‘No Jews,’ other anti-Semitic messages painted on home for sale in New York

(JTA) — The words “No Jews” was spray-painted from floor to ceiling on the walls of a home for sale in a New York suburb.

Anti-Semitic messages also were painted throughout the Rockland County home, including in the kitchen and on the floors. The graffiti was discovered last week in the empty home by a home inspector who was checking on the structure for a couple that wished to purchase it.

The inspector was acting on behalf of an Orthodox Jewish couple, CBS New York reported.

The Haverstraw Police told the local media that the incident is being investigated as a hate crime.

The Anti-Defamation League condemned the anti-Semitic attack, “which was designed to send a message of fear and intimidation not just to the victim, but also to the broader community,” Evan Bernstein, the group’s New York regional director, said in a statement.

“The vandalism of a home for sale in a county with a rapidly growing Jewish community sends a deplorable message that Jews are not welcome. We expect that community leaders and elected officials will make clear that all are welcome in Rockland and that anti-Semitism and bigotry have no place in our communities,” he said.

In November 2016, the words “No Jews” were spray-painted on a realtor’s sign and two vacant homes some three miles away from where last week’s incident occurred.

The latest incident comes amid a surge of anti-Jewish vandalism across New York state, according to ADL, whose annual Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents found a 50 percent rise in instances of anti-Jewish vandalism across the state in 2016 over 2015.