A SYNAGOGUE and several shops in north London have been daubed with antisemitic graffiti during the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.
The Jewish holy symbol alongside the numbers “911” was spray-painted in red and purple on several premises in the Hampstead and Belsize Park area, including South Hampstead Synagogue.
The graffiti could be a reference to an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that Jews are responsible for the 9/11 terror attack. Alternatively, it could be a reference to Kristallnacht, which took place on the 9th of November.
Police have said they are investigating the racially motivated hate crime after receiving reports of the vandalism at 11.30pm on Saturday.
Conservative councillor for Hampstead Oliver Cooper said he spent Sunday morning patrolling the neighbourhood after “appalled” residents alerted the Community Security Trust (CST) charity, which works to protect the Jewish community.
Cooper said: “My first reaction was shock and horror. I’ve had to report antisemitic graffiti in Hampstead a number of times before, including by a banned neo-Nazi group, but I have never seen anything approaching this extent.”
He added: “I was alerted to these incidents by a number of neighbours, who had reported it to the Community Security Trust.
“I spent this morning walking around Hampstead to find all the locations so that they could be removed as quickly as possible, and to reassure residents that were naturally appalled by it that the police and CST were already aware and taking it as seriously as it deserved to be.”
Cooper said he came across the graffiti in nine places, and others also posted photographs of the markings on Twitter.
Labour MP for Hampstead and Kilburn Tulip Siddiq condemned the vandalism as “unbelievable, senseless, disgusting antisemitism at the heart of our community”.
The Metropolitan Police said no arrests have yet been made.
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