Three vehicles were set on fire and eight park benches and the sidewalk was tagged with anti-Semitic and white supremacist graffiti early Friday in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn on Nov. 10, 2011. Assailants spray-painted swastikas, SS, one van had “KKK” scrawled on it, and the slogan 'F*** the Jews' in a neighborhood with the largest concentration of Holocaust survivors outside Israel resides.
Midwood is a heavily Jewish neighborhood with a quiet middle-class ambiance. It is home to several large orthodox synagogues plus several Syrian Orthodox synagogues. It also contains The East Midwood Jewish Center and The Kingsway Jewish Center.
But there is also a section which is heavily populated by Muslims, most originating in Azad Kashmir and Pakistan. The area has the largest Mosque in Brooklyn, the Muslim Community Center of Brooklyn Inc. (also known as Makki Masjid). Contributing to the blend of various ethnic groups are two Roman Catholic Church congregations, a Greek Orthodox church, and an Episcopal 'Church.
Investigators from the New York Police Department's Hate Crimes Task Force were probing the incident in Midwood and a City Council member offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to arrests after several swastikas and racist statements were discovered by firefighters who responded to the scene at about 5:10 a.m., officials said.
Mayor of NYC Michael Bloomberg characterized the unknown perpetrators as "twisted" and said it was unknown if the attack was meant to coincide with the 73rd anniversary of Kristallnacht, when Jewish businesses and homes were destroyed in Germany on Nov. 9-10 in 1938.
"Either way, this kind of hateful act has no place in the freest city in the freest country in the world," he said in a statement.
Council Member David Greenfield is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect or suspects in the arson and vandalism. "We will not accept anti-Semitism in our community. There is zero tolerance for such acts of hatred and ignorance," he said in a statement.
The Anti-Defamation League, in turn, offered a $4,000 reward. A poll conducted by the group recently found that there were 133 anti-Jewish incidents reported across New York, 53 of which took place in Brooklyn.
Separately, the police said Friday that they had arrested a man accused of scrawling swastikas in five incidents last week in Jackson Heights, Queens. The man, Franco Rodriguez, 40, spray painted the symbols on the doors of several local libraries and a Catholic church, the police said.
Further reading:
Anti-Semitic graffiti in Toronto
Five Jewish institutions targeted in Montreal vandalism attack
Amy M. Stein: Fighter against Hatred in Boulder Colorado
