Topline
Authorities in New Hampshire have launched an investigation into antisemitic vandalism in the city of Portsmouth in the early morning hours Tuesday, officials said Tuesday, in the latest instance of antisemitic rhetoric amid a rise in anti-Jewish hate speech online.
Swastikas were painted on storefronts and a Jewish synagogue in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Tuesday … [+]
Key Facts
The New Hampshire Department of Justice Civil Rights Unit and police in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, are investigating at least 10 swastikas and other messages spray-painted in red on properties in downtown Portsmouth, including a synagogue.
The incidents occurred around 2:30 a.m., according to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office, which condemned the vandalism in a statement as “hateful and threatening criminal activity” that was “motivated by racial or religious intolerance.”
In addition to swastikas, a red letter “x” was also spray-painted” over signs that read, “You Are Loved,” New Hampshire Public Radio reported.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R-N.H.) also condemned the incident, writing in a tweet: “hatred, bigotry and antisemitism will not be tolerated.”
Tangent
The vandalism comes one week after a suspect was arrested in two separate shootings outside a synagogue in a Jewish neighborhood in Los Angeles, leaving two people injured, amid a rise in anti-Jewish speech online and in fringe media outlets that first gentleman Doug Emhoff described late last year as an “epidemic of hate.” The most high-profile instance came when controversial artist Kanye West was suspended from Twitter and Instagram and had his lucrative clothing partnerships terminated last November and December after he posted an image of a swastika, following another tweet asking people to go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.” NBA star Kyrie Irving also came under fire and was suspended by the Brooklyn Nets last November after he posted a link to a documentary that’s been criticized as deeply antisemitic, though Irving has since apologized for the post.
Surprising Fact
In addition to the swastikas painted in Portsmouth Tuesday morning, the Anti-Defamation League has also reported antisemitic flyers with defamatory statements and a call to incite violence against Jewish people posted in a bathroom at the University of Vermont, as well as a swastika drawn on a Jewish high school student’s car at Dover-Sherborn High School, in Massachusetts, and anti-Jewish flyers in Eugene, Oregon, on Tuesday.
Further Reading
Swastika graffiti reported at Portsmouth, N.H. synagogue, one of 10 instances of hateful vandalism in city (Boston Globe)
Authorities Investigating Series of ‘Hateful’ Vandalism Incidents in Portsmouth, NH (NBC Boston)
Portsmouth businesses, temple targeted by antisemitic vandalism (New Hampshire Public Radio)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/02/21/new-hampshire-authorities-investigate-swastikas-painted-on-storefronts-and-synagogue/