Pro-Palestinian Organization Victim of Possible Hate Crime

Several swastikas appeared in the bathroom of a pro-Palestinian nonprofit Sunday, in what police are investigating as a possible hate crime.

The swastikas were written in ball point pen over a poster of Palestinian women that was hanging on the wall of the bathroom in West Berkeley's Middle East Children's Alliance, said Berkeley police Officer Kevin Schofield.

About seven or eight swastikas, ranging from three to eight inches in diameter, were visible under the "endless scribble" that blacked out the rest of the poster, Schofield said.

"It was really upsetting," said Barbara Lubin, the center's executive director who discovered the vandalism. "It really made me very sad to see this beautiful picture of Palestinian 12-year-old schoolgirls going to school with swastikas drawn all over it. It was really disgusting."

Police say they are investigating several leads.

In the meantime, police are paying extra attention to the Alliance building, which has had trouble with hate-crime related incidents in the past, he said.

The building was vandalized earlier this June and its windows were smashed in April, Schofield said. Employees have also had glue put into the locks of their cars and received e-mail threats.

Lubin said the Alliance's political work spurs the attacks. The Alliance is a nongovernmental organization that sends food, medicine, toys and books to Iraqis and Palestinians. It also advocates for a Palestinian state, and an end to Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

"We've been doing this work for 15 and a half years, and in that time there's been an enormous number of attacks, threats and the rest of it," Lubin said. "Maybe many years ago I was shocked, but I think that in order to do the work, you've got to have a thick skin."

Lubin said she has no idea who may have drawn the swastikas.

Hate crimes in Berkeley more than doubled between 2001 and 2002, according the California Attorney General's office. Police also noted a particular increase in anti-Muslim crimes since Sept. 11, 2001.

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