A serious antisemitic incident occurred in recent days in Spain when seven Jewish tourists from France came under attack at the Barcelona port area by a mob of hundreds of people who harassed and threatened them, Ynet reported.

One of the Jews, Jimmy Zagrone, told a French television network that for 40 minutes, he and six other Jews were subject to slurs, spitting, and humiliation, and even feared for their lives.

Zagrone added that he and several others were wearing yarmulkes when the incident occurred, and one member of the group was a Chabad chassid who was wearing a long black coat and a black yarmulke.

He explained that the incident began when a woman wearing pro-Palestinian symbols noticed them and began clapping and shouting at them. She was soon joined by hundreds of others who gathered around the Jews, shouting and spitting at them. The chants began with “Free Palestine” but quickly became more antisemitic and threatening, including “baby killers,” “Jews are not welcome here,” and “Zionists are not welcome here.” They later shouted “Death to Israel” and chanted against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

Zagron said that in a desperate attempt to calm the situation, he tried to explain to the attackers that he was a French citizen with no connection to Israel, but his words had no effect and the shouting and spitting continued.

As the mood of the crowd became increasingly threatening, the group understood that their lives were in danger and decided to split up to avoid being surrounded. Baruch Hashem, all seven escaped the crowd and managed to return safely to their hotel.

It should be noted that a similar antisemitic incident occurred to a group of French Jewish tourists in Barcelona just last month.  The disturbing incident occurred on Friday night as the group left a shul. Two members of the group were wearing yarmulkes, and they were quickly surrounded, insulted, and spat upon by a large mob utilizing bicycles, scooters, and motorbikes.

The assailants chanted phrases such as “Jews are not welcome in Barcelona” and “baby killers” as they chased the Jews through the streets of Barcelona while continuing to spit at them.  The tourists escaped physical harm only after reaching a local hotel where security personnel blocked the crowd from entering.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)