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Friday May 18, 2007

Anti-Semitic graffiti found in Palo Alto park

Calling it a “vandalism hate crime,” Palo Alto police are looking into anti-Semitic graffiti scrawled near the home of an Orthodox Jewish family.

Nechamy Munitz contacted police after discovering the graffiti in Palo Alto’s Greer Park near her house May 13. The green spray-painted message read “Death, 12:00” followed by the image of a Magen David.

“When I first saw it, I took about five seconds to see if I was reading it wrong,” said Munitz, who works with Chabad of Palo Alto’s Friendship Circle. “I didn’t understand why someone would write that and what they were trying to say.”

Added Palo Alto police sergeant Sandra Brown, “We get acts of vandalism every day, mostly gang stuff. We don’t investigate unless someone comes forward, but we took a picture and we will document it.”

Munitz theorizes the graffiti may have been in response to Chabad’s Lag B’Omer festivities held in the park the week before. “I didn’t feel scared or angry,” she said. “I felt confused.”

Added Brown, “It’s probably just ignorance, or someone trying to be cool.”

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