Fall River, Massachusetts: Jewish cemetery vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti
By
Kate Randall
23 March 2019
On Sunday afternoon, March 17, police in Fall River responded to a report of vandalism at the Hebrew cemetery on McMahon Street in the southeastern Massachusetts city. The discovery was made by a cemetery maintenance worker. It is believed the vandalism occurred either late Saturday night or early Sunday morning.
Police originally reported that “approximately 25 gravestones” were defaced. But following a row-by-row examination of the cemetery on Tuesday, they announced on Wednesday that 59 gravestones had been defaced with anti-Semitic language and swastikas. Some had also been toppled over.
Gravestones were defaced with black magic marker. In addition to swastikas, anti-Semitic phrases included “Heil Hitler,” “Expel the Jews” and “Oy vey! This is MAGA country,” a reference to President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
According to the Fall River-based Herald News, the phrase “The Day of the Rope” was written on at least two gravestones. This appears to refer to a book of fiction about a white nationalist uprising against the United States government.
The anti-Semitic incident in Fall River took place just days after the March 15 fascist terror attack on two Muslim mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, which left 50 dead. It also occurred less than six months after the October 27, 2018 mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue that killed 11.
The Fall River attack, while claiming no lives, was inspired by the same white nationalist, fascistic views propounded by the Trump administration and right-wing governments in France, Italy, Brazil and…