(JTA) – Pro-Palestinian demonstrators staged a protest in front of the Israeli stand at an annual international tourist fair in Milan.
Video showed about 10 demonstrators dressed in keffiyahs and holding the Palestinian flag passing out flyers and chanting anti-Israel slogans during the weekend protest at the Borsa International Tourism Exchange-BIT 2012.
Police were called in to break up the demonstration.
The president and vice president of the Jewish community in Milan issued a statement calling the protest “shameful.” During the annual fair, they said, the focus is on tourism and culture.
“Evidently those demonstrators do not have that sensibility,” the statement said. “It is strange that these paladins of justice have not staged any protest against other states, which violate human rights. It must be stated forcefully that those who protest against Israel also protest against the cause of democracy in the world.”
