The ongoing chaos in American cities over the death of Floyd George in recent days has coincided with at least one anti-Semitic incident.
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In Los Angeles, which has been one of the cities with protests against policy brutality, graffiti was spraypainted with the writing "Free Palestine" and "F**k Israel."
"Synagogue Congregation Beth El on Beverly Blvd in Los Angeles vandalized… Tell me this ugly hatred is still about #BLM or #GeorgeFloyd?!" tweeted Lisa Daftari, the founder and editor of The Foreign Desk
It is unclear if the protesters who were part of the clashes with police were also responsible for that incident, but Jewish groups have noted that the eruption of ethnic and racial tensions could also energize anti-Semitic groups, who are often associated with the radical fringes.
"Vandalism is never ok," Anti-Defamation League Los Angeles tweeted in reaction shortly after. "Anti-Semitism is never ok. The answer to hate and bigotry is not more hate. We are better than this Los Angeles."
American Jewish Committee Los Angeles Regional Director Richard S. Hirschhaut said in a statement to the Jewish Journal, "It is deplorable that certain protesters in Los Angeles today resorted to violence and vandalism. Sadly, their destructive opportunism included the defacing of Congregation Beth Israel, one of the oldest synagogues in Los Angeles and the spiritual home to many Holocaust survivors over the years. The epithets scrawled on the synagogue wall do nothing to advance the cause of peace or justice, here or abroad."
Liora Rez, director of the Stop Anti-Semitism watchdog, was also quoted by the Journal. "Once again we see vile anti-Semitism being disguised as activism. To vandalize a synagogue during this horrific time does nothing but further divide a broken country," she said.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center tweeted: "Anti-Semites use cover of protest in Los Angeles over death of George Floyd to attack synagogue and denigrate Jewish state. Pure and simple anti-Semitism!"
