Anti-Semitic graffiti was painted on the door of a school in Minneapolis and Swastikas were spray-painted on a Jewish-owned food truck in the Little Haiti neighborhood of Miami, the two latest anti-Semitic acts in a continuing trend across America
Anti-Semitic attacks worldwide rose 13 percent in 2018 from the previous year, with the highest number of incidents reported in major Western democracies including the United States, France, Britain and Germany, an annual study from Tel Aviv University’s Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry concluded in May of this year.
“Anti-Semitism is no longer an issue confined to the activity of the far left, far right and radical Islamists triangle–it has mainstreamed and became an integral part of life,” the report said.
It cataloged 387 anti-Semitic attacks worldwide and cited among the causes growing fears in Europe and elsewhere linked to mass immigration, economic hardship and opposition to Israel’s policies towards the Palestinians, Reuters reported
Physical attacks, with or without weapons, arson, vandalism and direct threats against Jews, synagogues and other Jewish institutions were included in the overall figure, with over 100 cases occurring in the United States. The report said France, home to Europe’s largest Jewish community, had seen a 74 percent rise in violent anti-Semitism and Germany a 70 percent increase, according to Reuters.
The graffiti discovered last Thursday at the Lake Harriet Upper School in Minneapolis included a swastika and the words “Kikes must die!”, VIN reported.
The graffiti was painted over on Thursday afternoon, according to local reports.
On Friday, students of the school created chalk street art to spread messages of love and acceptance. The artwork included Stars of David and messages such as “I belong, you belong, we all belong” and “Love all!” A second “Chalk the Walk: Love Lives Here” was scheduled for Sunday.
Steve Hunegs, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas, said that it is the 17th anti-Semitic incident reported to the JCRC in 2019.
And now anti-Semitism has once again reared its ugly head here in NYC. From vicious attacks on Jews in Crown Heights, Williamsburg and Lakewood to just about anywhere there is a Jewish presence, we always smell the putrid stench of centuries old Jew hatred.
Just recently a Jewish girls yeshiva in Brooklyn became the very first in the area to have bullet proof doors installed. We must stop and pause and ask ourselves if these ominous signs of the times are harbingers of things to come or a warning placed right in our path. Perhaps if this is a warning, it is a warning to come closer to our G-d and our people and to rise up and defend ourselves.
