AMSTERDAM (JTA) — A Jewish father and son were stabbed at an iconic street marketplace in Amsterdam by an Egypt-born seller whom they and others said was a radicalized Muslim.
Martin Colmans, the father, and son Sharon sustained light to moderate injuries in the attack Saturday at the Albert Cuyp market, where the Colmans family has been selling furniture for decades. Sharon Colmans, whose mother is from Israel, was injured in his back, chest and arm, and suffered serious blood loss. Both have been released from the hospital.
A police spokesperson told De Telegraaf that they have no comment about the assailant’s alleged motives.
Known locally as Tarik, the alleged stabber has been selling hookahs and other smoking paraphernalia adjacent to the Colmans’ furniture shop since 2004. The stabber, who has not been named in the Dutch media, is under arrest awaiting an indictment.
Martin Colmans told De Telegraaf that the suspect had been away for several months, and that when he returned his behavior had changed. He said Tarik was “reading the Koran a lot, stopped talking to us. Shaved his head. Prayed all the time. He also began giving us nasty looks.”
He had threatened a fellow seller, a Moroccan man who is not Jewish, with a knife recently, sellers told De Telegraaf of Tarik.
Asked whether he believes the assault was an anti-Semitic incident, Colmans told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, “I don’t know, but he behaved very strangely to us in recent weeks.” Colmans also said he was “happy that we are alive” because Tarik seemed determined to kill them.
Tarik used a large knife in a stabbing that was filmed by passers-by. Fellow sellers, two men from Morocco, prevented him from inflicting further injuries. Tarik went back into his store, where police took him into custody, according to De Telegraaf.
He had had several disputes with fellow sellers, including the Colmans, before the incident, according to De Telegraaf. Tarik and the Colmans made up with help from market bosses and were back on speaking terms when the attack happened, Colmans said.
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