It’s time for Oakland’s elected officials to end their silence and address the city’s antisemitism problem.
Since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist atrocities, the streets of Oakland, and especially around Lake Merritt, have become a canvas for anti-Israel and antisemitic graffiti. “Long live Hamas,” the Hamas triangle, calls for intifada, armed resistance by any means, “F**k Israel,” “F**k the Jews” and “Die Jews” are among the hateful expressions sprayed around Lake Merritt and Oakland.
The Oakland Jewish Alliance, a grassroots organization formed in the wake of these vile acts, has reported over 400 incidents of antisemitic graffiti around the Lake Merritt/Lakeshore neighborhoods in a one-year period. As quickly as the Oakland Parks Department paints over these hateful tropes, fresh ones appear.
The unlawful vandalization of Oakland public property is not the only vehicle used to transmit antisemitic vitriol. Anti-Israel “ceasefire” groups have spewed similar hate messages before the Oakland City Council without rebuke. In particular, at the Nov. 27, 2023, “ceasefire” resolution hearing, supporters testified that the massacre of Jews on Oct. 7 was a fabricated narrative, that Israel murdered their own people, that the Israeli Defense Force committed the murders, and that calling Hamas a terrorist organization and condemning Hamas is racist.
Except for then-Council member Dan Kalb, who suggested some remarks were crazy, not one council member rose to condemn these hateful falsehoods.
The Oakland Jewish Alliance recognizes that legitimate criticism of Israel does not, per se, amount to antisemitism. But outright lies and the use of coded terms derived from an ideology that preaches the destruction of the Jewish state do cross the line and are antisemitic.
Unfortunately, Oakland’s antisemitism has escalated beyond hateful words. In December 2023, the Lake Merritt Chabad Channukah menorah was vandalized and thrown into the lake. In July 2024, the Oakland Chabad Center was twice vandalized. On Jan. 2, Chabad’s Lake Merritt Chanukah menorah was again desecrated with hateful, antisemitic graffiti adjacent to the display and around the lake.
In early December 2023, three workers at a downtown Oakland cafe barred a Jewish woman from restroom access and harassed her. On Oct. 31, a cafe owner kicked out a father and his 5-year-old son because the father was wearing a Jewish star baseball cap. While walking to synagogue one Shabbat morning, my son, who proudly wears his yarmulka, was assaulted by a passerby with antisemitic taunts. Free the Hostages posters I put up by my Oakland home were ripped down no less than 26 times in a two-month period.
Related Articles
Man arrested in connection with hate crime in Palo Alto
Police arrest three suspects who allegedly stole $1 million in jewelry, cash from Asian families in South Bay
Probe confirms Oakland teacher displayed anti-Semitic posters
Accused 70-year-old California church shooter can face special circumstances murder trial, judge rules
14-year-old Black student and his mother file $10 million claim against California school district after multiple attacks
Oakland antisemitism has also spread to our schools. Bay Area news outlets have reported dozens of Jewish families transferring their children out of Oakland’s public schools because of the intimidating, antisemitic school environment. As recently reported in this newspaper, an independent probe following a complaint by Oakland attorney Marleen Sacks confirmed that a teacher displayed antisemitic posters and created an antisemitic environment.
All these anti-Jewish acts demonstrate Oakland’s widespread antisemitism problem. The Oakland Jewish Alliance has called on our mayor and City Council to issue a strong, unconditional statement condemning antisemitism in our city, form an antisemitism task force and enforce the law against public vandalism, starting with Lake Merritt.
So far, our public officials have met this request with shameful silence. This silence flies in the face of Oakland’s rich civil rights history and is tantamount to condoning hate. More important, history demonstrates that allowing this hate to fester only leads to tragedy.
Mark P. Cohen is an Oakland resident and co-founder and steering committee member of the Oakland Jewish Alliance.
