Vandals painted a swastika on the facade of an iconic Jewish cafe in New York

An iconic Jewish deli in New York that publicly declared its support for Israel following recent attacks by Hamas has been vandalized, reports Fox5NY.

Located on the corner of 1st Avenue and 75th Street, 2nd Ave Deli, a cafe and bar on the second floor, has been in business since 1954 and has been serving New Yorkers matzah soup, pastrami sandwiches and other traditional Jewish dishes for decades.

Over the past week, the owners of the establishment have posted several messages on their Instagram page in support of Israel. “We support Israel. We stand against the obvious evil that has reappeared today,” one of the messages said.

The war between Israel and Hamas is raising concerns about growing hostility on US soil. Experts note that crimes against Jewish communities in the United States tend to increase when conflicts flare up in the Middle East, and crimes against Muslims can also spike.

It’s too early to know for sure whether crimes against Muslims and Jews increased during the war, but hate crimes overall increased in the U.S. last year.

FBI report

In its annual report, published on Monday, October 16, the FBI calculated that in 2022, the number of hate crimes increased by 7% compared to the previous year, amounting to 11,634 cases. In second place after crimes against blacks, attacks on Jews were the most reported – 1,124 incidents. According to the report, there were 158 attacks against Muslims and 92 against Arabs.

The investigation into the swastika graffiti is ongoing and no arrests have been made in connection with the incident.