Amsterdam woman injured in second assault over Israeli flag

(JTA) — A woman was assaulted for displaying an Israeli flag from her balcony in Amsterdam, in the second such incident reported this week.

Seraphina Verhofstadt suffered a concussion, fractured ribs and contusions to her face in an attack Tuesday on the street in eastern Amsterdam by men who called her “bloody Jew,” the AT5 television channel reported Thursday. They also threw a burning stick at her and hit her in her stomach. AT5 reported Verhofstadt is Jewish.

Verhofstadt sprayed her attackers with red paint from a can that she began carrying with her because she had received threats in the past by young men who said they would slit her throat.

Police, who are looking for witnesses to the attack, have been stationed outside her home to protect her, AT5 reported. Police asked the witnesses to report the whereabouts of suspects who were seen in the area with red paint on their clothes of faces.

On Wednesday, Het Parool daily reported that unidentified individuals hurled a firebomb at the balcony of another woman who displayed an Israeli flag. She also received death threats and her housing association, which owns her apartment, demanded she and a neighbor who displayed a Palestinian flag remove both for fear of vandalism.

The housing association, Rochdale, later apologized for the demand, which had no legal or contractual basis.

In The Hague, police on Thursday arrested two people on suspicion they incited to commit violence against Jews at a demonstration earlier this month against Israel and its offensive in Gaza against Hamas.

Police are also looking for a driving instructor from The Hague who posted on Facebook a video of himself firing a weapon and threatening to kill Zionists, RTL news reported.

The Omroep West broadcaster identified the man as Sait C. and reported he posted the video on the Facebook page of his driving school.