A Jewish father and his six-year-old son were attacked by a mob at a gas station near Milan on Sunday. The group shouted “Free Palestine” and called them “murderers” before pushing the man to the ground and kicking him repeatedly. This is part of a growing wave of antisemitic incidents across Europe.
The victim, a 52-year-old French Jew named Elie, said the confrontation started when a cashier noticed their kippahs and yelled “Free Palestine.” Elie recorded the incident on video, which shows several people hurling insults like, “Go back to your country, murderers,” “This isn’t Gaza, this is Milan,” and “You’ll end up in hell sooner or later.”
As Elie and his son tried to reach the restroom, more people joined in the verbal abuse. At least three individuals began shoving him, apparently trying to force him out of the rest area.
“I fell to the ground, and they took advantage like animals, kicking me in the stomach,” Elie told Il Corriere della Sera. “One of them tried to pull me up and aimed a punch at my face, but I blocked it. In the chaos, I saw my son—thankfully, a woman had taken him aside and was keeping him safe in a corner.”
He started shouting for the police, and only then did the attackers stop and leave. Authorities have opened an investigation, and the attack has been condemned by politicians and Jewish groups.
Noemi Di Segni, president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, said: “If simply being visibly Jewish is enough to provoke such violence—if a family can’t move safely in public—then hatred and antisemitism have become widespread. This threatens everyone’s freedom. Respect and dignity for all are the only things that protect us.”
Elie added: “Given the rising hatred toward Jews in Europe, I expected something like this. But I never thought it would happen to me, especially not in Italy, which I always saw as a tolerant, safe country. These incidents are becoming more frequent.”
A May report by the Anti-Defamation League found antisemitic incidents have surged in countries with large Jewish populations outside Israel. Attacks on Jewish schools, synagogues, businesses, and individuals have increased sharply—in some cases more than doubling in 2023 compared to the previous year.
Germany saw a 75% rise in antisemitic incidents from 2021 to 2023, France 185%, and the UK 82%.
In a separate incident, an Israeli tourist in Greece had part of his ear torn off in an attack. He told Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 that the altercation began when a man filmed him while chanting, “Free Palestine, fuck Israel, I am Hamas.” The tourist was later arrested over alleged racist remarks he made to his attacker.
On July 22, a cruise ship with 1,600 Israeli passengers was rerouted to Cyprus after being denied entry to the Greek island of Syros due to protests over the Gaza war.Passengers on the Crown Iris cruise ship were unable to leave the vessel due to safety concerns after over 300 protesters on the Greek island made it clear they weren’t welcome. The demonstration was in response to Israel’s actions in the Gaza war and its treatment of Palestinians.
Marina Rosenberg, a senior official at the Anti-Defamation League, said many Jewish people worldwide are hiding symbols of their faith, like the Star of David, due to harassment simply for being Jewish.
In Germany, prosecutors recently charged a Syrian man with terrorism for stabbing a Spanish tourist at Berlin’s Holocaust memorial in February. Authorities say the attack was meant to show support for Islamic State.
Meanwhile, in France, police shot and killed an Algerian man in May 2024 after he set fire to a synagogue in Rouen and threatened officers with a knife.
