The garbage containers on Rua do Rosário, in the heart of the city of Oporto, were covered in antisemitic graffiti with messages such as "Zionist house" and "Zionist welcome [trash]" and an arrow pointing to the container itself. The address of the vandalism was not chosen at random: there is a Jewish resident there, who, not coincidentally, lost his wallet with his documents a week ago.
Messages such as "Zionist house" and "Zionist welcome [trash]" were vandalized at one of the busiest addresses in Oporto. (Oporto, Portugal, August 23, 2024)
It is no news that the incidence of antiseemitic acts in Porto has increased since the massacre of October 7th. Also in October, the Synagogue of Oporto had its wall vandalized with inscriptions such as "apartheid" and "free palestine". In January of this year, a demonstration protesting the high cost of housing in Porto managed to include Jews in its agenda. "Clean the world of Jews", “We don’t want to rent from murderous Zionists”, “We want a house to live in and free Palestine”, and “Neither Haifa nor Boavista, we do not want Zionist capital!” were some of the posters that circulated on the streets that day.
And less than two months after this demonstration, Israeli Jews from the Jewish community of Porto who work in the real estate sector were again the target of a public demonstration, which this time included a list of names of Israeli Jewish real estate companies in the city.
In January, the Jewish community of Oporto made a formal complaint to the Republic's Attorney General and a sensitive question was provided:
“Who will be responsible when a terrorist attack occurs against the Jewish community of Porto, its members, synagogues, Jewish museum, Holocaust museum and its other institutions?"
