A spate of antisemitic messaging has been reported in multiple communities throughout Pennsylvania, including Montgomery County, over the last several weeks.
In a press release responding to the numerous incidents reported in Upper Moreland, Abington, Upper Dublin and State College, Democratic Jewish Outreach PA (DJOP), called upon Republican leaders in the Commonwealth “to end their shameful silence on the hate-filled incidents that are proliferating in our state.”
Jill Zipin, Chair of the state-wide political action committee, called the flyers “an attempt to harass and intimidate Jewish families, and a precursor to the racist, gender-based and white supremist discrimination and violence that marches together consistently with anti-Jewish tirades.”
While no families or business were specifically targeted, Lieutenant James Kelly of the Upper Moreland Police Department said “it was more of a mass papering in hopes that they would harass or intimidate Jewish families that would find this paraphernalia,” reported ABC’s Action News.
“The Police Department is currently aware of the Anti-Semitic propaganda that was left on residents’ properties overnight and are working closely with the Abington Human Relations Commission, ” said Abington Township Police Department in a Facebook post. “At this time, we have enough pieces of this literature to begin our investigation… If you have a security camera that may have captured footage of the actor(s) distributing these flyers, please call police and an officer will respond.”
The Anti-Defamation League of PA and the Southern Policy Law Center have cited ever increasing incidents of local antisemitic flyering by extremist hate groups to promote white nationalism in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Zipin said the failure of state and federal Republican officials to denounce the flyers and pamphlets that have littered residential sidewalks “can only give comfort and satisfaction to the vile haters who seek to divide us as a nation.”
