‘Free Palestine’ attacker ‘bites off part of Israeli tourist’s ear’ in Athens

A stranger approached the couple and started taking photos of them while throwing out remarks such as “Free Palestine,” “To hell with Israel” and “I am Hamas”.

Ben Shoshan said that the man started hurling sand at them, and after pushing the man away, security personnel intervened and removed the assailant from the scene.

After about an hour, the migrant returned and tried to attack his wife, he said. When Ben Shoshan tried to defend her, the attacker bit his ear and tore a part of it, requiring immediate medical attention, according to Ynet.

“Apparently, a group of migrants identified the Israelis and harassed them. When one of the Israelis went to the beach, one of the group attacked him and bit him, causing a serious injury to his ear. The attacker is under arrest. We are in contact with him and with the authorities,” Ynet cited sources within Israel’s Foreign Ministry as saying.

The incident is the latest in a spate of attacks against Israelis in Greece.

A group of Israeli teenagers was attacked on Wednesday on the Greek island of Rhodes by dozens of pro-Palestinian assailants, some reportedly armed with knives.

The incident occurred shortly after Israeli cruise ship passengers were barred on Tuesday afternoon from disembarking on another Greek island — Syros— because of pro-Palestinian protests at Ermoupoli Port, where demonstrators accused the Jewish state of genocide in its war against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.

In written comments to JNS, Neil Bar, an expert on radical ideologies at the University of Haifa’s Comper Interdisciplinary Centre for the Study of Antisemitism and Racism and the University of California, Berkeley, warned that recent anti-Israeli incidents in Greece are part of an alarming and increasingly organized pattern.

“These aren’t isolated events,” Bar said. “Since October 7, we’ve seen a steady rise in targeted attacks — not just against Israeli tourists, but against Jews more broadly.”

Bar pointed to several disturbing examples in recent weeks that suggest coordination and intent. “In the last two months alone, a Holocaust memorial in Larissa was defaced, Jewish cemeteries in Volos and Thessaloniki were desecrated, and earlier this month, men in black shirts bearing Palestinian flags were seen patrolling tourist areas in Athens like Monastiraki and the Plaka, threatening Israeli and Jewish visitors,” he said.