JTA — The mayor of Venice has condemned an alleged assault on American Orthodox Jews who mentioned they had been focused by a bunch that shouted “free Palestine” after which proceeded to slap them.
The American couple, who had been reportedly carrying conventional Orthodox clothes, had been strolling by Venice on Sunday night time when the incident came about, in keeping with Italian information company AGI.
Three of the assailants, who had been believed to be of North African origin, had been apprehended, with two receiving expulsion orders and a 3rd being deported, in keeping with AGI.
“Venice is and should proceed to be an open, welcoming and secure metropolis, the place mutual respect types the muse of civil coexistence. The aggression suffered by two Americans of Jewish religion is a critical and unacceptable act, which I condemn with the utmost firmness,” Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro mentioned in a publish on X.
The incident additionally drew condemnation from the Jewish Group of Venice. Town is residence to one of many oldest Jewish ghettos in Europe, and at present has a Jewish inhabitants of round 450.
“Reiterating its condemnation of this vile and ignoble act, the Jewish neighborhood emphasizes that episodes like these actually elevate questions on Venice’s function as a welcoming metropolis, whereas a local weather of intolerance is rising that immediately impacts the whole Venetian neighborhood,” the assertion learn.
The incident follows another report of a Jewish couple being attacked in Venice final month, during which a person and his pregnant spouse had been strolling close to town middle when three males started harassing them, calling the husband a “soiled Jew” and throwing water and spitting on them.
Illustrative: Gondoliers take vacationers by the Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs), in Venice, Italy, on June 17, 2021. (AP Photograph/Luca Bruno)
One of many assailants later set his canine on the couple, nevertheless it bit right into a cellular phone within the man’s pocket, in keeping with Venice newspaper Il Gazzettino.
The Venice incidents add to a spate of alleged antisemitic assaults throughout Europe in latest months, many however not all apparently motivated by opposition to Israel’s army marketing campaign in Gaza. Among the many many to generate headlines:
- An Israeli cellist mentioned he was asked to leave a restaurant in Austria after he was overheard talking Hebrew.
- Dozens of French Jewish summer time campers had been removed from a airplane in Spain for allegedly partaking in “extremely disruptive habits,” which they mentioned concerned singing in Hebrew. (Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente referred to the youngsters as “Israeli brats” on X in a publish he later deleted.)
- Close to Milan in July, a Jewish father touring along with his 6-year-old son was instructed to “return to your nation, murderers” earlier than being pushed to the floor and repeatedly kicked, in keeping with video of the incident. It was unclear what precipitated the confrontation. “The antisemitic state of affairs is turning into unmanageable,” a neighborhood politician mentioned on the time.
- The autos of Orthodox Jewish vacationers from England had been spray-painted with “Free Palestine” graffiti at a relaxation cease within the Alps.
The girl who was arrested and crushed is the director of the Kinneret summer time camp.
Fifty Jewish French kids, aged 10 – 15, had been singing Hebrew songs on the airplane.
The @vueling airline crew mentioned that Israel is a terrorist state and compelled the youngsters off the plane; they… https://t.co/V78PEHB58B pic.twitter.com/HizF6SZoaD
— עמיחי שיקלי – Amichai Chikli (@AmichaiChikli) July 23, 2025
In some alleged incidents, the circumstances of the conflicts weren’t clear. Nonetheless, the dizzying tempo of experiences of harassment and assaults has reportedly sparked some Israelis to rethink their journey plans.
A recent study by the Israel Democracy Institute discovered that three quarters of Jewish Israelis and practically two thirds of Arab Israelis who had plans to journey mentioned their plans had been affected by experiences of rising antisemitism and assaults on Israelis overseas. The speed was even greater for religiously observant Jews — these extra more likely to put on a kippah or in any other case be identifiable as Jews.
