Anti-Semitic graffiti was found on a Persian synagogue in Los Angeles on April 7, according to a Facebook post.
The graffiti states, “F— k—s” and then the words “Daniel M” on the Orthodox synagogue Ahavat Shalom on West Pico Boulevard. Nathan Benyowitz, a University of Delaware student who is visiting family in the Pico-Robertson area because of the coronavirus pandemic, posted a photo of the graffiti to his Facebook page. He wrote that he saw the graffiti as he was taking a walk with his mother.
“ENOUGH IS ENOUGH,” he wrote. “There is no room for hatred in this world especially during these times. This is a time that we have to all come together as one. Am Yisrael Chai!”
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2899424546792403&set=a.361655893902627&type=3&theater
Jewish groups condemned the graffiti.
“We are outraged by reports of anti-Semitic graffiti outside a synagogue in LA,” Anti-Defamation League Los Angeles tweeted. “In the midst of a pandemic in which it is more important than ever for us to stand together and just before the start of Passover, it is shocking to see this hateful message on a house of worship.”
We are outraged by reports of antisemitic graffiti outside a synagogue in LA. In the midst of a pandemic in which it is more important than ever for us to stand together and just before the start of Passover, it is shocking to see this hateful message on a house of worship. pic.twitter.com/hfWyuD32K7
— ADL Southern California (@ADLSoCal) April 7, 2020
American Jewish Committee Los Angeles Regional Director Richard S. Hirschhaut similarly said in a statement to the Journal, “Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the vile anti-Semitic graffiti scrawled upon Ahavat Shalom Synagogue is a sobering reminder that it remains business as usual for anti-Semites. On the eve of the Jewish holiday of Passover, the defacing of this sacred house of worship, whose name literally means ‘Love of Peace,’ reminds us all to redouble our efforts to hold the haters accountable while never wavering from our pursuit of a more understanding and just world.”
Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action Agenda at the Simon Wiesenthal Center Rabbi Abraham Cooper also said in a statement to the Journal, “Less than a mile from headquarters of SWC and [the] Museum of Tolerance, this Persian Synagogue [was] targeted by anti-Semites [on] Passover Eve. No cure yet for history’s oldest hate.”
The synagogue did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment.
