Antisemitic messages written in large lettering on fencing across from East Meadow elementary school
Antisemitic messages were discovered scrawled in massive lettering on multiple fencing across from an East Meadow elementary school Monday morning, including over posters of the hostages taken from Israel during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, Town of Hempstead officials said.
The vandalism, which comes only days after Iran launched an attack against Israel, amounts to the worst act of antisemitism in recent Hempstead Town history, Supervisor Don Clavin said at a news conference in front of the graffiti Monday afternoon.
“We are in the center of suburbia and I've never seen such a brazen attack on our Jewish faith and antisemitism than I've seen today,” Clavin said. “ … I've never been so disgusted in my entire life as a public official and it's so brazen. Every resident throughout the region should be concerned about the sentiment.”
The messages, including an expletive used to describe Israel and “Zionism is Nazism,” were found on white fencing on Merrick Avenue, belonging to multiple homeowners, across from Barnum Woods Elementary School. They were written in 5-foot green bubble lettering on private fencing located along a busy residential and commercial thoroughfare home to a large contingent of Jewish Long Islanders.
The vandal also scrawled “Free Palestine” over posters of the Israeli hostages that have been mounted on the fencing since the Oct. 7 attacks and wrote antisemitic messages on the sidewalk on Prospect Lane.
Nassau County police confirmed they've launched an investigation into the messages, which were discovered by a First Precinct officer at 6:20 a.m. No arrests have been made.
While there are no surveillance cameras in the areas, Clavin said he expects Ring doorbell cameras across the fencing likely captured images of the perpetrator.
Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly, who attended the news conference along with dozens of local elected officials, community and religious leaders, said she will charge the perpetrators with a hate crime, allowing for upgraded felony charges.
“I am appalled,” she said. “I have never seen anything like this. When I walked up here past wall after wall of disgraceful messages I got more outraged at every moment. Hate crimes are not acceptable in our county.”
The vandalism, Clavin said, will be removed Monday afternoon by town officials.
Rabbi Aaron Marsh of the East Meadow Beth-El Jewish Center, located only blocks from the vandalism, described the messages as “acts of intimidation” against Jews who live, work and pray in the area. “It's the same as burning a cross on someone's front lawn,” Marsh said. “The message being sent is, ‘We know where you live.’ ”
Detective’s are asking that anyone with information about the incident to contact Nassau County Crime Stoppers at 800-244-8477 (TIPS) or call 911. All callers will remain anonymous.
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
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