Swastika stickers found near Harvard Hillel, prompting police investigation
Anti-Semitic stickers were found near the Harvard University Hillel, prompting an immediate police investigation.
Anti-semitic stickers were found near the Harvard University Hillel, prompting an immediate police investigation.
The stickers, which portrayed the Israeli flag with a swastika replacing the Star of David, were discovered on campus buildings, light poles, and signs in Harvard Square on Monday Morning, according to Boston 25 News. The stickers were also found near the Harvard Hillel, as well as other locations on and off campus.
The stickers also contained the message: “Stop Funding Israeli Terrorism.” A police report was filed around 2:10 a.m. of “an unknown individual placing stickers at various locations.”
The incident marks the latest in a series of anti-Semitic acts targeting the university’s Jewish community. Harvard Hillel’s Executive Director Rabbi Jason Rubenstein expressed deep concern, noting that these actions have escalated over recent months.
“First we saw for a long stretch of time this was happening on social media, and then there were calls for escalation. Now, we’re seeing it happen physically — in a physical manifestation — just a few feet from the Hillel building,” Rubenstein said.
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Last week, the John Harvard statue in Harvard Yard was vandalized with fake blood, and windows were smashed in a nearby building in “an act of political solidarity with Palestine.” The Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) had released a statement around the same time calling for an ”escalation” in response to Israeli policies.
Jewish students and community leaders expressed frustration and fear following this latest act of hate.
Abe Kohl, a Harvard student whose grandparents were Holocaust survivors, described the incident as especially painful. “What a shame it is that something so horrible is being equated to us,” he said.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) New England chapter released a statement calling for a full investigation and accountability.
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“Jewish students, like all students, deserve to feel safe on campus,” the ADL stated on social media.
Harvard also reaffirmed its stance against antisemitism, with university spokesperson Jason Newton saying, “Harvard has and will continue to be unequivocal that antisemitism will not be tolerated on our campus.”
