On his way to school Tuesday morning, Sen. Craig Zucker’s son saw through the bus window that Shaare Tefila Congregation’s signs had been vandalized.
Vandals spray-painted the synagogue’s entrance sign with “AZAB” — understood to stand for “all Zionists are bastards” — and a swastika. A banner on the property showing support for Israel was overwritten with this acronym and the word “genocide.”
Blue spray paint spelled out a third “AZAB” on a banner that reads “Hate has no home here.”
The junior Zucker told his father, who then notified Rabbi Jonah Layman of Shaare Tefila.
“Sadly, it was inevitable that our signs would be defaced,” Layman wrote in a statement to the synagogue community. “There is a rising tide of hatred and antisemitism in our country. We know that we need to stand up to the racists. We need to be strong and resilient. We defiantly say that we will not be moved.”
Ron Halber, the CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, condemned the vandalism.
“The defacing of Shaare Tefilia’s [sic] banners and signs that promote messages of standing up to hate, and peace and security in Israel, is outrageous,” Halber wrote in a statement to Washington Jewish Week. “While it is fortunate that no one was physically hurt, it is yet another sad reminder that antisemitic incidents have become common occurrences in our region.”
He expressed appreciation for the local officials and police officers who he said responded immediately. Halber also spoke to the importance of security funding for houses of worship and other community institutions.
“Let this incident serve as another reminder: antisemitism always fails,” Halber wrote. “Our Jewish community will never be intimidated into silence, and we will forever be proud to support Israel.”
In a statement Tuesday evening, the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington said its staff was “appalled” by the antisemitic vandalism.
“One of the signs defaced included a ‘Hate Has No Home Here’ poster, an act meant to sow divisiveness and threaten the local Jewish community,” the statement read. “We call on our community and allies to continue making it clear that antisemitism and hate have no place in Greater Washington.”
The community plans to clean and replace the affected signs, Layman said.
“We will continue to fight hate with pride and love,” he wrote.
