December 18, 2019 9:36 am
Jewish schools in Los Angeles-area vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti just days after Beverly Hills synagogue targeted.
David Rosenberg
Three Los Angeles-area schools were vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti this week, just days after a local synagogue was vandalized during a break-in over the weekend.
The targets included the campuses of the American Jewish University (formerly known as the University of Judaism) in Bel-Air, the Westwood Charter School, and Milken Community High School, a private Jewish school.
On Tuesday morning, staff members found graffiti at the American Jewish University, including the phrases “time to pay” and “time to do the time”, which were painted on the university’s sign on Mulholland Drive, university President Jeffrey Herbst said, according to LAist.
It was not yet clear if the graffiti was linked to the recent act of vandalism at a LA-area synagogue over the weekend, Herbst said.
“Of course we are aware of the rise in anti-Semitic attacks nationwide, and the vandalism most recently in the synagogue in Beverly Hills,” he said. “We don’t know if this incident is related to any of the national trends or what’s happened elsewhere in Los Angeles, but of course we’re concerned.”
Ten miles south of the university, Westwood Charter, an elementary school, was vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti, including swastikas painted on the playground, school officials announced Tuesday.
Similar graffiti was also reportedly found at Milken Community High School, a private Jewish school close to the American Jewish University’s campus on Mulholland Drive.
Tony Im of the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed that two schools on Mulholland Drive had been vandalized.
Over the weekend, the Nessah Synagogue in Beverly Hills was vandalized during a break-in, with prayer books damaged, one Torah scroll partially torn, and furniture overturned.
