Anti-Semitic leaflets linking the coronavirus pandemic to Jews have been distributed in recent weeks in the California city of Beverly Hills in the United States.
“Hundreds of anti-Semitic leaflets have been distributed in neighborhoods in Beverly Hills, absurdly claiming that Jews are responsible for the spread of Covid,” Beverly Hills Mayor Robert Wunderlich told i24NEWS.
Although a hate crime investigation was quickly opened, similar leaflets were again found in the city last week.
“We take these matters very seriously, and we will not allow our residents to be threatened or intimidated by any narrative promoting hatred towards anyone,” Lt. Giovanni Trejo of the local police said in a statement.
Beverly Hills is a center of Jewish life in Los Angeles, with a community numbering several thousand people as well as prominent synagogues and kosher restaurants.
California was marked by the fatal shooting of worshipers at the Poway synagogue in 2019, but also by multiple anti-Semitic attacks last May, during the IDF Operation Guardian of the Wall.
“Many of us have come to the United States to escape persecution, so being subjected to anti-Semitic attacks here is particularly horrific,” Wunderlich continued.
“As a predominantly Jewish city, we are the target of these kinds of attacks,” the mayor noted, citing the vandalism of a synagogue in his city more than a year ago.
“We will do everything possible to ensure our safety. Hate crimes will not be tolerated,” he said.
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