A local businessman in the western Uruguay border town of Paysande was stabbed to death Tuesday by a convicted criminal who yelled “Allahu Akbar!” as he wielded the knife.
David Fremd, 54, was active in his local Jewish community and served as the representative to the Uruguayan national Jewish umbrella organization.
His attacker stabbed him repeatedly – 15 times – but as all radical Islamic terrorists, first made sure to declare his Islamic faith by praising Allah before plunging the knife into his victim.
One of Fremd’s three sons was also injured in the attack, but his wounds are not life-threatening, according to a local report.
Police arrested the suspected killer, according to the local El Pais newspaper.
The suspect confessed under questioning that his attack was a deliberate attempt to target the Jewish community, according to Sergio Gorzy, president of Uruguay’s Jewish umbrella organization, who spoke with the local Subraydo news outlet.
Approximately 20,000 Jews live in Uruguay, the first country in South America to officially recognize the reborn State of Israel. The first Israeli Embassy on the continent was opened in the capital, Montevideo, in November 1948, where most of the country’s Jews live.
The 60 Jewish organizations in Uruguay are all under the auspices of the Israelite Central Committee, according to a report by the World Jewish Congress (WJC).