Graffiti comparing Israelis to Nazis was discovered on the last night of Hanukkah in Oakland, the latest incident in a spate of antisemitic vandalism in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to the local Jewish organizations and the Israeli consulate.
“Israelis are the new Nazis” was spray-painted next to the Oakland Chabad hanukkiah, the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area said on social media.
On the last night of Hanukkah, disgusting and hateful graffiti was discovered next to @ChabadOakland's Lake Merritt Menorah, comparing Israelis to Nazis.This incident follows the destruction of the menorah at the same location last year and a pattern of ongoing antisemitic… pic.twitter.com/BCUWpQNxVd
— JCRC Bay Area (@SFJCRC) January 2, 2025
“Oakland continues to be ground zero for antisemitic hatred in the Bay Area, California, and America – without exaggeration,” JCRC Bay Area CEO Tyler Harris Gregory said on Thursday.
Gregory said on X/Twitter that mayoral candidates for a special municipal election should be asked how they intended to address the issue.
Repeated attacks
The Israeli Consulate in San Francisco called on authorities to address the repeated attacks on the Jewish community. The consulate noted that the vandalism came almost a year to the day that the previous Chabad Lake Merritt hanukkiah was destroyed.
Chabad Oakland shared on Instagram that the hanukkiah was smashed and thrown into the lake.
“A year after the menorah was destroyed and thrown into the lake, we came back bigger than ever,” Rebbitzin Shulamis Labkowski posted to Instagram last week, “with a 16-foot menorah and a beautiful showing of light and unity with the Oakland Jewish community. May we merit to see light prevail over darkness, always!”
In addition to the hanukkiah, JCRC said the area had been the site of repeated graffiti.
“Lake Merritt has become a hotspot for antisemitic and anti-Israel graffiti, an ongoing crisis that cannot be ignored,” JCRC wrote on X on Friday. “The time for action is long overdue – we demand immediate and decisive action from our leaders.”
On December 17, a Star of David was graffitied next to the words “Kill them all” in Oakland. A week earlier, the Hillel House at San Francisco State University was tagged with the word “Khaybar,” a reference to the Saudi Arabian oasis where Mohammed is said to have led his followers in a war against Jews that ultimately resulted in massacres and expulsions.