Security in Milan, Italy, is being increased since a visibly Jewish man was stabbed near a kosher restaurant on Thursday. Authorities are concerned about rising anti-Semitism.
Italy has bumped up security at Jewish sites in Milan after an Orthodox man was stabbed multiple times near a kosher restaurant in the city on Thursday, Israeli Army Radio reported.
Milan’s security committee decided after the attack to raise security to its highest levels around Jewish and Israeli sites that could become targets, reported ABC news.
The victim was identified by the Milan Jewish community as a 40-year-old Israeli man named Nathan Graff. An unknown assailant stabbed him seven times near a kosher Pizza place.
His most serious wound was a slash across the face, but he was apparently being treated for only light wounds. According to ABC news, Milan’s Jewish community said it hoped the attack was an isolated episode.
Italy has yet to announce the arrest of any suspect.
Jewish human rights group, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, meanwhile said the attack had signaled the arrival of the recent spate of stabbing attacks across Israel and on the European continent.
“The so-called ‘Intifada of Knives’ has arrived to Italy in yesterday’s attack on a Jewish man outside a kosher restaurant in Milan,” said Dr. Shimon Samuels, SWC’s director for international relations, in a letter to Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano.
He called on Italy to deploy military personnel to all Jewish synagogues, schools and other centers, similar to how France secured Jewish sites after January’s vicious attack against a Kosher supermarket in Paris.
“As we have seen in the Charlie Hebdo and Jewish supermarket incidents in Paris, though Jews may be the primary victim, the terrorist’s strategic target is democracy itself,” said Samuels, calling on Muslim leaders to condemn antisemitism, especially in the wake of the stabbing attacks convulsing Israel.
By: The Algemeiner