CAMBRIDGE, Mass — Cambridge Police and Harvard University Police are investigating after dozens of swastika stickers were plastered on and off campus.
The stickers, depicting a swastika replacing the Star of David on the Israeli flag, were found near Harvard Hillel in the early morning hours of Monday.
Harvard University Police said a report came in around 2:10 a.m. of “an unknown individual placing stickers at various locations both on campus and city-owned light poles in and around the River area”.
Harvard University Police officers searched the area but did not locate the person responsible.
“It doesn’t feel real. This isn’t the America I grew up in,” said Rabbi Jason Rubenstein, Executive Director of Harvard Hillel. “There’s an element of shock and confusion, and then there’s a sense of, where does this go now?”
Cambridge Police are now conducting an investigation with the Harvard University Police Department.
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“Both of my grandparents were in the Holocaust, in concentration camps. I was thinking what a shame it is that something so horrible is being equated to us,” said Harvard student Abe Kohl.
Jewish students at Harvard told Boston 25 News they feel they are being targeted on a regular basis.
That includes an unnerving act of vandalism that occurred in Harvard Yard in the hours after the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attack in Israel.
The statue of John Harvard was drizzled with fake blood and the windows were smashed at University Hall in what a social media post called “an act of solidarity with Palestine.”
The Anti-Defamation League’s New England Chapter released the following statement after the latest act of vandalism at Harvard:
“We urge a thorough investigation and for those responsible to be held accountable. Jewish students, like all students, deserve to feel safe on campus.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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