Portland Vandals Paint Elementary School with Swastikas, Target Jewish Lawyer Following Israel Divestment Vote

Following the Portland City Council’s unanimous vote to divest public funds from companies that do business with Israel, the law office of a Jewish attorney was vandalized — for the second time in a year — and vandals painted a local elementary school with swastikas.

So far, there have no official statements about the anti-Israel vandalism from Maine’s top elected officials or the members of the Portland City Council.

Maine’s largest city has been a hotbed for anti-Israel and anti-semitic activities following the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attacks, in which the Palestinian terror group Hamas stormed into Israel and murdered nearly 1,200 people, including women and children.

[RELATED: Portland City Council Unanimously Passes Israel Divestment Resolution…]

Those activities began with a Maine Democratic Socialists of America (Maine DSA) rally featuring anti-semitic and pro-Hamas speakers.

“The actions of the resistance over the course of the last day is a morally and legally legitimate response to the occupation,” said Zach Campbell, a school teacher and Maine DSA member, referring to the terror attack.

Immediately following the Oct. 7 attack, Stephen Cope, a Jewish attorney with law offices in Portland, displayed an Israeli flag in his office window.

In response, vandals spray-painted his office front with pro-Palestine grafitti.

“It’s just a couple of words, Free Palestine, but it’s code, and as code it means a lot more and it resonates in a way that has been just proliferating in various media, and it’s dangerous,” Cope told the Maine Wire last year after the vandalism occurred.

This weekend, Cope found that his flag display was covered up by a cardboard sign duct-taped to his office window.

That sign depicted Israeli flags with crosses through them and said “No Tax $$ 4 Genocide” — a direct reference to the divestment vote taken by the Portland City Council earlier this month.

“The anti semitism cannot reasonably be disputed,” said Cope. “One can oppose the war (which I do not) without hating Jews and publishing symbols that call for the end of Israel in the broadest and most obvious sense.”

“The proponent of that antisemitic remark showed its true attitude,” he said.

According to Rabbi Hannah Estrin of Portland’s Temple Beth El, another act of anti-semitic vandalism occurred at the Rowe Elementary School following the vote.

“You may have heard about the swastikas painted at Rowe Elementary School this past week,” Rabbi Estrin wrote in a Sept. 22 email.

“While we believe the school is responding well, we recognize that these, October 7th, and other events have raised concerns and fears,” said Estrin.

Estrin said the synagogue was taking measures to enhance security at all gatherings.

Mayor Dion said he was aware of the swastikas and that Portland Police responded immediately once they were notified.

A spokesperson for the Portland Police Department confirmed that there were multiple swastikas painted on and around the Rowe Elementary School last week.

“The principal showed us two swastikas on the front sign of the Warwick St. entrance to the school and also on traffic poles that were in the same area as the sign,” they said.

However, due to the lack of security cameras, there are currently no suspects.

Dion previously said that while he understood Israel’s desire for retribution following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, that “our role collectively is to grab their shoulder and say, ‘It’s enough. It’s simply enough.’ And pull them away. And that’s sometimes the greatest act of friendship you can do for someone you hold dear, as I hold my friends in the Jewish community.”