At about 10:00 P.M. on Saturday evening, March 2, 2024, a 15-year-old assailant stabbed and seriously wounded a 50-year-old Orthodox Jew, Meir Zvi Jung, in the Selnau area of Zürich, Switzerland. The unnamed perpetrator reportedly shouted "death to the Jews" or "death to Israel" during the attack, and laughed when he was arrested at the scene.[1]
On March 3, 2024, a user of the Islamic State (ISIS)-operated Rocket.Chat server, "Smidgesrev," posted:[2] "A supporter of the Khilafa [caliphate] stabbed a Jew in Zürich, Switzerland, today Alhamdulillah [praise to Allah]." He added a link to the mediafire file-sharing website,[3] to which a four-minute video was uploaded showing the attacker swearing allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Hafs Al-Hashemi Al-Qurashi, declaring the attack was perpetrated in response to ISIS spokesman Abu Hudhayfah Al-Ansari's call to target Jews and Christians,[4] and calling on others to follow his example and attack Jews and Christians.
The video was uploaded to the site from Switzerland at 2:11 P.M., several hours before the stabbing. Noting that "kuffar [infidel] news sources" reported the attack, the user posted a screenshot of an article by the Jerusalem Post. He did not specify how he had received the video or discovered its location.
To view the video, click below:
Swearing Allegiance To ISIS Caliph, Responding To Call To Attack Jews And Christians
The video, which appears to have been filmed with a cellphone, shows a teenage boy wearing a coat over a sweatshirt, reciting the Arabic text of the bay'ah [oath of allegiance] to the current ISIS leader. The youth appears to be standing outside in daylight and reading his message from a written source. The video appears to have been cut in several places.
Identifying himself as Ahmad Al-Dhabbah,[5] "soldier of the caliphate," he declares he is responding to ISIS' call to its fighters and supporters to "target the Jews and Christians and their criminal allies." He states that the attack will begin by "storming a Jewish synagogue and attempting to kill and harm as many Jews as possible," then leaving and "trying to behead any unbelievers outside."
Call To Muslims To Target Jews And Christians Everywhere
Addressing his first message to "the common Muslims," the attacker states: "You have seen what the Jews and crusaders have done to the Muslims in their homelands, and also how they installed proxies from the apostates and Rafidites [a pejorative term for Shi'ites]. Take up knives that cut, gunshots that split, bombs that burn, and rammings with buses and trucks. Go after the Jews and Christians, and their allies from the Rafidites and apostates. Have no mercy on them, like they have no mercy on our brothers."
In his second message, he states: "As for one who believes that waging war on the Jews can only be in Palestine, he is mistaken, for the Jews are found in many areas in Asia, Europe, and Africa. So go after them, o monotheist. Go after their allies from the Christians and apostates, the men of the police and the armies. These borders of Palestine were drawn by the crusaders for you, so that you would be shackled by them. Waging war on the Jews [can be done] on every land and under every sky."
The third message is addressed to the Swiss government: "Do you claim neutrality …? Why do you participate in the war against the Islamic State with the crusader Coalition? Today you will pay the price of your actions, and the Jews will also pay the price of their deeds."
Call For "Apostate" Muslims To "Repent"
Addressing "the apostates everywhere, especially my parents and uncles" in his fourth message, the attacker declares: "You have sold your religion to the apostates and you have elected taghouts [un-Islamic rulers] and apostate parties, like the apostate [Muslim] Brotherhood and others. So repent to Allah by … disavowing the deed, not returning to it, and regretting it, or else you will enter the fire of Hell and remain in it for eternity."
The youth concludes his message by quoting Quran 9:111: "Allah has indeed purchased from the believers their lives and wealth in exchange for Paradise. They fight in the cause of Allah and kill or are killed. This is a true promise binding on Him in the Torah, the Gospel, and the Quran. And whose promise is truer than Allah's? So rejoice in the exchange you have made with Him. That is the ultimate triumph."
It should be noted that ISIS has not claimed responsibility for the Zürich attack. In October 2023, ISIS claimed that the perpetrator of a shooting in Brussels, which killed two Swedes and injured a third, was acting on its behalf, in the first attack the organization claimed in Europe since the November 2020 Vienna shootings, which killed four and wounded 23.[6]
[1] Jpost.com, March 3, 2024; Timesofisrael.com, March 3, 2024.
[2] March 3, 2024.
[3] Mediafire.com, accessed March 3, 2024.
[4] See MEMRI JTTM Report: Islamic State (ISIS) Spokesman Instructs Muslims To Renew Lone Wolf Attacks In U.S., Europe, In Support Of Gaza; Discredits Palestinian Factions For Their Alliance With Iran, Calls On Arabs To Rebel Against Their Rulers, January 4, 2024.
[5] Al-Dhabbah, a common Arabic surname, literally means "the butcher" or "the slaughterer." It is unclear if this is the attacker's real name or a pseudonym.
[6] See MEMRI JTTM Report: Islamic State (ISIS) Claims Brussels Shooting Of Swedes As Attack On Citizens Of 'Crusader Coalition,' Threatens More, October 18, 2023.