Syrian migrant shouts ‘Free Palestine,’ ‘F*** Israel," and bites off piece of Israeli man’s ear in altercation near Athens

During an altercation initiated by Syrian migrants near Athens, Greece, Israeli tourist Stav Ben Shoshan had a piece of his ear bitten off, according to a report from Ynet News.

The incident took place at Bolivar Beach, where Ben Shoshan and his wife were on vacation, as they were speaking to another Israeli couple.

“Out of nowhere, a Muslim man approached, started filming us and shouting ‘Free Palestine’ and ‘F*** Israel,’” he said.

Ben Shoshan said that he confronted the man after he declared, “‘I’m Hamas,’ and picked up sand and rocks and threw them at the man and his wife.”

After security separated them, he later noticed two of the men standing near his wife and physically confronted them.

“My instincts kicked in. I thought they were trying to hurt her,” he said.

“I ran over, grabbed one and pushed the other with my hands,” he recounted. “As I was holding one of them to prevent him from hurting her, he bit my ear.”

While the man who bit his ear was arrested, Ben Shoshan was also placed under arrest, in addition to being treated at a nearby hospital.

According to Ynet, “the assailant filed a police complaint claiming Ben Shoshan had attacked him for speaking Arabic.”

The Times of Israel reported that Ben Shoshan “was questioned by Greek police after being accused of making racist comments.”

Ben Shoshan has since spoken out against the Israeli government for failing to intervene on his behalf.

“We don’t know what’s going on,” he said. “The embassy is in touch, but it’s absurd. To me, this is a terror incident.”

“Our country needs to wake up,” he continued. “One person loses an ear, another a leg, and the state does nothing?”

The Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a formal statement about the incident, however, asserting that “Israel views this severely and expects a prompt and emphatic response from law enforcement in Greece.”