A group of French Jewish visitors to Barcelona was reportedly harassed by a street mob that chanted antisemitic and anti-Israel slogans as they followed them through the streets, the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain (FJCE) said in a statement Monday.

The group was subjected to “hostile stares, insults, and harassment” for about an hour and a half as they walked back to their hotel from a synagogue, it said.

If confirmed, “this would be one of the most serious episodes of anti-Semitic harassment recorded in Barcelona in recent years,” the FJCE said.

Citing testimony from members of the group, the statement said the incident began on Friday night as the group left a synagogue in the city after prayers and dinner.

Two members of the group were wearing kippot, and one of them was wearing traditional Hasidic garb, according to the statement.

People in the street showed open hostility toward them, the FCJE said, and then a woman wearing a Palestinian scarf began following them while shouting anti-Israel and antisemitic slogans. She also allegedly spat at them.

As the group made their way back to their hotel, dozens of other people joined the woman, some riding bicycles, electric scooters, or motorcycles.

They shouted “Jews are not wanted in Barcelona,” “baby murderers,” and “Israeli genocide,” a reference to Israel’s military action in the Gaza Strip during the war that was triggered by the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel that killed 1,200........

© The Times of Israel