OAKLAND, Calif. — On July 13 Eric Simpson, Socialist Workers Party candidate for U.S. Congress in California’s District 12, delivered a letter of solidarity to Chabad of Oakland and joined worshipers in a meal there after their Shabbat service. Vandals targeted the center on June 21 and July 6.
Chunks of concrete were thrown at the center’s windows, damaging them. Vandals also destroyed the Chabad’s large public menorah near Lake Merritt and tossed pieces into the lake last December. Scrawled near the site were “Free Palestine” and the threat, “We’re gonna find you.” No arrests have been made in connection with any of these incidents.
Simpson explained that SWP campaign supporters joined the protest against the Jew-hating attack at Lake Merritt and stand with the Chabad center today. His campaign sent out a press release condemning the attacks and calling on working people and unions to speak out against them.
Rabbi Dovid Labkowski said he is not too pleased with the response of the Oakland Police. Twice in two weeks, someone hurled a chunk of concrete at the storefront-style Chabad center, the second time seriously damaging the bullet-resistant glass.
When Labkowski called the police after the second assault, “They said these things happen all the time. Just go on the website and fill out a form. They weren’t going to come take fingerprints or even send units,” he said. “So I went to the press to get the word out. Then the police said they would take action. Actions speak louder than words.”
Rabbi Labkowski thanked Simpson and his supporters for their solidarity. Simpson gave him a copy of The Fight Against Jew-Hatred and Pogroms in the Imperialist Epoch: Stakes for the International Working Class.