One of the largest synagogues in Seattle, Herzl-Ner Tamid, was vandalized Wednesday with anti-Israel graffiti and blood smears.
The red spray-painted graffiti includes: "Shame," "Stop killing," "Shame on Israel" and "Cease fire forever." The epithets appear to refer to the current Gaza war, which began on October 7 after a surprise attack on Gaza border communities by the Hamas terror group which left over 1,200 people dead and nearly 240 taken hostage into Gaza.
The desecration of the synagogue Herzl Ner Tamid in Seattle
Read more:
The FBI has opened a hate crime investigation into the incident.
The Democratic member of the House of Representatives who represents the area, Premila Jayapal, said she was "horrified by Herzl-Ner's anti-Semitic vandalism always on Mercer Island." This synagogue and its community are so important to our community and my heart is with them. We must continue to condemn the rising hatred wherever we see it.'
The Conservative synagogue was founded in Seattle in 1906 and moved to Mercer Island in the 1970's. Some 20% of the island's households identify as Jewish, the Seattle Times reported.
“Despite this adversity, our commitment to leading fulfilled, connected Jewish lives remains steadfast,” the congregation posted on Facebook. “Thank you for standing strong with us. We would like to take a moment to thank everyone for the outpouring of support.”
2 View gallery
Anti-Israel graffiti spray painted on the doors of the Herzl-Ner Tamid synagogue in Seattle
Meanwhile, in a personal column published on the city of Seattle's official website and commissioned by the city's neighborhood department, Native American journalist Luna Reyna justifies the Hamas attack and says that Hamas "was created after decades of violence by the occupying Israeli government. The cruelty, violence and bloodshed of Palestinian people by the Israeli government has been unconscionable for over 75 years. It’s this occupation, the tactics of a colonial military backed by world powers, and now the ongoing genocide of Palestinian people in Gaza, that many Native people connect with."
Reyna also said that "Israel is a settler colonial state that has embraced erasing the people who inhabited the pre-colonized land through violent resource extraction, environmental desecration, displacement and genocide. Israel has accomplished this through widespread dehumanization. Palestinians have been called “human beasts” and “children of darkness” who live by the “laws of the jungle,” while settlers are told they have the “right” to the land based on the Book of Genesis, resulting in at least 120,286 Palestinian people being murdered by the Israeli government and settlers in just the last 15 years."
The City of Seattle has not yet responded to Ynet's request for comment.