Pro-Palestine graffiti in Squirrel Hill called ‘despicable’

Pro-Palestine graffiti was found Thursday morning at multiple Squirrel Hill locations, including a wall outside Allderdice High School and on yard signs near a Jewish private school.

Officials said they don’t know who spray-painted “Free Palestine” on a brick wall at Allderdice or changed a yard sign reading “I Stand With Israel” to “I Stand With Gaza” at a Beechwood Boulevard home near Community Day School, a private K-8 Jewish school on Forward Avenue.

Pittsburgh police spokeswoman Cara Cruz said officers “are aware of the reported graffiti incidents in Squirrel Hill and they are investigating.” She declined further comment.

“This morning, we discovered an offensive message in graffiti on premises,” Allderdice High School Principal Dr. James McCoy said in an email to parents. “The message contained hurtful and divisive language that goes against the principles of respect, inclusivity, and kindness that we hold dear.”

Pittsburgh Public Schools added that the district “is committed to ensuring all students attend safe and supportive school environments.”

“As the City of Pittsburgh prepares to mark the five-year anniversary of the tragedy that occurred at the Tree of Life Synagogue, we must stand together to condemn any language that seeks to divide our community or plant seeds of hate,” the statement added.

Shawn Brokos, director of community security for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, called the vandalism “a timely and coordinated effort” that targeted Squirrel Hill Jews one day before the five-year commemoration of the Oct. 27, 2018, mass shooting at Tree of Life-Or L’Simcha synagogue, which killed 11 Jewish worshippers.

“The messages were targeted in Jewish area, seemingly blaming Jews for the actions of a foreign government … I think the message by the vandals is very clear,” Brokos said.

Brokos, who retired from the FBI in 2019 after 24 years of service, said the federation does consider the vandalism an antisemitic incident.

She said her organization has seen “an uptick in antisemitic activity” in the Pittsburgh area since Hamas militants attacked Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, killing an estimated 1,400 people. Israel responded to the attacks by launching airstrikes and raids in advance of an anticipated ground offensive, killing thousands more.

There have been 218 antisemitic incidents in Pittsburgh this year to date, nearly doubling last year’s total of 122, Brokos said. More than 700 incidents were monitored since Oct. 7 nationwide by Secure Community Network, a Jewish security group.

Brokos said there are no active threats directed at the Jewish community at this time.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh on Thursday called the vandalism “despicable.”

“For a Jewish community still healing from the worst antisemitic attack in U.S. history in 2018 and now retraumatized by the worst single act of terrorism against Jews since the Holocaust, these acts of vandalism are particularly despicable,” the federation said in a prepared statement.

“Vandalism targeting Jews is criminal hate speech, pure and simple. We condemn hate speech of any form, which has no place anywhere in Pittsburgh.”

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, said he called McCoy and Tree of Life Rabbi Jeffrey Myers on Thursday after hearing news of the vandalism.

“This is a painful week for the Squirrel Hill neighborhood and the entire Jewish community in Pittsburgh,” Casey posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “I stand with them, now and always.”

Ibrahim Hooper, a Council of American Islamic Relations spokesman in Washington, said the context of the graffiti matters.

“Pro-Palestine graffiti targeting a home of a Jewish family? That’s vandalism,” Hooper told the Tribune-Review. “They have no right to go into someone else’s yard … that’s vandalism and that’s a violation.”

He doesn’t think having a Pro-Palestine yard sign displayed in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood would be antisemitic.

Hooper stressed his opposition to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks but also questioned the Israeli’s government’s response in Gaza. The United Nations said there have been more than 6,400 Palestinian casualties since the conflict started.

“There’s only one side when civilians are being killed and that’s to defend the civilians, whether it’s in Israel or Gaza,” Hooper said.

Christine Mohamed, executive director of CAIR-Pittsburgh, attended Taylor Allderdice High School in her youth and said she’s heard recently about Islamophobic “rhetoric” at the school, such as students chanting “Death to Palestinians.”

“I understand ‘Free Palestine,’ to the Jewish community, maybe seems antisemitic,” Mohamed said. “I see it as a political statement.”

She said she is concerned some Americans are equating civilians’ opinions with the acts of foreign governments or terrorist groups.

“That doesn’t mean the Israeli government or (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu is the Jewish faith or the Jewish people,” Mohamed said. “There’s civilians caught on both sides.”

On Wednesday, CAIR had reported an uptick in Islamophobic incidents in the United States are since the Hamas attacks.

There have been 774 complaints of Islamophobia made to CAIR since Oct. 7, the highest number they’ve seen in eight years, the group said on its website.

Mohamed said it’s unfortunate there are increases in both antisemitism and Islamophobia, and added that the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel were “atrocious.”

“This isn’t about our Jewish brothers and sisters — it’s about human life,” she added. “And I hate that this stuff is happening so close to the five-year anniversary of the synagogue shooting … the last thing we need is something to be sparked in our beloved city because of hate.”