'Hundreds shouted death to Jews - we feared we would be murdered': French Jew reveals shocking anti-Semitic incident
Jimmy Zagron, a 41-year-old French Jew from Paris, recounted to CNEWS an anti-Semitic incident he experienced with six friends in Barcelona on the night of July 3. For about 40 minutes, hundreds of people surrounded them, spat on them, and shouted anti-Semitic slurs, including 'death to Jews' and 'we are going to kill Jews'. The group fled to a hotel. Zagron filed a complaint in France.
Jimmy Zagron, a 41-year-old French Jew from Paris, recounted today (Sunday) in an interview with the French news channel CNEWS a shocking anti-Semitic incident he experienced with six of his friends in Barcelona on the night of July 3. According to him, for about 40 minutes, hundreds of people surrounded them, spat on them, shouted anti-Semitic curses, and made them fear for their lives. "For 40 minutes, hundreds of people humiliated us and spat on us," Zagron said in a trembling voice. "Around us was a huge crowd. We feared we would be murdered. It was very frightening." The incident began when the group was passing through the port area of Barcelona after leaving a synagogue. A woman with prominent pro-Palestinian symbols began shouting 'Free Palestine' at them, and within minutes dozens and then hundreds of people joined her. The chants turned openly anti-Semitic: 'baby killers', 'Jews are not wanted here', 'Zionists are not wanted here', 'death to Israel', and chants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Some even shouted 'we are going to kill Jews'. Zagron, who wore a kippah, tried to calm things down and explained that he was French, not Israeli, but to no avail. One of the group was a Chabad Hasid in traditional Jewish dress, making him a prominent target. The group split up to avoid being surrounded and fled to a hotel as the mob chased them to the entrance. The incident adds to a wave of severe anti-Semitic cases in Spain since October 7. The Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain defined the case as one of the most severe recorded in the city in recent years. Zagron filed a complaint in France, and Spanish authorities are investigating the matter.