An Israeli-born Jew living in Vancouver says he felt an "unsettling fear" after discovering antisemitic graffiti in Chinatown this week.
Ben* (name changed to protect his identity) lives at the University of British Columbia (UBC) with his wife and children. He was having lunch with a friend on October 31 when he spotted hateful words left by a vandal at Main and Pender streets.
Located on the side of a brick wall, the graffiti read, "Free Palestine, kill Jews" in all white capital letters.
Ben reported the graffiti to the Vancouver Police Department (VPD), who told him it is under investigation and police would review the incident with both its graffiti and hate crimes teams.
While the discovery has left him "terrified," Ben told V.I.A. that his fears have been increasing over the past few weeks as the Israel and Palestine conflict intensified. He has lived in Vancouver for over a decade he didn't have "to be afraid of who I am," but says he never felt unsafe until now.
After the founder of Hamas called for a day of protest on Friday the 13th, Ben and his wife felt what he characterizes as something similar to a panic attack and that they "didn't feel safe in the house anymore." The couple woke their kids up in the middle of the night and spent two days at a friend's house because they were afraid to stay at their residence. Although it may have been an irrational fear, he notes that "we felt that we are a target."
Back in Israel, the Vancouverite supported the land-back movement for Palestinians, describing himself as a "leftist" who protested at Palestinian rallies in his homeland.
"I am an Israeli Jewish person and an avid supporter of a Palestinian state," Ben said. "This whole thing is shattering me."
Vancouver police: increase in reports of hate incidents as Israel-Palestine war continues
Given the current political climate, even thousands of miles away from Israel in Vancouver, he feels there isn't any room for his current beliefs. Instead, Ben says he believes people are choosing "sides" rather than understanding the nuances of the longstanding conflict. He feels persecuted for being an Israeli Jew but is "considered a traitor in Israel."
"[People] put a label on you, even if you don't want to. I just want to be a person," he remarked, adding that he believes these labels incite "more hate and more violence."
On the UBC campus, numerous people have joined demonstrations calling for everything from peace to what Ben feels is an erasure of Jewish people in Israel. He shared images of people holding signs that read, "Intifada until victory," which he interprets as a call for violence.
Intifada is an Arabic word that translates to "shaking off" and has been associated with numerous uprisings, predominately in the Middle East. It has been commonly used to refer to the Palestinian uprisings in Israel, aimed at ending Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Though the term doesn't spell out violent strategies and was intended to represent aggressive nonviolent resistance, there have been violent clashes and riots classified as being "intifada."
VPD Sgt. Steve Addison said there has been an increase in reports of hate incidents in the weeks following the eruption of war between Israel and Palestine in early October.
"Racism and hate in any form is unacceptable, and we encourage people to report incidents like this so they can be investigated," he told V.I.A.
"Many of the residents here in Vancouver are also concerned for their [own] safety," he added, noting that the department has increased police patrol near places of worship and community centres.
The VPD will also continue to deploy officers to all gatherings and demonstrations to ensure that they remain peaceful.
***Warning: The following image contains hate speech calling for violence.***
