GRAFFITI DISPLAYING A Star of David alongside a swastika in Tramore, County Waterford has been removed shortly after it appeared on Friday morning.
The markings were in several places around the facade of the derelict Grand Hotel in the centre of the seaside town, and were removed by Waterford City and County Council.
In a statement, they said the council’s “amenities team was immediately dispatched and the graffiti was removed”.
Gardaí said there was no active investigation on the matter.
The graffiti consisted of a Star of David and a swastika, with an equals symbol in between. Comparisons between Israeli policy and that of the Nazis are regarded as a form of antisemitism, according to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
Stars of David stencils have also been painted onto buildings across Paris over the weekend, which The Union of Jewish Students of France said was designed to mirror the way Jews were forced to wear the stars by the Nazi regime in the 1930s.
Back in Ireland, Maurice Cohen of the Jewish Representative Council said there had been an uptick in these events of late, and called on gardaí to apprehend the culprits. He said both the media and educational authorities have a major role in rooting out racism in Ireland.
Jewish people have been arriving in Ireland for over 400 years and now with the expansion of multiculturalism and a multi ethnic society it is imperative that we all learn to live together and banish any racism prior to it taking hold.
Speaking to The Journal recently, Cohen said there had been a rise in antisemitic posting online, amidst a wave of antisemitic incidents in the UK since Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October and Israel’s subsequent bombing campaign on Gaza.
The reaction to the Israel-Hamas war has spilled onto the streets of many countries, including Ireland, with protests taking place in the capital and elsewhere on a regular basis.
Israel has bombarded the Palestinian territory of Gaza since the October 7 attacks by Hamas militants, which killed around 1,400 people, according to Israeli officials.
More than 8,500 people have been killed in Gaza, the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory said in its latest figures.
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