Jewish leader condemns ‘hateful’ anti-Palestinian graffiti found in Dalston

The graffiti, which was later removed by Hackney Council. Photograph: courtesy of a reader

A Jewish community leader has condemned insulting graffiti in Dalston that targeted Palestinians, describing it as “garbage”.

A video of the shocking graffiti appeared on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, showing it scribbled on a pillar outside Costa Coffee at Dalston Kingsland shopping centre.

It read: “Fu*k Palistine [sic], F all your children, you can all die.”

A social media user who posted the video called it “a hate crime”.

Rabbi Herschel Gluck OBE, president of Shomrim, a volunteer neighbourhood watch group, told the Citizen: “I don’t know how people can express such hateful sentiment and disgusting views. We don’t know who did it, and we don’t know why.

“The vast majority of antisemitic attacks against Jews are not carried out by Muslims and the vast majority of Islamophobic attacks are not carried out by Jews.

“I pray and hope it wasn’t done by a Jew, and I very much doubt it was done by a Jew.”

As Shomrim’s president, Gluck said he sadly has to deal with hate crime on a daily basis, and that the situation is “beyond words”.

“This is not a way forward,” he added. “The situation should not be brought over to the UK.”

He described the graffiti as a “serious incident” that should be condemned with “every expression of revulsion”.

The graffiti was removed “this instance, once it was reported to us”, a Hackney Council spokesperson confirmed.

“Offensive, intimidating or insulting graffiti has no place in Hackney.” they said.

“We remove tens of thousands of instances of graffiti or fly-posts every year, informed by the council’s graffiti policy.”

Gluck said he was “happy” to hear the council had acted quickly to remove it as “such garbage cannot and should not be smeared anywhere”.