Incident on the Berlin Train

Last night I went with "A-" and "K" to the orthodox synagogue in Berlin. We went for Friday night prayers. The service itself was nice. I have discovered that there are about 6 synagogues in Berlin. Five are connected to the community, and one is independent. There is an antiquated (read: pre-war) religious system here where the Jewish community desires central control or something.

On the way we got in to an altercation on the train. It started not-so-innocently where this guy was staring at us on the train. "A-" was wearing a large Kippah, and the guy was showing a little too much interest in it. His looks were also a bit on the "I hate you" side. On his way off the train, we were still sitting down and "A-" had his back to a glass paprtition near the door which this guy was about to exist from. The guy then leans over and looks intently at "A-"'s kippah through the glass divider. Then the train stops and he exists.

"A-" was looking out the window at the guy leaving, and apparently they got in to a staring match, at which point "A-" starts giving the guy a really dirty look and then makes a mildly obscene kissing gesture.

The guy then comes back on to the train and walks over to us and starts saying something incomprehensible in German. Then he informs us, in German that he is a Palestinian, and gives "A-" the finger, at which point the door closes and the guy had missed his stop. He then resumes his position behind the glass divider which he spits at, and then stares at it for a while, looking like it did not really make him feel any better.

Me and "A-" and "K" are then chatting in a mixture of English and Hebrew ostensibly ignoring the quy while he then stood for two uncomfortable minutes waiting for the train to reach the next stop where he got off, and "A-" called him a "sharmuta". We got off two stops later at the Zoologische Gardens.