Swastikas in Gaza

As seen in Gaza, at the "Great Return March".  Swastika flags and  Hitler imagery.

The ideological heirs of the Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti  have utilized swastika imagery before.   They show their disdain for all of  humanity, and not just the Jewish people by displaying this symbol associated with the slaughter of millions of innocents

Fighting back against Hate in El Sobrante

El Sobrante,  a sleepy Contra Costa town of 13,000 has found itself in the national spotlight when one of its residents, Steve Johnson, built a giant swastika in his front yard.  The 10 foot by 10 foot swastika has created a huge uproar on Lindell Drive, a once quiet street of modest and well-tended homes.

Photo from ABC News

In interviews with the local media Johnson, a 65 year old retired welder has claimed the swastika is a symbol of “peace tranquility and harmony. ” He has claimed  "It's a Tibetan sign that's way back before swastikas were invented" Asked whether he is Tibetan, he replied: "I could be.” He has also stated  "I like swastikas…I think they look cool. I didn't do it to get attention. I'm not a worshiper of Nazis. I just thought it'd be a cool thing to put in there."  Eventually, Johnson declared "I own this house I'll put what I want. It ain't none of your guys' business" .

Johnson’s proclamation of innocence  regarding this symbol of Nazi Germany, associated with the deaths of 17 million people, including 6 million Jews flies in the face of this post on his Facebook page

An online petition  was started, urging Johnson to remove the concrete symbol, which he claims cost $800 dollars to install. Thousands have signed.

From the petition:

We live in El Sobrante and are grateful to live in a small community with such diversity of race, religion, and ethnicity.

Then we heard that in June, 2019 a member of our community erected a 10 foot by 10 foot swastika in his front yard. A swastika, which once was a religious symbol, is now widely recognized as an international symbol of hate. In the last 100 years, under the banner of the swastika millions of Jewish, Roma, gay, and other people were brutally slaughtered.

The presence of a swastika in our community makes many people feel unsafe to live in a community that tolerates visible expressions of hate and bigotry. Therefore, we are calling on this person to remove the swastika.

We came together and took a stand in our community when hate reared its head in the past. Many businesses and homes have a Not In Our Town: El Sobrante sign posted. We are speaking out now to show our neighbors that we want to keep El Sobrante as a welcoming community, free of intolerance and hate.

Please add your name and circulate to your neighbors.

Steve Johnson seems surprised and unprepared for the backlash. He claims his car and two pickup trucks have been egged, and his answering machine has been filled with messages from unhappy neighbors.   Johnson has recently covered the swastika with blankets 

What can to do to fight back against open displays of hate and intolerance  in our community? 

Please sign the petition, and show up on June 20, for a community wide rally sponsored by El Sobrante Indivisible,  between 4-6 pm at the corner of San Pablo Dam Road and Appian Way 
(Near 4071 San Pablo Dam Road)

Giant Swastika found in South San Francisco

A giant Swastika, created out of snap together tiles was discovered on the El Camino High School Football field, shortly after graduation.

From SF Gate:

“When I saw a giant swastika on the field, I was really pissed off," said Brisbane resident Robin Belinsky, who was driving by the school and stopped to document the crime by snapping pictures and taking video.

"The Peninsula has been a very accepting community, but these types of incidents need to be brought to the public's attention," she said. "Hate still happens."

Belinsky, who is Jewish, grew up in Pacifica and recalled dealing with incidents of anti-Semitism while in school. The stay-at-home mom wants to make sure her 2-year-old son doesn't have to deal with similar situations.

"More than likely it was stupid kids, but it's just not acceptable," she said.

Anyone with information involving the matter is asked to call the South San Francisco Police Department at (650) 877-8900.

Swastika found at Drexel University

A Jewish student at Drexel University discovered a swastika and the word “Jew” written near an Israeli flag displayed outside his dorm room earlier this week.

From the Jewish Exponent:

“I was deeply distressed to learn of an incident that occurred in one of our residence halls, in which a student was targeted on the basis of religion with the posting of a hate symbol,” Drexel president John Fry said in a statement to the Drexel community after the student found the vandalism on May 12. “Whether this malicious act was a hate crime or just blatant ignorance, it is unacceptable and incompatible with the ethos of our University.”

According to the AMCHA initiative,  swastikas have been found on at least 14 campuses so far this year including:

Stanford
Northwestern
The University of Missouri
Framingham State University
Farleigh Dickinson
Northeastern
Tufts
SUNY Purchase College
UC-Berkeley
George Washington University
Vanderbilt
CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Cleveland State University
UC-Davis

Now Drexel  joins that ignoble list.

UC Davis Divest: Adding Insult to Injury

Driven to national prominence by Rev. Al Sharpton, the story shocked the nation. In 1987, Tawana Brawley,  a 15 year old girl was found lying inside a trash bag, her body smeared with feces, and defaced with racial insults. She claimed she had been raped and kidnapped by a group of white men in N.Y.

A state grand jury later determined that Brawley had fabricated her claims.

Should we be less compassionate towards  the victims of hate crimes because of Brawley’s actions?  Should we doubt the authenticity of their claims, because once we were fooled ?

Of course not.

Yet a group of extremists, in an open letter to the chancellors of UC Davis have suggested just that, implying that pro Israel activists fabricated the anti-Semitic attack on the Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi.

The fringe group of activists, including

ANSWER Sacramento
Davis Committee for Palestinian Rights
Friends of Sabeel Sacramento Region
HIMA Mesopotamia
Jewish Voice for Peace, Sacramento Chapter
Palestine American League
Palestinian American Congress
Palestine Israel Working Group of Nevada County
Sacramento Area Peace Action
Sacramento BDS
Veterans for Peace Chapter 87
Wellstone Progressive Democratic Club

had the audacity to  imply that the vandalism at the Jewish fraternity at UC Davis was self-imposed, writing "the spray painting might have been perpetrated in a deliberate, twisted, effort to discredit the student government action." After all,  they claim,  it may have happened once before.  It’s an egregious and shameful implication, serving only to add insult to injury. With  no supporting evidence, this group of extremists has discounted and questioned the veracity of the victims of a hate crime,  using this baseless speculation to further their own political agenda. Their final scurrilous appeal to the UC Davis Chancellors ended with the request that the rejection of BDS be rescinded, writing "Finally in this context, we urge you again to reconsider your public rejection of the ASUCD Senate resolution."

Its yet another in a series of shameless attacks on the Davis pro-Israel community, adding insult to injury once more.

Flytilla activists leave "gift" for Israel: Swastika drawn on airport walls

From YNET

"A swastika was found drawn on the wall of a holding facility for illegal aliens at Ben Gurion Airport, where several foreign pro-Palestinian activists who arrived in Israel as part of the "Welcome to Palestine" fly-in protest were held.

The activist responsible for the drawing was deported back to his country of origin on Monday. "This was the gift the 'peace activists' left Israel," a source at the Immigration Authority said.

The swastica was discovered by the detention facility employees after two foreign activists – citizens of France and Spain - were removed from the building. "