Jewish shopkeeper is victim of anti-Semitic attack in Bahia: 'Zionist, murderer'

A Jewish shopkeeper was the victim of an anti-Semitic attack, in Arraial d'Ajuda, Bahia, on Friday night, 2. The woman was called a “child killer” by the attacker, in reference to Israel's actions against the terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in the Middle East. Video circulating on social media shows the woman attacking the shopkeeper screaming. “Zionist, child killer. I’m going to get you, you damn Zionist”, screams the woman.

A man holds the woman and tries to take her out of the store. She goes on to shout: “Damn Zionist, I’m going to get you. Child killer.” During the confusion, several objects on display fall from the shelves. “Look what she did in my store, this anti-Semite”, says the shopkeeper in the recording.

In another video posted on social media, shopkeeper Herta Breslauer said she went to the Civil Police station and filed a police report for racial slurs. “I just left the Civil Police, I filed a police report. A woman came into my store, attacked me, hit me, and destroyed my store simply because I was Jewish. She said I’m a child killer, I wouldn’t kill a mosquito, just because I’m Jewish,” she says in the recording.

The Israeli Confederation of Brazil (Conib) and the Sociedade Israelita da Bahia released a statement classifying the aggression against the merchant as “disgusting” because she was Jewish. “A cowardly, anti-Semitic attack that must be investigated as a hate crime and follow due legal process. Conib has been asking our leaders for moderation and balance so as not to ignore the tragic conflict underway in the Middle East.”

Also according to the note, anti-Semitism must be condemned by everyone and its explosion in recent months in Brazil and around the world is a consequence of hateful and distorted views about Israel and Jews expressed by personalities and distributed through social networks. “This needs to end to avoid more serious consequences”, says the note.

The reporter contacted the Public Security Secretariat of Bahia and is awaiting a response. He also contacted the merchant in Arraial d'Ajuda and is awaiting a response. The woman who appears in the video attacking the trader has not yet been identified.