Italy’s prosecutors investigate an attack on a Jewish man and his young son as a possible hate crime

MILAN (AP) — Prosecutors in Italy are investigating an attack against a Jewish man and his young son at a highway rest area north of the city of Milan as a possible hate crime.

The incident started after someone noticed the 52-year-old French tourist and 6-year-old son were wearing a kippah, a Jewish head covering, when they stopped on Sunday evening to use the restroom about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Milan.

The Milan daily Corriere della Sera reported on Tuesday that the man filmed as people started yelling: “Free Palestine.” He fell to the ground, where he was kicked and punched, while his attackers tried to wrest his smartphone from him.

Authorities are reviewing video surveillance of the scene.

The victim told Corriere della Sera that he was en route back to Paris after dropping his older daughter and her Italian husband off in Milan when a cashier at the rest stop started yelling “Free Palestine,’’ and was quickly joined by customers who yelled “murders” and “genocide.”

The man said he was attacked after he and his son left the basement restroom. The newspaper did not identify the man, and did not describe his injuries. A female bystander defended the child, who was distraught after the incident, his father said.

The attack only stopped when the man called for police, who arrived after 10 minutes.

Daniele Nahum, a Milan city councilor, denounced the attack during a Milan city council meeting on Monday, saying “the antisemitic situation is becoming unmanageable.”

The Milan-based Antisemitism Observatory reported that antisemitic incidents in Italy nearly doubled last year to 877, from 454 in 2023.