Arrest Made in Brazen Attack on Bosnian Jewish Leader
Eli Tauber Image by getty images
A man has been arrested in connection with an attack on Bosnian Jewish leader Eli Tauber.
Tauber was attacked by a man wielding a weighted chain at a cafe in central Sarajevo, in front of many witnesses. The attack, widely reported in the Bosnian media, occurred on March 21. It took place while journalists from National Geographic magazine were interviewing Tauber about the status of Jews in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The motive for the attack has not yet been determined, but it has received high-profile coverage by local media out of fear that Tauber was attacked because he is a prominent member of the Jewish community.
“If he was attacked because he is Jewish and because as such he is present in our media, just because he is doing his job, then it would be a very bad sign both for Sarajevo and for Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Jakob Finci, president of the Jewish Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina, told dalje.com.
He said it is the first such attack on a Jewish person in Sarajevo 70 years.
Tauber has asserted that the attacker, identified as Ahmet Fočak, intended to kill him.
Tauber recently established a foundation to promote Jewish culture in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is also an advocate for promoting the truth about the suffering of the residents of Sarajevo during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
