UC San Diego Hillel Sign Vandalized With Threatening Graffiti
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — Threatening graffiti was written on a sign announcing the future home of the University of California San Diego Hillel Jewish Center.
The graffiti discovered early Monday morning read “F—- You All” in letters resembling Nazi swastikas, according to local media.
Hillel staff members washed the graffiti off, according to the NBC San Diego affiliate.
“I was disappointed, I was sad. I grew up here in La Jolla I don’t want to see that graffiti on any institution,” Hillel Center Executive Director Rabbi David Singer told NBC 7.
Singer reported the graffiti to the local police and to the local office of the Anti-Defamation League. Police told NBC 7 that the graffiti incident is under investigation, but that so far they do not consider it a hate crime.
The construction of the Beverly and Joseph Glickman Hillel Center at UC San Diego received the unanimous approval of San Diego’s City Council and Planning Commission in 2017. The $15 million project has been in development for nearly two decades, according to the San Diego Jewish World.
The project is still fighting a lawsuit filed by neighbors who oppose it, according to the Times of San Diego.
Taxpayers for Responsible Land Use filed a lawsuit in Superior Court in November arguing that the project will “impair the character of the area” and that the City Council acted to “expressly endorse the promotion and growth of Judaism.”
“There are opponents out there. There are those who don’t like us. There are those who don’t want us, but we are heartened by the hundreds of community members, of administrators, of friends across this county, who support Hillel and the work that we do with students,” Singer told the ABC affiliate 10News.
Contact Alyssa Fisher at [email protected]
Did you know that only 2% of Forward readers donate to support our nonprofit newsroom? That 2% make it possible for millions to read the Forward without a paywall or subscription — removing any barriers to the full and fair Jewish story.
But while the Forward is free to read, it isn’t free to produce. Big stories — like deep dives into the antisemitism data, political scoops or reporting trips to college campuses — take months of research and fact-checking. All while we keep you informed of what you need to know each day.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Forward Publisher & CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
