Throughout the last week of October, anti-Semitic vandalism and hate speech have spread over Ithaca, remaining mostly underreported and barely mentioned on social media. The first incident occurred on October 19-20. Outside of a local business owned by Patti Jacobson, a Jewish chiropractor, a sign that read “End White Silence” was spray-painted with a slur for Jewish people. According to the Ithaca Journal, Jacobson said, “The sign is referring to the complicity of white people like me not saying something about the horrible things that have been happening to people of color –– now more than ever. When you see something you have to say something. As a Jew, we’re really, really taught that –– it’s caring for your neighbors, loving your neighbor as yourself.”
On October 25, a Moosewood employee reported a poster he found glued to the restaurant’s window, showing a photograph of Anne Frank’s face posted onto a model in a bikini, complete with offensive headlines, including, “How to be Jewish and Miscegenate in 2020 and Why It’s Important,” referring to the common and vile stereotype that Jewish people only intermarry. The stereotype exists to exclude Jewish people, attempting to other an entire group of people to justify racist and anti-Semitic prejudices. The poster’s use of the image of a young girl murdered at the hands of Nazis as an attempt at humor is seen as inappropriate and insensitive by many.
This was not the end of the anti-Semitic incidents in Ithaca, which is commonly thought of as a progressive bubble. Jewish-owned businesses like Sunny Days have been vandalized with Celtic crosses, a symbol that originated from Christianity but has been adapted by Neo-Nazis and KKK members as a symbol of hate towards Jewish and Black communities. At the Back the Blue Rally on Saturday, October 24, a man who called himself a Proud Boy was seen wearing a similar symbol on his jacket. The Proud Boys, a far-right nationalistic group founded by Gavin McInnes, see themselves as the enforcers of the right wing, and believe in using violence. They are known to disagree with Antifa and left wing protestors. McInnes has no shortage of controversial and problematic statements from his career in the media, including making a video for Rebel Media called “10 Things I Hate About Jews,” and even arguing that maybe Jewish people “were ostracized for a good reason.” It seems to be no coincidence that anti-Semitic graffiti skyrocketed in Ithaca at the same time members of an anti-Semitic organization came to town.
The mayor of Ithaca, Svante Myrick, tweeted on October 27 that Jewish homes have also been vandalized with similar anti-Semitic symbols, and the Ithaca Police Department (IPD) took a suspect of the vandalizations into custody the same day. The IPD reported finding evidence of crime in the suspect’s home, such as more hate posters and numerous items consistent with explosives, including fuse wire, caps, a timer, tubing, and an undisclosed amount of a powdered chemical. Police officers also found rifle parts at a separate, undisclosed location. The IPD was assisted by the New York State Police Department and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. It is suspected that the offender had more violent plans that were interrupted by his arrest. The suspect remains unnamed and in custody, with the latest public news of the case released on October 30, with charges of hate crimes and awaits their trial.
After this string of incidents, Congressman Tom Reed spoke about these anti-Semitic attacks. His comments were seen as quite vague by reporters at the Ithaca Voice, and he continued to switch over to discussing how he had personally been intimidated when a rat in a noose was left outside his house and bricks were thrown through the windows of a campaign headquarter in Corning.
These displays of hate, especially combined with the stress surrounding the presidential election and the global pandemic, have greatly affected local Jewish students. Students have gathered together in clubs around Ithaca to discuss their personal experiences with anti-Semitism at Cornell University’s Hillel, a religious organization, Ithaca College’s Jewish Student Union, founded by Jordan Stecker, and Ithaca High School’s very own Jewish Student Union, founded by Sam Shvets. The IHS Jewish Student Union has been continued by me (Hannah Shvets ‘23), and began weekly meetings November 15 over Zoom. Anti-Semitism is a long-lasting and ever-present issue that is often left unaddressed and minimized by news outlets, and in times like these, residents of Ithaca are encouraged to come together and support marginalized communities.