XPost: ba.politics, talk.politics.guns, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
XPost: sac.politics
A large menorah erected at Lake Merritt’s amphitheater was torn apart and thrown into the water early this morning by vandals who, according to
Jewish leaders, also spray painted anti-Israel and antisemitic graffiti on
the sidewalk nearby.
This morning, a crew of city workers recovered the menorah’s metal parts
while police waited nearby for local Jewish leaders to arrive.
“I feel afraid,” said Rabbi Dovid Labkowski, of the Chabad Center of
Oakland, which set up the large outdoor display. “It makes me feel angry
that this would happen in Oakland, a place with so much diversity. It’s a
place we want to live together in peace.”
Labkowski said the graffiti included threats and antisemitic messages.
The Chabad Center, along with other members of Oakland’s Jewish
communities, has set up the menorah at Lake Merritt for the past 18 years
to celebrate Hanukkah. When it was put up this year on Sunday, Dec. 10,
more than 140 people attended the celebration, including Mayor Sheng Thao
and District 1 Councilmember Dan Kalb.
OPD confirmed that the vandalism is being investigated as a hate crime.
Thao issued a statement this morning condemning the vandalism, calling it
an attack on the entire city. “We stand together against hate, against antisemitism and against bigotry in any form,” she said.
The Arab Resource and Organizing Center, or AROC, which advocates for
Muslim and Arab communities in the Bay Area, also posted a statement to
social media saying its members are “deeply saddened and dismayed to learn
of the recent vandalism of the menorah at Lake Merritt in Oakland.”
Several Oakland Public Works employees who helped recover the large metal
parts of the menorah from the lake said this morning that they also
cleaned up graffiti that included antisemitic and anti-Israel messages.
Labkowski said his community plans to set up the menorah again tonight
starting at 5 p.m. and he invited Oaklanders of all faiths to join.
“We’re going to rebuild it bigger and better. We don’t cower from hate,”
he said.
https://oaklandside.org/2023/12/13/oakland-jewish-menorah-destroyed-lake- merritt-vandalism/
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