Two Jewish boys were chased through the streets of Montevideo, Uruguay, and threatened with chunks of pavement. The victims, ages 13 and 14, were walking home Tuesday in the Punta Carretas neighborhood, wearing school uniforms from a local Jewish high school. According to police reports and community statements, two young men in their early twenties recognized them as Jewish, then pushed them and screamed: “Jews, we know what you did” — a phrase understood locally as blaming them for the Israel–Gaza war.

When the boys ran, the attackers ripped up broken paving tiles from nearby construction, chasing them for several blocks and threatening to strike them. The pursuit continued all the way to one boy’s home, where the assailants shouted antisemitic abuse at the door and threatened his mother, telling her they now knew where the family lived.

No physical injuries were reported, but the boys were left traumatized. One parent described the incident as “a lynching attempt.”

The parents filed a complaint immediately, and prosecutors are examining possible charges including incitación al odio (incitement to hatred). Authorities are reviewing CCTV footage, but no arrests had been made as of Thursday afternoon.

The Central Jewish Committee of Uruguay, representing the Jewish population nationwide, said it will push for the case to be prosecuted explicitly as an antisemitic hate crime.

“They were pursued, harassed, and threatened because they are Jews,” the group stated, warning that unchecked hate speech is “enabling real attacks.”

Roby Schindler, the committee’s president, called the incident “outrageous,” saying it must be a “wake-up call for authorities and civil society.”

Uruguay’s Jewish community — estimated at 15,000 to 18,000 people — has long been viewed as one of the safest and most historic in South America. But incidents have increased sharply in the last year, from threatening graffiti to verbal harassment near Jewish schools.

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