Antonia Yamin is not acceptable," Maas wrote on Twitter Tuesday. "That an Israeli reporter cannot report undisturbed in Hebrew from some places must not be allowed. In Germany, journalists must be able to work safely - in no matter what language."

Antonia Yamin, the Europe correspondent for KAN, was speaking to the camera in Hebrew in the Neukölln neighborhood of Berlin when a rowdy group of four teenagers passed by. At first they attempted to disrupt her broadcast, shouting and blocking the camera. Yamin paused and asked the group to move along. The video then shows her running after one of the men who threw a firecracker at her and her cameraman. The firecracker is then seen burning on the sidewalk.

האמת שבסך הכל עבר עלי יום נחמד בעבודה. היו לי כמה מרואיינים מדהימים שאני כבר ממש משתוקקת שתראו בסדרת כתבות שתעלה בקרוב. בין מרואיין אחד לשני הייתי צריכה לעצור לרגע כדי לדווח על הסכם הברקזיט המתגבש. אבל מתברר שבשכונת נויקלן בברלין אי אפשר לדווח בעברית מבלי שיפריעו ויזרקו עליך נפץ pic.twitter.com/1TKJqora5b
— Antonia Yamin (@antonia_yamin) November 25, 2018

“The truth is I had a very nice day at work today,” Yamin tweeted on Sunday evening with a video of the incident. “But between one interview and another I had to stop to report about the Brexit deal. As you can see on the video you can’t report in Hebrew in Neukölln, Berlin without being disturbed and without people throwing firecrackers at you.”

The Neukölln neighborhood is known for having a high concentration of immigrants.

Yamin told The Jerusalem Post on Monday that she didn’t report the incident to the police.

“I had an interview afterwards and I am filming the whole week,” she wrote via a direct message. “I also don’t think that it will bring me anywhere to sit for a few hours at the police station.”

Yamin said she won’t let the incident change anything about how she will report in the future.

“Fifteen minutes after the incident I was already filming my next story,” she said, “about an Israeli drag queen who performs together with a Syrian belly dancer (a wonderful story about friendship).”