A string of anti-Semitic vandalism continues around the University of Montana as anti-Semitic fliers surfaced on and off campus. The most recent incident is the fourth since the beginning of February, and the sixth since November.
On Feb. 8, flyers accusing Jews of attacking First Amendment rights were placed on local car windshields.
Four days later, flyers attacking Jewish circumcision surfaced, depicting a man on a cross with the word “enslaved” written across his body.
That same day, local reporter Seaborn Larson discovered a swastika painted on the side of a local building, the paint still wet.
Same day anti-Semitic literature shows up on Missoula properties, after I’ve already talked to people today for a Nazi story, this shows up on Broadway building. Paint still fresh. #mtnews pic.twitter.com/bqmMsGQ3Vj
— Seaborn Larson (@SeabornLarson) February 12, 2019
“This doesn’t just affect the Jewish community; it affects the entire community,” Chezky Vogel, Rabbi of the Chabad Jewish Center of Missoula, told NBC Montana. “This is one person trying to poison the atmosphere and environment here. I would say don’t let them win. Don’t hide your religion, hide your beliefs now in the wake of this.”
David Cox of the Har Shalom congregation met the flyers with understanding: “There is a line that can be crossed, but as for putting out literature that is hateful or untrue people get to do that because of the free speech amendment.”
The latest flyers have an Israeli flag adjacent to a picture of President Trump with spiked hair, implying the vilification of those who support Israel.
The February incidents follow those in November when the white supremacist group Identify Evropa distributed flyers across campus in hopes of recruiting students.
The vandalism has mainly been covered by local and Jewish-centric media and demonstrate an alarming trend in a neighborhood community of only 2,500.
So far, no suspects have been identified.
Elad Warren is a businessman and writer from Denver.
