RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA) — A Syrian Muslim refugee who was beaten and told to leave Brazil by his attackers was honored by a Jewish councilman at Rio’s City Hall.

Councilman Marcelo Arar, who is Jewish, proposed the tribute to Mohamed Ali Abdelmoatty Ilenavvy, who was attacked while selling Arab food at a street food stand in July. Video images show people yelling “Leave our country” and “My country is being invaded by bombers, you have quartered kids and teenagers.”

“He was a victim of religious intolerance and prejudice. There is no room for that in Rio,” Arar said, justifying the Tuesday homage.

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Ilenavvy, a refugee, said he considers the episode an isolated incident and did not file a criminal complaint with police. He apparently had declined to pay a $3,000 bribe to mafia members to protect his food stand, reported O Globo newspaper.

“The initiative of the Jewish representative has sent a strong coexistence message between Arabs and Jews in Brazil. Helping an immigrant who was assaulted is remembering that the majority of the Jewish community also has its origins in immigrants who were welcomed by an amazing people,” Israel’s honorary consul in Rio, Osias Wurman, told JTA.

Ilenavvy moved to Rio to flee the Syrian civil war. He married a Brazilian native who converted to Islam, with whom he has a son. The rest of his family escaped to Egypt.