The outrage amounts to one more antisemitism statistic in New York, where attacks on Jews have risen by 275 percent over the last year.
By Ben Cohen, The Algemeiner
Rafi Hasid was stoical as he stood outside Miriam, his Israeli-inspired restaurant on New York’s Upper West Side, contemplating the antisemitic graffiti that was daubed on its outer wall the previous night.
“As my mother would say, it’s not the end of the world, but it’s not nice,” Hasid told The Algemeiner on Wednesday as diners arriving for lunch were greeted by the site of an NYPD patrol car outside the restaurant, along with the words “F— Jews” scrawled three times in large black letters.
The outrage at Miriam amounts to one more antisemitism statistic in New York, where attacks on Jews have risen by an eye-watering 275 percent over the last year.
In January alone, 15 antisemitic incidents were recorded, while several more have been reported this month, among them an assault on a young Jewish man in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn and the vandalizing of a dental office in Forest Hills, Queens — again with the words “F— Jews” scrawled in large black letters.
Asked what measures he would take to protect his restaurant from vandals in the future, Hasid was blunt. “There’s not much I can do if someone comes in the middle of the night to put graffiti,” he said.
A native of Petah Tikva in Israel, Hasid emigrated to the U.S. 22 years ago. He said that he experienced antisemitic harassment at his other restaurant in Brooklyn, including telephoned death threats and insulting emails.
“One email I got said that the food tastes like the occupation, free Palestine,” Hasid recalled.
Local leaders condemned the vandalizing of Hasid’s restaurant.
“When you see antisemitism, you have to call it out,” State Sen. Brad Hoylman, who represents a nearby district in the Albany Senate, posted on Twitter.
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine denounced the “disgusting” graffiti.
“We must condemn this hatred everywhere it emerges,” Levine tweeted. “We can’t accept this as normal.