By Yanki Farber
A French Jewish citizen was violently attacked this past weekend in front of his 6- and 12-year-old children during a stop at a rest area along a highway in Italy. The father filed a police report and later told local media that the officer who took his statement responded with, “Tell Benjamin Netanyahu to stop bombing Gaza.”
The incident occurred when the father stopped with his children at a highway rest area. He told the French channel CNEWS that around 20 people surrounded him, cursed, and shouted slogans such as “Free Palestine” and “Murderer.” The father recorded the confrontation on his mobile phone, but shortly after, he said, he was physically assaulted in front of his younger son.
Following a heated exchange about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, several individuals physically attacked him in front of his 6-year-old. “I was trampled. They kicked me in the legs and stomach. I got up quickly, and another man—quite muscular—took the opportunity to pin me against the wall and tried to hit me. That’s when I realized I no longer saw my son,” the victim testified to the news channel.
When he later filed a complaint at the local police station, the officer’s reaction shocked him. “He allowed himself to say to me: ‘We need you to tell Benjamin Netanyahu to stop bombing Gaza.’ I didn’t really see the connection,” the father recounted. “When we asked the officer to review the restaurant’s security footage, he said he needed to ask permission, and if the restaurant refused, he wouldn’t be able to obtain it.”
The victim is still in shock over the attack. “These attackers act and react only when they’re in a group—never alone. I’ve never been assaulted face-to-face before,” he concluded.
