Homeless Muslim Feted for Rescuing Jew From Rome River
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
A Muslim immigrant from Bangladesh was hailed as a hero and given a permit to live in Rome for the next year after he plucked a suicidal Israeli woman out of a river.
Sobuj Khalifa, an illegal immigrant from Bangladesh, saw a body floating in the Tiber River last week. The 32-year-old Muslim man, who was a fisherman in his home country, jumped into the water and pulled the Jewish woman to safety, according to newspaper reports. The rescue was caught on video.
Khalifa had been living under a bridge along the river.
Khalifa arrived in Italy in 2008 with a permit to work, but the permit expired years ago. He has reportedly has been homeless for the last four years.
The Israeli woman, 55, reportedly was trying to commit suicide.
Riccardo Pacifici, the head of Rome’s Jewish community, told Haaretz that the city’s Jews want to thank Khalifa for his bravery and are working to find him a job and housing.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
