As soon as word got out that two synagogues in Huntsville, Alabama, had been defaced with threatening anti-Semitic graffiti, nearby residents and members of area churches sprang into action. They spoke out about the attack and joined in cleaning up or painting over the Jew-hating scrawls, above.
The first attack took place at the Etz Chayim Synagogue April 8 on the first night of Passover, a major Jewish holiday. Vandals painted “F—k Kikes,” ”Gas Em All,” “White Power,” “Jew Rats” and swastikas on its walls.
The next night the Chabad center, which is both a house of worship and a private home, was also vandalized with similar anti-Semitic filth.
We “condemn this horrendous act of hatred in our community,” said The Dwelling Place, one of numerous statements of solidarity from local churches. “We love you and are standing with you.”
“Such attacks must not be tolerated,” said Pastor Timothy Cox, president of the Alabama Baptist State Convention.
Tobias Mendelson, president of the Jewish Federation of Huntsville and North Alabama, said that the attack is “meant to terrify us. Make no mistake, we will not be scared out of this wonderful place we call home.”
Earlier in the week a similar vandal attack was aimed at Ahavat Shalom, an Orthodox Persian synagogue in Los Angeles.