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Swastika daubed outside Jewish school in London in second anti-Semitic incident in weeks

The Nazi symbol was accompanied by a racial slur in Hackney

Lizzie Dearden
Monday 17 August 2015 12:49 BST
The graffiti was drawn on a fence outside the Beis Chinuch Lebonos Girls School
The graffiti was drawn on a fence outside the Beis Chinuch Lebonos Girls School

A Nazi swastika has been drawn on a fence outside a Jewish school in the latest incident of anti-Semitic graffiti in London.

The symbol was discovered scrawled on a fence outside Beis Chinuch Lebonos Girls School in Hackney today with the words “yid s**t”.

Michael Scher, from local neighbourhood watch group the Stamford Hill Shomrim, said it was the second time the school had been targeted in little over a month.

Graffiti in the same place, which has since been removed, said “Yids out”.

“Targeting a Jewish school with anti-Semitic graffiti is very low,” Mr Scher said.

“Nobody should have to face hate crime of any kind, especially young children.”

Beis Chinuch Lebonos Girls School is an independent Orthodox Jewish institution teaching children from the ages of two to 16.

The word “Yid” means Jew in Yiddish but has become a racial slur.

Spurs fans have been criticised for using the word 'yid' in chants

Helen Beer, a lecturer in Yiddish at University College London, told the BBC that although some Jews and Tottenham Hotspur supporters are attempting to re-appropriate the word but it is more often used maliciously.

The incident is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police as racially aggravated criminal damage.

A spokesperson for Scotland Yard said officers were called at 9am on Monday and were making inquiries. No arrests have been made.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Hackney police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

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