UC Berkeley building defaced with swastika, other anti-Semitic graffiti
Anti-Israel activists at the University of California, Berkeley invaded a vacant university building and sketched the inside walls with anti-Semitic graffiti, including a swastika.
“We are occupying the hall because saying ‘free Palestine’ is not enough,” a protester told The Daily Californian.
On Wednesday, roughly 60 anti-Israel activists at the University of California, Berkeley invaded a vacant university building and sketched the inside walls with anti-Semitic graffiti, including a swastika.
“We are occupying the hall because saying ‘free Palestine’ is not enough,” a protester told The Daily Californian. “You have to put action behind your words.”
Photographers documented some of the graffiti in the building, including phrases such as “Zionism is Nazism” and “Martyrs Never Die.” Another image appears to equate the Star of David to the Nazi swastika.
We are deeply disturbed that anti-Israel activists have taken over Anna Head Alumnae Hall at @UCBerkeley, vandalizing the interior with antisemitic graffiti.
The Star of David, the most recognizable symbol in Judaism, is seen equated with a swastika.
This is not protest, this… pic.twitter.com/rV8eR6OxQM— JCRC Bay Area (@SFJCRC) May 16, 2024
Dan Mogulof, a spokesperson for the school, told J. (The Jewish News of Northern California): “The suspects on the scene have engaged in breaking and entering, trespassing, vandalism — they’re not violating policies, they’re violating the law.”
He indicated that police were “monitoring” the situation but were not making arrests.
The San Francisco Chronicle confirmed that police had still not made any arrests as of the next day.
Another protest also took place on the same day at UC Merced during a board of regents meeting, which saw protesters shouting during the event and thereby forcing police to remove them from the room. Mogulof told J. that the anti-Israel protest movements at Merced and Berkeley, separated by a distance of more than 100 miles, were unrelated.
“This is a different group,” he said. “What they are engaged in is a very different sort of activity.”
Tye Gregory, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council in San Francisco, criticized Mogulof’s response, telling J. that his statements are “ludicrous.”
“Non-students are helping students organize the encampment at Berkeley. They may be different people, but the idea that the two events are not connected is ludicrous,” Gregory told J. “The moral of the story is don’t negotiate with antisemites, don’t negotiate with people that support lawlessness, like antifa.”
Campus Reform has reached out to UC Berkeley and Dan Mogulof for comment. This story will be updated accordingly.