In Zurich, the editorial offices of the conservative newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) became the target of a coordinated attack by left-wing extremists.
A group of masked individuals marched past the building in protest, defacing the facade with black paint and spray-painting Hamas symbols, known as “Hamas triangles,” on a roller blind.
The protesters were already actively vandalizing the building when police arrived. Described as members of the left-wing autonomous movement, the protesters were swiftly dispersed, with ten individuals aged between 19 and 74 taken into custody. While the Hamas triangle symbol, associated with the terrorist group, is banned in Germany, its use isn’t illegal in Switzerland.
When some protesters resisted the police’s intervention, officers responded with rubber bullets and irritants. The exact extent of the damage to the NZZ building remains unclear, with the newspaper reporting, “The material damage to the NZZ building has not yet been quantified.” The timeline for determining the full impact is also uncertain.
The attack has sparked significant backlash, with critics arguing that such actions threaten press freedom in Switzerland. NZZ has strongly condemned the attack, noting, “They now seem to be increasingly turning against the press.” The protesters, previously labeled as “pro-Palestinian, left-wing extremist activists,” are facing potential prosecution, though it remains to be seen whether more arrests will follow. It’s also uncertain whether NZZ will bolster security measures at their editorial offices moving forward.
