Pittsburgh woman speaks out after her home was vandalized with antisemitic phrase

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    PITTSBURGH (WTAE) — A woman is speaking out after her house has been the target of antisemitic incidents. She says there have been four incidents just this month, with the most recent happening Sunday morning. She told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 her fears of escalation and retaliation, which is why she chose to remain anonymous.

The North Side resident woke up to find a terrible phrase graffitied in front of her home. “For blood and soil,” it read, which was an early Nazi slogan used. And the vandalism comes on the eve of Passover.

On Monday morning, Pittsburgh Public Works sprayed down the sidewalk and washed the antisemitic graffiti away.

“I have never in my life experienced this degree of antisemitism. That was something that in history books I haven’t seen until recently,” said the resident.

She said this isn’t the first time something like this has happened.

“So we had our first antisemitic incident on the morning of April 2, and then again April 4, because we had antisemitic information popped in our mail slot and our Israel flag was defaced with ‘we demand blood’ on it, so we filed two police reports for that,” said the resident.

These incidents were captured on camera. She says she does believe it is the same individual who may possibly live in her neighborhood. But this incident and the wording used strike a little deeper for both the resident and neighbor.

“It’s bone-chilling. Unless you’ve ever experienced hate like that directly, I cannot describe it. It is definitely something that absolutely hits you viscerally,” said the resident.

The woman said she just wished the vandal would have talked with her about their thoughts and opinions instead of defacing the sidewalk.

“I think if that person wanted to talk and say, ‘Hey, I don’t like your flag,’ OK, let’s talk about that. And we may not agree, but we could at least see the humanity in one another,” she said.

“Blood and soil and terminology with that sort of depth of anti-Semitism that’s so clear cut, and it feels like just a few baby steps away from the sorts of attacks that lead to violence and major threats of physical harm,” neighbor Jeremy Kazzaz said.

Kazzaz said he heard about the incident through social media. He said he feels like this type of hate is becoming far too common.

“I think that your Jewish neighbors here in Pittsburgh feel lonely and we, a lot of us, are seeking comfort and support from our fellow neighbors, from our elected officials, and we’re looking to see action to make sure this sort of behavior is stopped and the perpetrators are held responsible,” Kazzaz said.

The resident said she aware of the political climate, and has no issue with peaceful protests and social media posts, but this level of hate will not be tolerated.

She’s now hoping for the person involved to be caught and prosecuted for this crime.

“But there’s a boundary that was crossed. My property is a boundary, and your free speech ends at my front door,” said the resident.

She is urging others to report any similar incidents.

“If anyone else has had any incidents, whether this severe because it’s a rather large one or, you know, smaller things have happened, it’s important that they report it,” she said.

Both the FBI and U.S. attorneys have been notified about the incidents. Local police are also investigating and doing additional patrols in the area.

The FBI issued the following statement about the situation.

“The FBI can neither confirm nor deny the existence of any investigation related to the incident in question. We are aware of it, however, and we remain in touch with our local law enforcement and community partners to provide assistance if needed or appropriate. The FBI takes threats of a religious nature directed against individuals, communities, and institutions very seriously. We remain vigilant in our efforts to detect and assess possible threats. We encourage the public to promptly report any suspicious individuals or activities to law enforcement immediately by calling 911, the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI, or online at tips.fbi.gov.”

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