Vandals have defaced a mural in Italy that depicted one of the most distressing moments of Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attack, marking the latest in a series of antisemitic incidents affecting the country, The New York Post reported.
The vandalism was discovered in Milan on Monday, the anniversary of the attack, with the suspects erasing the face and legs of Vlada Patapov, a survivor of the attack. Her image had been featured in a mural in central Milan.
Patapov became a symbol of the brutality of Hamas' attack after images of her, wearing a red jacket and fleeing across the desert during Hamas’ attack on the Nova music festival, went viral.
The mural, located near Milan’s state university, was titled "October 7th, Escape," and was created by artist AleXsandro Palombo as a memorial to the horrors of the attack. Palombo condemned the vandals who "decapitated" the image, emphasizing that those spreading antisemitism in Italy are not acting in support of Palestinian Arabs.
“These extremist movements that are increasingly radicalizing our society have the sole purpose of defending terrorist belief in our Western democracy,” Palombo said, as quoted by The New York Post.
Local authorities have reported that the incident is under investigation. Meanwhile, the Antisemitism Observatory in Milan said the vandalism is part of a troubling trend which has seen a 300% surge in antisemitic incidents in Italy since the October 7 attack.
Before October 7, 2023, around 30 cases of antisemitism were recorded each week, according to Stefano Gatti, a researcher at the observatory. However, following the attack the number of incidents increased to 80 or 90 per week, Gatti added.
The group has also highlighted previous incidents of antisemitism in Italy, such as a rabbi being stalked in Genoa by an individual wielding a screwdriver.
Another incident involved a restaurant owner telling diners that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was justified in wanting to kill all Jews, unaware that the diners themselves were Jewish.