Oakland Menorah Vandalized; Jews Rally in Response

A menorah set up for Hanukkah at Oakland’s Lake Merritt, in the heart of the city, was vandalized early Wednesday, leading to condemnation by local officials — and a motor rally around the lake Wednesday night by Jews with menorahs on their cars.

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, who had participated in a menorah-lighting ceremony at the site just days before, issued a statement blasting the “desecration and act of vandalism,” which appeared to be a blatant act of antisemitism.

Oakland’s Jewish community is an essential part of Oakland’s diversity and strength and the City of Oakland takes incidents like the vandalism of the Lake Merritt Menorah very seriously. Read my full statement: pic.twitter.com/atJH3jIlID

— Mayor Sheng Thao 盛桃 (@MayorShengThao) December 13, 2023

Graffiti at the site read: “Your org is dying … We’re going to find you, you’re on F—ing alert a–hole.” Parts of the menorah were thrown into the lake.

Police are investigating the vandalism as a hate crime. The San Francisco Chronicle reported:

Oakland police have launched a hate crime investigation into the toppling of a menorah at Lake Merritt — an act of vandalism that stunned residents and drew swift condemnation from elected officials.
…

Pieces of the heavy steel candelabra lay strewn on the sidewalk near 12th Street and Lake Merritt Boulevard on Wednesday morning. Video footage distributed by Tyler Gregory, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council, showed scattered debris and profanity-laced graffiti on an empty cement podium.

By Wednesday evening, the local Jewish community was out in force at Lake Merritt in a show of defiance, with a parade of cars circling the lake — many with illuminated menorahs on the roofs of their cars.

Update: An interfaith gathering Wednesday night dedicated a new menorah in a statement of defiance against hate, according to The Messenger.

Several hundred gathered here at Oakland’s Lake Merritt, responding to vandals who destroyed a menorah. It’s a diverse crowd, including Jews, Muslims, Christians, people of many other faiths and backgrounds. pic.twitter.com/Zo6IntGhSw

— Darwin BondGraham (@DarwinBondGraha) December 14, 2023

Recently, the Oakland City Council voted unanimously to back a ceasefire in Gaza, and rejected an amendment condemning Hamas.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.