Italian police on Saturday prevented two groups of pro-Palestinian Arab activists from disrupting the opening stages of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics torch relay, reported the Associated Press.
Authorities said both groups - one of them numbering about 15 people - were removed before reaching the relay route in Rome.
A third group of around 10 activists, monitored by police, waved Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) flags as the relay passed La Sapienza University, Rome’s largest campus. In addition, three individuals carried signs in support of Venezuela near the American embassy.
The incident comes weeks after more than two million demonstrators marched in over 100 Italian cities in October to protest the war in Gaza.
The torch relay began with Olympic champion swimmer Gregorio Paltrinieri at the statue-lined Stadio dei Marmi. The flame traveled 33 kilometers before concluding the day in Piazza del Popolo.
The relay will span 12,000 kilometers, crossing all 110 Italian provinces before arriving at Milan’s San Siro Stadium for the opening ceremony on February 6. A total of 10,001 torch bearers will participate.
Italy has seen a sharp rise in antisemitic attacks following the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre and the ensuing war in Gaza.
Two months ago, a kosher bakery in Rome’s Jewish neighborhood of Viale Marconi was defaced with antisemitic graffiti.
Workers arriving at the bakery on Via Avicenna discovered the message scrawled across the shutter: “Dirty Jews, may you all burn.”
A month before that, professional photographer and Chabad hassid Haim Tuito and his family were the target of an antisemitic incident while on a family vacation in Venice.
The visibly Jewish family was enjoying their vacation when a passerby approached them and began shouting anti-Israel slogans, including "Free Palestine."
In August, an American Jewish couple was assaulted in Venice. According to Italian reports, the Orthodox Jewish visitors - a man and his pregnant wife - were confronted by three men without warning.
The assailants allegedly doused the couple with water, spat directly into the man’s face, and set a large dog on him. The dog attempted to bite his thigh, but the blow was deflected when its teeth struck a mobile phone in his pocket.