Violent anti-Israel graffiti has surged in recent weeks in and around UC Berkeley graduate student housing in Albany, as well as on the Stanford and Berkeley campuses.
Jews in Albany tallied 18 incidents of extreme anti-Israel graffiti in November, according to Yafit Shriki Megidish, a resident who helps run a WhatsApp group called the Albany Jewish Parent Engagement Group. Photos of the graffiti include phrases such as “F*** Israel,” “Burn Israel down,” “Kill Zion” and “Kill all Zionist [sic].”
Albany’s mayor spoke out against the graffiti in a public statement after Megidish emailed the city council and mayor’s office on Nov. 24 on behalf of the parents group. Albany, which has roughly 20,000 residents, is Berkeley’s northern neighbor.
“Simply removing hateful graffiti of any kind does not solve the problem –– which several vocal members of our local Jewish community have raised,” Albany Mayor Robin López said in a Nov. 24 statement. “We take this issue, and the escalating nature of the violent rhetoric seriously, as our police department is actively investigating all reported cases.”
Most of the graffiti was spotted in and around the 58-acre University Village housing complex for UC Berkeley graduate students with families.
Megidish said that nearly a dozen parents, many of whom live in University Village, have expressed concern over the spread of the graffiti and have told her they no longer feel safe in their city.
“Our concern is not only about vandalism,” Megidish wrote in her email to the city. “These messages signal a dangerous shift in the public atmosphere — one that fosters fear, division, and the potential for targeted harm. Many Israeli and Jewish families in Albany, including our own children, now feel unsafe walking through their own neighborhoods.”
UC Berkeley’s student affairs division notified residents of the graffiti on Nov. 25, according to Cal spokesperson Adam Ratliff.
“Over the past few weeks, we have received reports of graffiti messages that many have found to be concerning and offensive in public spaces around” the housing complex, Cal’s statement read. The university also encouraged residents to report graffiti to UC Berkeley police. “It’s important that you help keep our community free of such graffiti.”
Interim Albany Police Chief Gina Anderson said Tuesday in an email to J. that the department had received seven reports of antisemitic graffiti in the past month. No suspects have been identified, Anderson wrote.
Megidish, who is chief Jewish learning officer at the JCC East Bay, said that the WhatsApp parent group has asked the city to establish a committee dedicated to combatting antisemitism.
Meanwhile, graffiti discovered last month at Stanford University similarly took aim at Israel and its supporters.
One message written in chalk was discovered Nov. 14 on Jane Stanford Way, a main artery through campus. It read “Nick Fuentes was right about Israel,” according to photos provided to J. by the Stanford Review, a student newspaper. Fuentes is an openly white nationalist, Holocaust denier and antisemitic livestreamer who gained new prominence after a friendly interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson in October in which Fuentes blamed “Zionist Jews” for corruption in U.S. politics and culture.
On Nov. 13, Stanford students also discovered “Israel,” “Zionism” and a swastika written in chalk outside the entrance to Stanford’s Memorial Church. Each word or symbol was in a circle with a slash through it.
Stanford Hillel Rabbi Jessica Kirschner told J. that she considers the graffiti as examples of antisemitism converging on the extreme right and the extreme left.
“Though infrequent, it is very important that whoever finds these images reports them to campus police for both investigation and clean up,” she told J. in an email.
Stanford police confirmed that it received reports of the graffiti and initiated an investigation, which remains open. Police are collecting tips at 650-329-2413 or [email protected].
On the steps leading up to Memorial Church, students also found the words “Free the Stanford 11” and “Drop the charges” in chalk.
“Stanford 11” is a reference to the group of pro-Palestinian student protesters who barricaded themselves inside the Stanford president’s office in June 2024 and caused extensive property damage, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. The protesters were indicted by a grand jury in Santa Clara County on felony charges this fall, although District Attorney Jeff Rosen has said he does not recommend jail time. Their trial is scheduled to begin in January.
Earlier this week, graffiti also showed up outside the UC Berkeley law school. Photos posted to Instagram by the Bay Area Jewish Coalition show “Zionists” and “Israel” written and crossed out in chalk at various sites around the law school’s entrance. Cal spokesperson Dan Mogulof confirmed that the graffiti has been removed and that the school does not know who was responsible for it.