Anti-Semitic Slurs Spray-Painted on Home in Anaheim
Police said Sunday they are investigating the scrawling of anti-Semitic graffiti on an Anaheim house as a possible hate crime.
Raphael Pazo called authorities Sunday morning after finding slurs spray-painted in black on his front door, garage and car. The father of four, who lives near Temple Beth Emet and Loara High School, said he heard no sounds during the night.
“It was supposed to be a day of joy,” Pazo said, referring to the Jewish holiday Simcha Torah. “I was shocked. It felt like I got kicked by a mule in the chest. It took all the air out of me. . . . We moved here because it was safe. [Now] my oldest son is terrified to go to the synagogue.”
Joyce Greenspan, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said she believed the graffiti may be related to the recent resurgence of violence in the Middle East because it included references to Israel. One compared the Star of David with a swastika, Pazo said.
Greenspan said there have been few reported incidents of anti-Semitic vandalism in Orange County recently, but that nationally, these incidents have been on the rise.
“We’re watching it closely,” she said. “It’s very frightening for a family to be confronted with hate right there on your doorstep.”
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