Jewish father attacked by mob at Italian service station

The Guardian

5 days ago

A Jewish father and his six-year-old son were targeted by a mob on Sunday chanting 'Free Palestine' and 'murderers' at a service station near Milan, with the man eventually pushed to the floor and repeatedly kicked, in the latest of a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents across Europe.
According to the victim – a 52-year-old French Jew who lives in France and gave his name only as Elie– the incident began when a cashier shouted 'Free Palestine', upon noticing that he and his son were wearing kippahs.
The incident was captured on video by the father. In the video several individuals direct verbal abuse at the pair, including 'Go back to your country, murderers', 'This isn't Gaza, this is Milan, this is Italy', and 'You'll end up in hell sooner or later'.
He reported that more and more people inside the service station joined in the verbal abuse as he and his son made their way to the restroom. At least three individuals began pushing him, apparently trying to force him out of the rest area.
''I ended up on the ground, and they took advantage of that like animals, kicking me in the stomach,'' Elie told Il Corriere della Sera newspaper. ''Then one of them tried to pull me up and aimed a blow at my face, but I managed to block it. Amid the chaos of the scuffle, I caught a glimpse of my son, who – thankfully – a woman had taken aside and was holding safely in a corner.
'I started shouting 'Police! Police! Police!' he added, ''and only then did they stop and go back upstairs.'
Police have launched an investigation into the attack, which has been condemned by politicians and Jewish associations.
Commenting on the incident, Noemi Di Segni, the president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, said: 'If simply being visibly Jewish is enough to provoke such a violent attack – if a family cannot safely move through public spaces in this country – then the legitimisation of hatred and antisemitism has become viral. This is about everyone's freedom being at risk. Holding on to respect and dignity for every person is the only path that protects us all.'
Elie told Il Corriere that ''given the climate of hatred that has developed across Europe toward the Jewish community, I expected it. But I never thought it would happen to me, especially not in Italy, which I had always considered a tolerant country, a place where one could feel safe.
'These kinds of incidents are becoming more and more frequent,,' he added.
Antisemitic incidents have risen across countries with the largest Jewish communities outside Israel, according to the Anti-Defamation League's J7 taskforce report published in May.
The report states that attacks on Jewish schools, synagogues and businesses, alongside individuals, have increased significantly, in some cases more than doubling in 2023 compared with the previous year.
Antisemitic incidents increased in Germany by 75% from 2021 to 2023, 185% in France and 82% in the UK.
Sign up to This is Europe
The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment
after newsletter promotion
On Friday, an Israeli tourist had part of his ear ripped off by an attacker at a beach while on holiday in Greece and was then was arrested by police over alleged racist comments he made to his assailant, he told the Israeli news broadcaster Channel 12.
The Israeli man said the altercation started when a man started filming them and chanting: 'Free Palestine, fuck Israel, I am Hamas.'
A cruise liner carrying Israeli tourists was forced on 22 July to reroute to Cyprus after being turned away from the Greek island of Syros after a quayside protest over the Gaza war. About 1,600 Israeli passengers onboard the Crown Iris were prevented from disembarking amid safety concerns when more than 300 demonstrators on the Cycladic isle made clear they were unwelcome over Israel's conduct during the war in Gaza and its treatment of Palestinians.
Marina Rosenberg, the senior vice-president of international affairs at the Anti-Defamation League, said that because people are being harassed just for being Jewish, 'many Jews around the world are hiding their Jewish symbols', such as the Star of David.
On Tuesday federal prosecutors in Germany filed terrorism charges against a Syrian man accused of stabbing a Spanish tourist at Berlin's Holocaust memorial in February – an attack that the authorities say was intended to demonstrate allegiance to Islamic State.
In France in May 2024 police shot dead an Algerian man who had set fire to a synagogue in Rouen and threatened officers with a knife.