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Jewish tourist wearing kippah attacked twice in two days in Rome
Police are hunting three more suspects after the 22-year-old Frenchman was pepper-sprayed and kicked in separate attacks
A Jewish tourist wearing a kippah was attacked on two consecutive nights in central Rome, with “Free Palestine” allegedly shouted during both incidents.
Italian police have arrested a 31-year-old Algerian man suspected of involvement in the attacks on the 22-year-old French tourist, which took place just hundreds of metres apart on 7 and 8 August.
According to the victim’s complaint, he was walking through Piazza Cairoli at around 8pm on Friday when a man sprayed him in the face with pepper spray and shouted “Free Palestine”.
The following evening, the tourist said he was surrounded by four people at Largo di Torre Argentina, around 300 metres away, and kicked.
He told police that “Free Palestine” was again shouted and identified one of the group as the same man involved in the previous night’s attack.
Italian authorities are now trying to identify three other people suspected of taking part in the second incident.
The arrested man, described by Italian authorities as homeless and having a criminal record, is suspected of violent offences as well as offences relating to incitement to crimes motivated by racial, ethnic or religious discrimination. The allegations remain under investigation.
The attacks have prompted condemnation from senior Italian officials and Jewish leaders.
Victor Fadlun, president of Rome’s Jewish community, said: “Sadly, the hunting season for Jews has reached the streets of Rome as well.”
Italian Senate President Ignazio La Russa warned that antisemitic incidents must never become something the public grows accustomed to, while Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani expressed solidarity with the victim and Italy’s Jewish community.
Israel’s ambassador to Italy, Jonathan Peled, said the attack shows that anti-Zionism and antisemitism were “one and the same”.
“When a person of the Jewish faith can no longer walk the streets of a city without being assaulted, it is not just the safety of a minority at stake: it is everyone’s freedom at stake,” he said.
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