Boston University Hillel is the latest local Jewish building to get vandalized amid the Israel-Hamas war, as police investigate who wrote “Free Palestine” on a BU Hillel window this week.
The BU Hillel community has been left “shaken and disheartened” following the possible hate crime at the Jewish campus organization’s facility on Bay State Road, Hillel leaders wrote in an email on Thursday.
Boston University Police responded to the Hillel building Tuesday evening, where they found “Free Palestine” written on a window, according to the university’s website BU Today. The “Free Palestine” writing covered a blue and white “We Stand with Israel” sign inside the window.
“As BU Today reported today, an act of antisemitic vandalism occurred on the BU Hillel building this past week, leaving our community shaken and disheartened,” BU Hillel leaders wrote to the community on Thursday.
“We are grateful for the swift response from BU, BU Police, and the Suffolk County District Attorney,” the leaders added. “This horrific act is being investigated as a religious hate crime.”
Antisemitic graffiti incidents have spiked around the region since the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7.
Last week, WBZ-TV CBS Boston was covered in blood-red paint, as taggers wrote “Free Palestine” on the Allston headquarters. The blood-red paint was all over the CBS Boston company sign on Soldiers Field Road, along with red paint covering the front wall of the WBZ headquarters. The words “Free Palestine” were painted in black on the property.
Boston Police were trying to identify who was responsible for that vandalism at CBS Boston, and now local police are looking to catch the individual who tagged the BU Hillel building.
“This defacement was a targeted act and we will work closely with Boston University police to identify, arrest and prosecute the person responsible,” a spokesperson for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
“Our message is clear: hate crimes in any form are intolerable and anyone charged with committing them will pay the consequences,” the Suffolk DA spokesperson added.
The BU Hillel leaders noted that Jews are less than 2% of the population in the U.S., and that attacks against Jews represented 50% of religious hate crimes before Hamas’ terrorist attacks. Since Oct. 7, attacks against Jews have quadrupled.
“Many of our Jewish students are nervous and scared for their physical safety,” the Hillel leaders wrote. “Numerous students have been victims of antisemitic language, social media bullying, singling out in the classroom and in student groups, and being ostracized socially… While so many students feel alone, BU Hillel is steadfast in our support for our Jewish students and in support of Israel.”