Italy has been hit with a wave of anti-Semitism that has included the murder of a Jew of Romanian descent and leftists' attacks on Jews at the Turin book fair this month. Anti-Semites also burned the Israeli flag at the fair. Rome's Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni told the Times of London, "There are alarming signs of racism in Italy today."
An estimated 600,000 illegal immigrants in Italy have fanned the flames of xenophobic hatred. A 29-year-old Jew of Romanian descent was beaten into a coma by five members of a neo-Nazi gang earlier this month. He later died.