Squirrel Hill yard signs supporting Israel defaced with red handprints
AntisemitismAbout 20 signs vandalized

Squirrel Hill yard signs supporting Israel defaced with red handprints

The red hands symbol has been associated with a lynching of Israelis in Ramallah during the Second Intifada.

Defaced yard sign in Squirrel Hill
Defaced yard sign in Squirrel Hill

About 20 “We Stand With Israel” yard signs were vandalized in Squirrel Hill earlier this week, with red handprints superimposed over the words and the image of the Israeli flag.

“This is the second day that the Squirrel Hill community has woken up to their ‘We Stand With Israel’ yard signs having been desecrated with what looks to be red handprints indicative of blood,” Shawn Brokos, director of community security for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, said Tuesday.

The red hands symbol has been associated with a lynching of Israelis in Ramallah during the Second Intifada.

Brokos said the Federation is working closely with Zone 4 of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police.

“Fortunately, our community is excellent in reporting,” Brokos said, “so I’ve gotten emails, phone calls, text messages. Everything we’re getting, I’m routing it directly to the detectives at Zone 4.”

She urged everyone who has “experienced this, or who has had neighbors experiencing this desecration,” and who has video surveillance coverage — including doorbell camera footage — to share those recordings with the Federation, which will facilitate getting them to the police.

When the suspect or suspects are apprehended, Brokos said, they could be charged at the local level with ethnic intimidation. At the federal level, their actions might be prosecuted as hate crimes.

Brokos encourages the community “to look out for one another, and that’s done by reporting suspicious incidents, vandalism, graffiti to the Jewish Federation and to 911.

“I would really encourage folks to report this to 911,” she stressed. “Each of these incidents in totality will be part of the investigation by Pittsburgh Bureau of Police. And the more that we alert 911 and file reports, the more patrol coverage we will be getting. I know they’re already looking to increase patrols as a result of this.”

Brokos praised the local Jewish community “who is amazing in reporting to us.”

“I’ve gotten voluminous calls, texts, emails, incident reports, and it’s so incredibly helpful because it helps us collect the dots so we can connect the dots,” she said.

Anyone experiencing an antisemitic incident should file a report here and call 911. PJC

Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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