A 52-year-old French Jewish man, identified only as Elie, was violently attacked alongside his six-year-old son at a service station near Milan on Sunday after a cashier allegedly shouted “Free Palestine” upon noticing they were wearing kippahs. The incident is part of a rising wave of antisemitic violence across Europe, reports The Guardian.
Elie told Il Corriere della Sera that the confrontation began when a group of customers joined the cashier in shouting abuse, including “Go back to your country, murderers,” and “You’ll end up in hell sooner or later.” As father and son made their way to the restroom, several individuals pushed him. “I ended up on the ground, and they took advantage of that like animals, kicking me in the stomach,” Elie said. He added that a woman in the service station moved his son to safety as the attack unfolded. “I started shouting ‘Police! Police! Police!’ and only then did they stop and go back upstairs,” he recounted.
The attack, which Elie filmed, has been condemned by politicians and Jewish organisations. Noemi Di Segni, 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.”
Elie reflected on the climate of antisemitism in Europe: “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.”
The incident comes amid an alarming rise in antisemitic violence. According to the Anti-Defamation League’s J7 task force, incidents have more than doubled in some countries since 2022, with increases of 185% in France, 82% in the UK, and 75% in Germany. Recent attacks include the brutal assault of an Israeli tourist in Greece, a synagogue arson attempt in Rouen, France, and a stabbing at Berlin’s Holocaust memorial, which German authorities have linked to Islamic State sympathies.
Marina Rosenberg, the ADL’s senior vice-president of international affairs, said: “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.”
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