Not the work of the local graffiti artist.
Via Indy Star:
Carmel police are investigating after anti-Semitic graffiti was discovered over the weekend at a Hamilton County synagogue.
According to the Indianapolis Jewish Community Relations Council, the vandalism happened overnight at Congregation Shaarey Tefilla in the 3000 block of West 116th Street.
The crime scene remained intact and surrounded in yellow police tape Sunday morning. The graffiti, comprised of a pair of Nazi flags and iron crosses, was spray painted on two walls of a brick shed that surrounds the property’s dumpster.
On the grass in front of one of the Nazi flags, there are apparent burn marks in two places, and a portion of the graffiti bears a black burn mark.
“We are deeply disappointed in the horrific vandalism that occurred at our Congregation,” Shaarey Tefilla Rabbi Benjamin Sendrow said in a statement. “Intolerance, hatred, and violent acts against Jews are significant realities today. The response to this heinous act affirms that America is collectively outraged at these hateful acts in our neighborhoods.”
One of the Nazi flags was covered Sunday by an olive green tarp that had been taped up to cover the graffiti. But the other, flanked by iron crosses, was uncovered by congregant Eli Keren.
He said he pulled the tarp down Sunday so that people could see what happened, and feel the same anger and disappointment he felt when confronted by the hateful images the day before.
“For me to see this, it kind of hits home. I’m first generation after the Holocaust. My father’s family is from Poland. My mother’s family is from Hungary. And 90 percent of our family went up in smoke just under this particular flag in (concentration camps) and this kind of hate and bigotry,” he explained. “The people who did this probably don’t even know what this represents. I would welcome them and their families and the people who fed them this hate to come here and speak with us. Understand who we are and what we are, and maybe they’ll stop hating us so much.”
His wife, Tamar Keren, said that the couple came to Carmel from Israel about two years ago, and this is the first time she has come face to face with anti-Semitism.
“It’s very emotional now, because it’s the first time ever for me to see something like that. Seeing that is very disturbing … it makes me feel like there is no safe place for Jewish people except Israel,” she said through tears. “I’m not happy to see that. I’m happy that I went through my life without seeing those (symbols) and I’m very sorry I had to face it here.”
Eli Keren added that he has been encouraged by the messages of support he has received from everyone in the community, and that this act of vandalism is not going to send him running.
“I’m not scared for our safety because these people are bullies. They are cowards. If they come say it to my face, they’ll probably realize how small they are,” he said. “These people, they will disappear … the same way the Nazi’s did.
“So no sheets. No hooded bonnets or whatever. Just come say it out loud to my face.”