A kosher bakery in Rome’s Jewish quarter was defaced with vile antisemitic graffiti amid a nationwide rise in anti-Jewish violence.
Rome’s Jewish Community Reeling After Antisemitic Graffiti Attack
A kosher bakery in Rome’s Viale Marconi neighborhood was defaced overnight with a hate-filled message reading:
“Dirty Jews, may you all burn.”
According to Corriere della Sera, employees arriving Sunday morning to open the bakery on Via Avicenna discovered the slur scrawled across the metal shutter — a chilling echo of the antisemitic propaganda of fascist-era Italy.
The Rome police’s hate crime division has opened an investigation, and the city’s Jewish community condemned the act as “a cowardly expression of the growing climate of antisemitism in Italy.”
“This is not just graffiti — it’s terror,” said a community spokesperson. “Jews in Italy are living under siege once again.”
Wave of Antisemitic Incidents Across Italy
The attack comes amid an alarming surge of antisemitic incidents following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel and the subsequent Gaza war.
Earlier this month, Chabad Hassid and professional photographer Haim Tuito was targeted in Venice while vacationing with his family. A passerby shouted “Free Palestine!” and hurled verbal abuse at the visibly Jewish family.
In August, an Orthodox Jewish couple from the United States was violently assaulted in Venice. The pregnant woman and her husband were doused with water, spat on, and attacked with a dog unleashed by three men. The man narrowly avoided injury when the animal’s teeth struck a mobile phone in his pocket instead of his leg.
In May, an Israeli couple in Naples was expelled from a restaurant after the owner declared, “You’re Israelis — you’re not welcome here.” The expulsion was filmed and went viral on social media, sparking outrage across Italy and abroad.
Authorities Under Fire for Weak Response
Jewish leaders across Italy have accused authorities of failing to adequately confront the explosion of antisemitic hate, much of it tied to anti-Israel sentiment on university campuses and social media.
Rome’s Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni said the graffiti reflects a dangerous normalization of hatred:
“The line between anti-Zionism and antisemitism has been completely erased. Italian Jews are once again being targeted for Israel’s right to exist.”
Italian Interior Ministry data shows antisemitic incidents have tripled since late 2023 — ranging from vandalism and verbal harassment to violent assaults.
Analysis: From Rhetoric to Violence
The escalation underscores a disturbing European trend where anti-Israel demonstrations have morphed into direct attacks on Jews.
Analysts warn that Italy, home to one of Europe’s oldest Jewish communities, is seeing a reawakening of old hatreds under the guise of “political activism.”
“When people shout ‘Free Palestine’ and follow it by spitting on Jews, it’s no longer politics — it’s persecution,” noted an editorial in La Repubblica.
