‘This is not acceptable’: Police investigating UF Chabad vandalized with antisemitic slurs

MIAMI — Police on Tuesday were investigating antisemitic vandalism at the University of Florida Chabad Jewish student center after a person was caught on security footage late last week in the act, according to the organization.

A sign, a banner and a sidewalk were damaged Friday morning at the Lubavitch Chabad Jewish Student & Community Center, 2021 NW Fifth Ave., in Gainesville, the organization said. As of Tuesday afternoon, the vandal had not been identified nor arrested, police said. The center is off campus.

“Any vandalism against a religious site or center is a felony,” Gainesville police spokesman Brandon Hatzel told the Miami Herald Tuesday.

On a banner supporting Israel following the deadly Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel and on a permanent fixture with the name of the organization, the vandal wrote with a black marker “child murders” and “burn in hell.” On the sidewalk, the person drew a star of David, a Judaic symbol, and wrote “David had no star.”

Rabbi Berl Goldman, the center’s director, said Saturday in a news release that the “horrific anti-Semitic graffiti and hateful slurs” are “an attempt to intimidate us.”

“We will not be cowed by hate, but will in fact double our efforts to strengthen Judaism, advocate for Israel and continue to bring light and joy to the UF, SFC and Gainesville communities,” Goldman said.

“Antisemitism is the oldest hatred in the world and is once again rearing its ugly head in the form of anti-Israel bias and hateful tropes, blaming the Jews using all sorts of lies and conspiracies,” said Chanie Goldman, the center’s co-director.

The organization said it reported the vandalism to Gainesville police, and that it was improving its security. Gainesville police are investigating the incident.

The vandalism happened the same day a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began. As part of the truce, Hamas has released more than 80 hostages of the 240 or so people it kidnapped during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel, including releasing Sunday a 4-year-old girl, Abigail Mor Edan, who holds dual U.S. and Israeli citizenship. Women and children are among the hostages.

In exchange, Israel has freed 150 Palestinian prisoners, who also include women and children, some of whom have not been charged with a crime.

Israeli forces have killed at least 13,300 Palestinians since the war began, roughly two thirds of them women and minors, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Around 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, mostly during the initial attack by Hamas, the Associated Press reported Monday.

The Anti-Defamation League, an organization that tracks antisemitic incidents, has documented several incidents targeting Jewish and pro-Israel students at college campuses across the United States.

“In the month following Hamas’ terror attack on Israel, we recorded 124 antisemitic incidents on college campuses across the country, compared to only 12 over the same time period last year,” an ADL spokesman told the Herald.

On Saturday, a man shot and wounded three Palestinian college students while walking near the University of Vermont campus in Burlington, the Associated Press reported. The students were speaking a mix of English and Arabic and two of them were wearing black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves at the time of the shooting. Jason Eaton, 48, was arrested Sunday and has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder.

The ADL has also encouraged campus administrators to take measures such as condemning antisemitism, enforcing student disciplinary rules and updating security protocols to keep Jewish students safe.

“Acts of antisemitic vandalism are disgusting and un-American,” the University of Florida said Tuesday in a statement to the Herald. “UF’s commitment to keeping our students safe means that any student who crosses the line with acts of vandalism or violence will face a swift suspension,” the university said.

Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward also weighed in about the vandalism.

“This is not acceptable in our community,” Ward said Monday on X, formerly Twitter. “Antisemitism and hate have no safe harbor in Gainesville.”

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