An Israel flag adjacent to the Horwitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plaza was spray-painted red on Friday morning, local Jewish organizations said.
The Horwitz-Wasserman Memorial shared video and photographs of the alleged perpetrator spraying the flag early in the morning on Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The memorial urged those with information to contact the Philadelphia Police Department.
At 5:35 this morning, a masked individual vandalized the Israeli flag adjacent to the Horwitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plaza on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The perpetrator, who defaced the flag with red paint, appears to be a young, white male. (1/x) pic.twitter.com/gxrKImm4zT
— Horwitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plaza (@PhillyHolocaust) July 19, 2024
Resilient in the face of harassment
The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia said the mayor’s office quickly replaced the defaced flag. The Federation condemned the vandalism, saying that the defacement was meant to threaten and intimidate the Jewish community following the Houthi drone attack on Thursday.
Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation executive director Eszter Kutas said the Jewish community has remained resilient in the face of harassment at Holocaust memorials, campuses, and other institutions.
“This is a vile act of antisemitism and the fourth antisemitic incident at the Holocaust Memorial Plaza, and by the Israeli flag just this year,” Kutas said. “The conflict raging in the Middle East should not give cover to hateful conduct like this. People who are actually interested in supporting peace efforts engage in dialogue rather than the destruction of public property.”
The American Jewish Committee wrote on X on Friday that the act of intimidation would not affect the Jewish community and that the person who defaced the flag was a coward.