Israeli President Reuven Rivlin tweeted on Sept. 29 that it was “shocking” to see a swastika emblazoned on a car in Britain during Yom Kippur.
The Bristol Post reported that the swastika was spray-painted in a neon color on a car in Kingswood, a suburb of Bristol, on Sept. 28.
Rivlin tweeted, “This is the shocking sight of rising #Antisemitism — a swastika sprayed on a car on Yom Kippur in Britain yesterday. Words of condemnation are not enough. We need #Holocaust education and remembrance so governments and societies everywhere actively challenge this threat to Jews.”
This is the shocking sight of rising #Antisemitism – a swastika sprayed on a car on Yom Kippur in Britain yesterday. Words of condemnation are not enough. We need #Holocaust education and remembrance so governments and societies everywhere actively challenge this threat to Jews. pic.twitter.com/1GMigw7QZI
— Reuven Rivlin (@PresidentRuvi) September 29, 2020
The World Zionist Organization (WZO) also condemned the graffiti.
“The incitement and incidents of anti-Semitism against Jews don’t stop on the holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur,” WZO Vice Chairman Yaakov Hagoel said in a statement. “Anti-Semitic criminals know exactly when to hit their targets.”
He called for a harsh punishment against whoever perpetrated the vandalism.
“We need a heavy hand and deterrence through a harsh punishment, which won’t allow those responsible the freedom to target Jews anywhere they want around the world,” Hagoel added.
Nick Helfenbein, who lives across the street from the vandalized car and is Jewish, told The Bristol Post that seeing the swastika was “a gut punch. Me and my wife, who is the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, feel anxious about this — it was right next door to where we live.”
Police said they are investigating the matter.
Another recent instance of swastika graffiti in the Bristol area included the words “Mask = [swastika symbol]” spray-painted on a bench in a Bristol park.
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