A broken window at Manny’s, a Jewish-owned cafe in the Mission District of San Francisco.
Mayor Daniel Lurie and others gathered at City Hall to respond to recent reports, including an alleged hate crime assault in the Marina and vandalism at Manny’s cafe in the Mission. (Annie Vainshtein/The San Francisco Chronicle )
San Francisco officials and community organizers gathered at City Hall on Friday to condemn what they described as a concerning increase in antisemitic attacks and harassment in the city.
After multiple reports of Jewish residents being attacked or harassed and Jewish-owned businesses being vandalized, organizers and city leaders called on the public to stand in solidarity with the Jewish community.
“As a member of the Jewish community, these incidents hit close to home,” Mayor Daniel Lurie said. “In this city — no matter your race, no matter your religion, no matter your sexual orientation — I want to be clear that we have zero tolerance for acts of hatred.”
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Earlier this week, a man was accused of taking part in an antisemitic attack in San Francisco’s Marina District that left the victim with multiple blows to the head. The district attorney’s office charged Juan Dias Rivas, 36, with two counts of assault, including allegations that he had committed a hate crime and intended to inflict great bodily harm on his victim.
The charges came after reports that the attackers shouted, “F— Jews, free Palestine,” before punching and kicking the victim, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Graffiti covers the front of Manny’s on the morning of June 10. (Photo courtesy of Manny's)
The attack is only one of several incidents that have occurred in the last few weeks.
Earlier this month, Jewish cafe owner Manny Yekutiel arrived at work only to discover that his Mission District business had been broken into and trashed, the Chronicle first reported. Graffiti on the wall read, “Die Zio” and “The Only Good Settler is a Dead 1” — a reference to the war in Palestine by Israeli forces.
Yekutiel, who owns and hosts community events at his cafe, Manny’s, said he is not Israeli. The cafe has been hit with anti-Israel graffiti several times since opening seven years ago, the Chronicle reported.
“I don’t know if I’m safe here,” Yekutiel said. “There is a dark tide of antisemitism that is covering our country, and its shadow has reached our city. San Francisco cannot allow this to happen. We have to stand against it because it is in our blood to be a city that welcomes everyone.”
Abigail Bornstein, an instructor at City College of San Francisco, told the Chronicle that she was targeted by an expletive-laden rant during a board meeting last month by Maria Salazar-Colon, president of a college chapter of the Service Employees International Union Local 1021.
The union leader allegedly called Bornstein a “colonizer” and insulted her Jewish name, according to the Chronicle report.
Salazar-Colon said in a statement to KQED that her intention was not to be antisemitic but to express frustration with Bornstein. Bornstein did not respond to a request for comment, but previously told the Chronicle that she no longer feels safe at work.
Antisemitism has been on the rise for years, said Tyler Gregory, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, hate crimes against the Jewish community have gone up by more than 300% over the past five years and more than 800% over the past 10 years. Meanwhile, the Jewish Community Relations Council found that 42% of Jewish people in the Bay Area reported witnessing or experiencing some form of antisemitism in the past three years, Gregory said.
“This is a time of great fear in the Jewish community,” he said.
Antisemitism must be condemned loudly and publicly so that the behavior does not become further normalized, said City Attorney David Chiu.
“I’m sickened by the surge of antisemitic behavior witnessed in our neighborhoods, on our campuses and across our country,” Assemblymember Catherine Stefani (D-San Francisco) said in a statement read by her district director Frankie Falzon at the news conference. “What happened at Manny’s, in the Marina and at City College is not isolated. It’s all part of a disturbing trend.”
