A young, Jewish, Brazilian man was the victim of a verbal anti-Semitic attack at Rio De Janiero airport, in October.
Leo Rabinovitsch, 20, was checking in to an Anitalia flight to Tel Aviv via Rome, with his mother, when allegedly he was accosted by Fabrizo Trichero, an Italian passenger who hurled anti-Semitic abuse at him. Seeing Rabinovitsch’s kippah, Trinchero made the Nazi salute at him, and screamed that Hitler should have exterminated all the Jews.
Rabinovitsch, whose only crime was being Jewish was shocked by the outburst. “Such offensive and sudden aggression was totally unexpected,” he told JTA. “He was fuelled by much hatred. He said he didn’t like either Jews or Muslims, and that Jews owned the World Bank.” Conspiracy theories such as these are common, and fuel anti-Semitism.
The incident at Antonio Carlos Jobim Airport, was reportedly witnessed by a number of staff and fellow passengers, whose presence potentially prevented this attack from turning violent.
Fabrizio Trinchero was released after paying a $600 bail following his arrest.