Jewish Cemetery in Austria Set Ablaze and Defaced with Nazi Symbols

Austria’s main Jewish leader said Wednesday that a fire was set during the night in the Jewish section of Vienna’s central cemetery and swastikas were sprayed on external walls.

Jewish Community of Vienna President Oskar Deutsch wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the fire burned the entrance lobby to a ceremonial hall but did not cause any injuries. The fire service and police were investigating, he said.

Fire service spokesperson Gerald Schimpf told the Austria Press Agency that the fire appeared to have broken out during the night and had largely extinguished itself by the time firefighters were alerted shortly after 8 a.m.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said he condemned “the attack on the Jewish cemetery in the strongest terms.” He wrote on X that “ antisemitism has no place in our society” and added that he hoped the perpetrators would be found quickly.

Swastikas Discovered a New York High School

A pair of swastikas were discovered this week at East Meadow High School, Newsday reported.

The antisemitic symbols were found Monday in a classroom.

"The district cannot comment on ongoing investigations. The East Meadow School District is taking this matter seriously and will do all it can to provide a safe and nurturing school environment for our students," Superintendent of Schools Ken Rosner said in a statement.

This comes as FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress on Monday that the US is seeing "historic levels" of antisemitic cases.

'I was once again disheartened and outraged to learn about an incident of antisemitic vandalism at East Meadow High School," Nassau County Legislator Arnold Drucker (D-Plainview).

At a time when hatred targeting Jews is spiking around the world, it is essential for all of us to remain vigilant and immediately condemn and confront any bigoted act we observe or experience,” Nassau County Legislator Arnold W. Drucker (D – Plainview) said.

Crazed Florida Man Jailed for Threatening to "Mass Genocide Every Single Israeli"

A Sarasota man has been charged after authorities said he threatened a Jewish organization in New York during a voicemail he left.

United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced Deep Alpesh Kumar Patel, 21, of Sarasota, is facing charges of transmitting an interstate threat to injure in connection to a threatening voicemail he left on October 21.

Patel left the voicemail at the World Jewish Congress in New York City, identifying himself by name and screaming expletives, according to authorities. 

According to the criminal complaint affidavit, he could be heard saying, "If I had a chance, I would kill every single one of you Israelis. Every single one of you! Cause mass genocide of every single Israeli."

If convicted, Patel could face a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison.

Connecticut High School Defaced by Swastikas

Swastikas were found drawn on the tennis courts at the Academy of Information Technology & Engineering (AITE) on Oct. 27, according to the Stamford Public Schools District.

The antisemitic symbols were discovered by students who immediately reported them to AITE administrators, who then alerted the Stamford Police Department, school district leadership and the mayor's office, a joint message said from Superintendent of Schools Dr. Tamu Lucero, Board of Education Chair Jackie Heftman, and Mayor Caroline Simmons.

The Stamford Police Department is expected to issue a news release later today.

"We unequivocally denounce this abhorrent antisemitic act and we reached out personally to members of the Jewish faith community in Stamford to inform them of this incident," Lucero, Heftman and Simmons said.

The city officials said this is the second time that swastikas have been discovered on the AITE campus since Hamas’s terrorist attack against Israel on Oct. 7.

"As all Stamford Public Schools campuses are open to the public when school is not in session, we have no indication that either incident was perpetrated by a member of the school community," the officials said.

"[Friday]’s incident is yet another reminder that we must denounce hate in all its forms. Antisemitism, racism, hate speech, bullying, or the dissemination of hate-related symbols will not be tolerated in the city of Stamford or Stamford Public Schools. Everyone in our community – especially the young people who attend our schools – deserve respect and to live, work, and learn without fear of being targeted based on their faith, nationality, race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation," the message added.

The city and school district are aksing families to immediately report any antisemitic incidents at their school to the building principal or another administrator. If the school administration does not respond to reported concerns within 48 hours, the matter should be escalated to Lucero’s office via email at SPSSuper@stamfordct.gov.

"We want to be clear that under no circumstances should a student or staff member feel bullied, targeted, or singled out based on their faith," Lucero, Heftman and Simmons said.

Additionally, the city and school district will be working with local faith leaders and community organizations to offer anti-bias programming in Stamford's middle and high schools.

The effort will be led by Lucero, in partnership with Simmons's office, and the associate superintendents who supervise the schools — Dr. Michael Fernandes and Dr. Lori Rhodes.

More information on the programming will be shared soon, the officials said.

"We will continue to work together to create a community in which every resident feels respected, accepted, and welcome," Lucero, Heftman and Simmons said. "The students who reported this latest example of hate should be commended for setting a positive example for everyone in our community."

Nazi Symbols Discovered at Columbia University After Weeks of Ongoing Antisemitic Hostilities

A swastika was found drawn on a bathroom wall on the fourth floor of the International Affairs Building Friday afternoon, according to an email sent to the School of International and Public Affairs community by SIPA Dean Keren Yarhi-Milo.

Yarhi-Milo wrote on Friday evening that Columbia Public Safety “promptly” notified the New York Police Department and that “the incident is being investigated.” An NYPD spokesperson confirmed to Spectator that Public Safety filed a report and said the perpetrator is still unknown.

“I am shocked and dismayed that anyone would promote this most notorious symbol of antisemitism, hatred, and racial supremacy,” Yarhi-Milo wrote. “I conveyed to our community just a short while ago that behavior like this has no place at SIPA, at Columbia University, or in our society.”

A SIPA spokesperson referred Spectator to Yarhi-Milo’s email but declined to provide further comment on the incident.

The incident occurred amid a rise in antisemitism and other forms of hate on campus, as cited in an Oct. 18 email from University President Minouche Shafik.

“Unfortunately, some are using this moment to spread antisemitism, Islamophobia, bigotry against Palestinians and Israelis, and various other forms of hate,” Shafik wrote. “Especially at a time of pain and anger, we must avoid language that vilifies, threatens, or stereotypes entire groups of people.”

Shafik wrote in her Oct. 18 email that this language is “antithetical to Columbia’s values and can lead to acts of harassment or violence,” adding that when “this type of speech is unlawful or violates University rules, it will not be tolerated.”

Jewish Columbia affiliates have reported hearing anti-Jewish slurs when attending on-campus protests, as well as fearing for their safety when wearing visibly Jewish symbols such as the Star of David. The day before the swastika was discovered, hundreds of protestors gathered outside the West 116th Street and Broadway gates demanding to “end Jew hatred” on campus.

Earlier this month, an Israeli School of General Studies student was assaulted by a former student in front of Butler Library. The former student is now facing hate crime charges from the Manhattan District Attorney's office.

Shafik released another statement earlier on Friday titled “Standing with Solidarity,” calling out antisemitism and hateful incidents occurring on campus. Her email came before Yarhi-Milo notified the SIPA community about the vandalism.

“The perpetrators of these incidents are not only attacking members of our community, they are attacking the values it is built on—respect for our shared humanity,” Shafik wrote.

A recently-leaked email from the president of LionLez, a University club for queer women and nonbinary students of color, included the phrase, “WHEN I SAY THE HOLOCAUST WASN’T SPECIAL, I MEAN THAT.” The email prompted criticism across social media and from other students, including two other LionLez board members who alleged that her “inappropriate comments” were made without consulting the board. The president has denied that her remarks were antisemitic.

“As President Shafik underscored today, ‘antisemitism, like any form of bigotry, is an assault on everything we stand for at Columbia.’ And I firmly stand with her when she says each of us has a role to play in standing in solidarity against hate that targets any member of our community and to call it out whenever we see it,” Yarhi-Milo wrote. “All of us deserve to feel safe in our person and on our campus.”

A North Carolina Church's Israeli Flag Torn to Shreds

A church in Nash County said someone vandalized a flag of Israel outside their church overnight on Saturday.

Pastor Daniel Parker of Christian Fellowship Church Sandy Cross said the flag was found by a maintenance worker cut up and tossed into a drainage area by the church.

Security camera footage outside the church showed a man walking by the entrance of the church, leaving the frame and then returning with the wadded flag in his hands.

“He found the flag of Israel [and] ripped into it,” Parker said. “Not the American flag, not the Christian flag.”

"Civil order breaking down in Gaza"

Parker said he shared the surveillance video with the Nash County Sheriff’s Office and they are investigating.

Minors Target Jewish Congregants at Florida Synagogue

Detectives with the Broward Sheriff's Office are investigating an incident involving antisemitic slurs outside a Parkland synagogue on Saturday afternoon.

This reportedly took place around midday near Congregation Kol Tikvah, located along University Drive.

According to BSO, five juveniles wearing face coverings were riding bicycles in the area -- when they began screaming antisemitic slurs.

The President of Congregation Kol Tikvah sent a message to congregants, explaining that a handful of congregants were subjected to obscenities -- and that the individuals never stopped their bicycles or stepped foot on the property.

Congressman Jared Moskowitz belongs to the Temple, and reacted to the incident in a statement released on Saturday.

"What we witnessed in Parkland today, happened just one day after the 5-year anniversary of the targeted murders at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh," Moskowitz said. "We are, once again, reminded that antisemitism continues to rear its ugly head in the most violent ways."

BSO says deputies searched the area, but were unable to find the subjects.

Man Fired by Jewish Father for Tearing Down Israeli Hostage Posters in New York

A man in New York was suspended from his job by his Jewish father after he was caught on film tearing down photographs of Israeli hostages, the MailOnline reported.

Noah Schaffer, 41, laughed at the woman filming him as she berated him after he appeared to tear down posters of missing Israeli children thought to have been taken hostage during Hamas' October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel.

He was subsequently put on four months unpaid leave, his father, Eric Schaffer, told staff at Human Factors, digital design company he founded.

"As has been noted, Noah is my son. He is not an antisemite nor a supporter of Hamas. I can attest that he has not acted this way at any time during his whole life," Schaffer said.

"He now understands that his actions were reprehensible, he is deeply sorry and regretful," Schaffer said, adding that the time off of work would be a chance for his son to "learn about his Jewish family history, reflect deeply and make amends."

It comes as protests demanding a ceasefire in the conflict are mounting around the world, with thousands of protesters taking part in demonstrations in cities such as London and New York.

In New York, hundreds turned out at a "sit-in" at New York's Grand Central Terminal, forcing the closure of one of the city's major transport hubs. Protesters at the event wore black T-shirts with slogans like "Jews Say Cease Fire now" and "Not in our name" on them.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people joined together in London and other cities in the UK, calling for the end to Israel's attacks on Gaza.

Chants of "Stop arming Israel. Stop bombing Gaza," and "We are all Palestinian" could be heard at the march, the BBC reported.

Cornell Students Discover Anti-Israel Slurs Around Campus

The sidewalks of Cornell University’s upstate New York campus were defaced with anti-Israel and antisemitic graffiti on Wednesday just days after a professor from Ivy League college had described the Hamas attack as “energizing.”

The campus was spray-painted with messages such as “Zionism equals Racism”, “Israel is Fascist” and “f**k Israel” amid a heated campus row over the Israel-Hamas war. This defacement comes days after Professor Russell Rickford of Cornell took a leave of absence after his comments on Hamas’ brutal attack.

The graffiti written in red and white on Campus Road, which has since been cleaned up, was first noticed just on Wednesday morning, UK’s Daily Mail reported. It comes after Rickford told an October 15 rally in upstate New York, that he was thrilled by Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, in which 1,400 Israelis were killed, the report added.

Rickford’s words sparked outrage and led to his decision to take a leave of absence. In a lengthy letter, he seemed to reinforce his earlier remarks. The incidents come amid the growing divide in US university campuses amid the support of Israel and Palestine.

New York Teenager Student Charged for Defacing School Property with Nazi Imagery

A 16-year-old faces a felony charge after carving a hate symbol into tennis courts at a Hudson Valley high school, police said.

The arrest resulted from an incident in Putnam County on Wednesday, Sept. 20 around 5 p.m., when authorities were notified of graffiti that was found at Carmel High School by students and staff. 

According to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, responding deputies and investigators found a swastika and the words "Adolf Hitler" scratched into the surface of the school's tennis courts.

The sheriff's office then began interviewing students and staff and going over video footage in an effort to find the suspect, who was later identified and arrested on Friday, Oct. 20 after turning themselves in, authorities said. 

The suspect, an unidentified 16-year-old who is a student at the school, was arrested for first-degree aggravated harassment, a felony. They are now scheduled to appear in Putnam County Family Court. 

In addition to the graffiti on the tennis courts, a swastika was found carved into the leg of a lab table at Carmel High School in early October, according to Carmel school district officials.

Florida School Teacher Removed after Targeting Jewish Students

A teacher at a northeast Miami-Dade elementary school has been removed from her seventh-grade classroom after making an anti-Israeli comment to her Jewish students.

As war rages in the Middle East between Israel and terrorist group Hamas, the teacher told students to pray for Palestine and called Israelis “baby killers,” a mother who spoke to Local 10 News Friday said.

It happened at the public Aventura Waterways K-8 Center, located at 21101 NE 26th Ave. in the unincorporated Ojus area, just outside of the Aventura city limits.

Aventura and the surrounding area have a large number of Jewish residents.

The student’s mother, who is originally from Israel, was “frighten(ed)” to hear what her daughter told her happened inside of her classroom.

“On Monday, my daughter (told) me that he teacher asked the kids to pray for the Palestinian(s),” the woman, who asked not to be identified, said. “My daughter felt very uncomfortable.”

She said multiple children reported hearing the same thing.

Another parent added over the phone, “I’m extremely worried and my kids are frightened.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for Miami-Dade County Public Schools said the district “takes any allegations of employee misconduct seriously.”

“As such, the teacher in question has been removed from the school, and will not be permitted contact with students, pending the outcome of an investigation,” the spokesperson said.

Several other parents told Local 10 News that another teacher at the school forced a Jewish student to take off his yarmulke, or kippah, a Jewish head covering.

“The boy was wearing a kippah and she told him, ‘You have to take off your kippah. You’re not allowed to wear a hat,’” another parent said.

Local 10 News is not naming the teacher removed from the classroom since the investigation is ongoing, but parents say she is relatively new at the school.

They said they are relieved the school took immediate action.

Upscale Beverly Hills Neighborhood Hit with Threatening Antisemitic Message

Residents of a Beverly Hills apartment complex were on edge after antisemitic graffiti was found spray-painted outside the building.

The vandalism was discovered Wednesday outside the Bedford Manor apartments on Bedford Drive, just south of Olympic Boulevard.

"It's just terribly emotional and it's frightening," Klara Firestone, the manager of the building, said in an interview with ABC7. "It's frightening to know that it's happening in my own home - literally in my own home."

As many of 60% of the Bedford Manor tenants are Jewish, Firestone said, including her 99-year-old mother, Renee Firestone, a Holocaust survivor.

The suspect, who hasn't been identified and remains in custody, broke into the home wearing only his boxers and began yelling hateful comments about Israel and Jews.

Klara Firestone shared with ABC7 a black-and-white family photo. She said nearly all of the three-dozen people in the image were killed in the Holocaust.

Klara and her parents escaped to the U.S. to start a new life.

"That's really what stings - that the world has not learned the lessons and has not changed one iota," she said. "There are still those that would relish my demise and dance on my grave."

Workers painted over the graffiti at the apartment complex after it was discovered.

The Beverly Hills Police Department are investigating the incident. The agency said it has received three reports of antisemitic incidents this week. Whether the incidents were connected was unclear.

"I think that this global conflict now, in the Middle East, certainly has polarized everybody," Klara Firestone said. "It's a human issue. It's a civil society issue."

Jewish and Muslim civil rights groups say they've seen large increases in reports of harassment, bias and sometimes physical assaults against members of their communities since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.

New York College Students Forced to Hide in School Library from Anti-Israel Mob

Jewish students at a New York City college were locked in their school’s library for 20 minutes on October 25 as pro-Palestinian demonstrators pounded on the doors and shouted slogans.

The incident on Wednesday night at Cooper Union, a private college in downtown Manhattan, occurred after pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel students held dueling rallies. It came on a day when, at a New York University demonstration nearby, a protester waved a sign showing a Star of David in a trash can. Meanwhile, further uptown at Columbia, supporters of Israel rallied and decried that school’s administration.

Footage from the incident at Cooper Union showed a group of Jewish students in the library, while protesters outside pounded on the building’s doors and windows, chanting “Free Palestine,” waving signs advocating a boycott of Israel and calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Building staff had made the decision to lock the doors.

Jewish students at Cooper Union College have been locked inside the library for their own safety as a mob of anti Israeli protesters block the doors.

Where are the police?!!!pic.twitter.com/Uv4CFRqGzm

— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) October 25, 2023

Israel went to war against Hamas after the terror group slaughtered over 1,400 people, most of them civilians, in southern Israel on October 7, in what US President Joe Biden has highlighted as “the worst massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”

The NYPD has been in touch with the school and present on its campus, and told the New York Jewish Week that there was no property damage, nor criminal reports or injuries during the incident. But Jewish students who spoke to CBS said they felt threatened.

“It was tense, people were nervous,” said one student who appeared in footage of the incident and spoke to CBS but did not give her name. “They were specifically acting very aggressive in those spaces where outwardly Jewish students were sitting.”

CBS reported that the pro-Palestinian protesters released a statement saying, “Our protest was not targeting any individual student or faculty but the institution itself.” The statement also disavowed antisemitism.

In a statement to the New York Jewish Week, Cooper Union said, “The library was closed for approximately 20 minutes late this afternoon while student protestors moved through our building. Some students who were previously in the library remained there during this time.”

500 Boxes of Antisemitic Propaganda Discovered in Several Upscale South Carolina Neighborhoods

“Suspicious” packages dropped off along N. Smokerise Way in Mount Pleasant earlier this week were deemed to be non-explosive, according to a Charleston County Sheriff’s Office Deputy.

Upon further investigation by the Mount Pleasant Police Department (MPPD), “every single doorway [along a particular stretch of N. Smokerse Way] appeared to contain one of these packages,” police said.

A corresponding police incident report goes on to say that the packages consisted of small Ziploc bags stuffed with antisemitic propaganda flyers and conspiracy theories. The packs were weighed down with smoker pellets used in barbecuing food.

The mysterious boxes, police noted, also included the following message: “These flyers were distributed randomly, without malicious intent.”

The Jewish advocacy group StopAntisemitism has been tracking the activities of those responsible - the Goyim Defense League’ or ‘GDL’ for nearly five years and state they vilify Jews with their premeditated hate campaigns.

Officers at the scene proceeded to collect and discard all the dropped-off materials.

A Lindner Lane resident reportedly furnished cops with a Ring video of an individual in a black sedan unloading the packages and placing them on people’s doorsteps.

Similar packages were found in other Mount Pleasant neighborhoods, including: Rivertowne, Planters Pointe, Bees Crossing, Fulton Hall, Ivy Hall and the Colonnade residential complex.

In total, police gathered about 500 of these boxes.

Nazi-Symbols Found Throughout Several Maryland Neighborhoods

A Montgomery County community rallied together to erase antisemitic graffiti that was found in different parts of their neighborhood.

Community leaders say a teenager who lives in the Kentlands area of Gaithersburg was walking home from school with her friend Tuesday when she noticed a number of swastikas on the ground written in chalk. Racist language was also found drawn onto a playground in the Lakelands.

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich discusses antisemitic graffiti found in a Gaithersburg neighborhood.

Dozens of people filled the outdoor area singing songs and reading psalms in a show of force against hate.

Montgomery County community rallies against hate after antisemitic graffiti found in Gaithersburg

Some children even joined in using chalk to write positive words on the sidewalk.

"Our children are our future. They follow their hearts and we should follow their lead to build a more loving and compassionate society and community," said Rabbi Annie Lewis of Shaare Torah who helped bring the group together.

Police say this is an on-going investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact authorities.

An Oregon City Council Meeting Interrupted by Antisemitic Callers

Monday night, Eugene's city council was derailed not once, but twice due to antisemitic and racist remarks from Eugene citizens during the public forum section of the October 23 City Council meeting.

Typically, these sections allow for community members to speak about concerns, longstanding issues, or whatever they might be passionate about.

Early during Monday's meeting, a speaker who was not in attendance at the meeting, but speaking virtually, went on a nearly two and a half minute long anti-Semitic rant.

Soon after, council president Randy Groves called an immediate recess to the public forum. Five minutes later, the forum would open back up, with Groves saying the following before allowing public comment to continue:

"This council does not condone vile comments. It does not condone derogatory comments against individuals, or a people, and I would just ask that everybody maintain a sense of decorum, and respect in these proceedings. Testifying at public forum is not a right, it's a privilege, and I ask that everyone exercise that privilege responsibly. Thank you," said Groves.

Forum continued for an additional 35 minutes before Groves cut the forum short after a second series of racist remarks from a different online speaker.

Antisemitic Hackers Hijack New Jersey Virtual City Council Meeting

Unknown individuals using fake names hacked into the virtual portion of the City Council meeting on Tuesday night and used racial slurs and antisemitic remarks.

There appeared to be three or four hackers who interrupted Mayor Hector Lora's remarks a few minutes into the meeting. The audio and visual portion of the meeting was temporarily taken over and occasionally flashed back to Lora, who was trying to speak.

The hackers, who all appeared to be men, shouted racial expletives and untruths regarding the Sept. 11 attacks. Three of Passaic’s seven council members are Orthodox Jews.

The city Police Department is investigating the meeting and the vandalization of cars belonging to members of the council during the meeting.

After the meeting, Lora said he wasn't fully cognizant of what was going on initially, but a quick look at the fake and offensive names used by the hackers led him to believe they were out to "elicit a reaction."

As he was making these remarks, the hackers flashed a photo of the Federal Reserve Board on the Zoom meeting, followed by more antisemitic remarks.

Local officials believe the incident is one of many in response to the Israel-Hamas war that resulted from the attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

Other recent incidents have been reported in North Jersey, including in Englewood, Teaneck and Lakewood. But for Passaic, the disruption Tuesday was especially surprising, officials said.

"We see an attack on any one of our communities as an attack on all," Lora remarked shortly after the hackers were removed from the virtual meeting.

He was joined by City Council President Gary Schaer, who told the public that the use of racial slurs and antisemitic comments would not be tolerated. It is abhorrent, Schaer said.

After the meeting, cars belonging to council members were found to have been vandalized, Councilman Terrence Love said. Love said his Lexus was damaged along with several other vehicles.

"I don't have issues with people," Love said. "I am shocked. Where is this coming from?"

Lora said the incidents have been referred to Passaic police, who were reviewing the meeting recording and the video of the parking lot, where the vehicles were scratched.

Jewish-Owned Restaurant in Canada Faces Disturbing Wave of Antisemitic Threats

When the Israel-Gaza war began, Ofra Sixto, the owner of Ofra’s Kitchen in Vancouver’s West End, put an Israeli flag in the window of her restaurant as a way to show support for her homeland and her relatives back in Israel.

“All of my family is there,” said Sixto, who posted on social media asking for an Israeli flag, because she didn’t have one on hand.

But she says displaying that flag, and posters of Israeli civilians kidnapped by Hamas, have made her and her restaurant a target, both online and in person.

“They got into my Instagram and Facebook accounts and started sending messages to all my contact people not to come to my restaurant,” said Sixto. “They walk by and say, ‘Death to the Jews.’ Go inside my restaurant and say, ‘I wish all the Jewish people dead,’ and then they run.”

The Vancouver Police Department is investigating two reports of hate speech directed at Ofra’s Kitchen.

“We have not yet identified suspects, but we have things to work with. We know in one case a witness took a photo of a suspect while they were walking away, so that’s something we can work with,” said Sgt. Steve Addison, who added police have seen an uptick in hate speech since the war began.

“We have seen an increase in the number of incidents of people reporting suspicious people, hateful speech and generally a feeling in the community, in some community members, that they are feeling less safe,” said Addison. “What we want to make clear to everybody is that we will not tolerate incidents of hate. We will not tolerate hate crimes, they will be fully investigated.”

Vancouver-West End MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert says what happened at Ofra’s kitchen is unacceptable.

“I think it’s just horrific and horrible that people would use what’s happening internationally to spread hate locally,”said Chandra Herbert. “Her business is being targeted because she’s Jewish. And there is no place for that in Canada, there really isn’t. I’m going to go there on Friday when I’m back from the legislature and have lunch there, because she needs our support.”

Sixto says she’s not backing down in her support for Israel, and the flag is staying in the window. “I’m not afraid,” she said. “I can’t show fear anymore. We cannot show fear.”