‘Free Palestine’ spray-painted outside Kenosha synagogue during protests
Beth Hillel Temple, which is closed due to pandemic, is vandalized amid demonstrations against police shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin
JTA — “Free Palestine” was spray-painted on the driveway of a Wisconsin city’s historic synagogue amid the ongoing protests there.
A reporter for the conservative news website Townhall said he filmed a protester painting the words in black in the driveway of Beth Hillel Temple in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Wednesday night.
Protests have been ongoing in the city since the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, on Sunday.
On Tuesday, gunman Kyle Rittenhouse, who said he was at the scene of the unrest in order to support police, killed two people during the protests.
The synagogue, which is not in use currently because of the coronavirus pandemic, is located a block away from where shooting during demonstrations on Tuesday night left two dead and one injured.
A church also was vandalized during Wednesday night protests. “BLM” was spray-painted in purple on the sign of Christ the King Church.
Kenosha BLM Protester Spray Paints ‘Free Palestine’ on Synagogue Driveway | https://t.co/FFjE3af8fM pic.twitter.com/2zdJP6AWCH
— National Review News Wire (@NRWire) August 27, 2020
Rabbi Dena Feingold of Beth Hillel Temple told the Milwaukee Jewish Chronicle earlier Wednesday that despite damage to surrounding buildings during the protests, including fires, broken windows and graffiti, her synagogue had been spared. Feingold said the former caretaker who lived in the building had been moved out at the start of the protests. The Torah scrolls have been taken out as well.
Someone from the BLM crowd spray-painted “Free Palestine” in the driveway of the Beth Hillel Temple in Kenosha. pic.twitter.com/sJACaqZlai
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) August 27, 2020
The Times of Israel Community.