Southern California officials are again warning the public about antisemitic flyers and posters that have been placed in public areas and on doorsteps in several cities.
Earlier this week, several plastic bags containing leaflets with antisemitic messages were left on driveways of homes throughout the city of Redlands in San Bernardino County.
One resident apparently told the Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) that it was the second times they’ve experienced something like that in the last several years.
The San Bernardino Police Department is investigating the leaflets, and CAIR released a statement in which it loudly condemned the hateful media and called on anyone with information to come forward.
“We are extremely alarmed by this disturbing show of antisemitism. Hate has no place in our society, much less in our neighborhoods and homes, where people should feel safe, respected, and free from discrimination,” said CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush.
About 60 miles southwest of Redlands, Huntington Beach residents also have reported seeing antisemitic flyers that may have matched the description of those found in San Bernardino County.
Huntington Beach Councilmember Natalie Moser posted photos of the offensive flyers on her Twitter account Wednesday, which she said were left overnight in the yards of residents who live near Edison High School.
The flyers pictured showed images of politicians, artists, members and advocates of the LGBTQ+ community, many of which were emblazoned with the Star of David on their foreheads.
The top of the flyer reads: “Every Single Aspect of the LGBTQ+ Movement is Jewish.”
The offensive media was dispersed during June, which is recognized in California and much of the country as Pride Month, and comes at a time when members of that community have been under fire by anti-LGBTQ activists.
Last week, three people were arrested outside a Glendale Unified School District board meeting after fights between pro- and anti-LGBTQ protesters erupted during a vote by the school board to recognize June as Pride Month.
There is no clear link between the LGBTQ community and members of the Jewish faith, but a handful of anti-Pride protests in different areas of the country have included both antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ signs and chants. Last month in Bozeman, Montana, members of a white supremacist group held an anti-Pride march through the city’s downtown, sparring with Pride supporters, with some carrying antisemitic signs.
The flyers also come on the heels of a record number of instances of antisemitism and hate crimes in California and the Los Angeles area, according to an audit published by the Anti-Defamation League.
Moser urged all Huntington Beach residents who come upon any of the offensive flyers or pamphlets to immediately contact the city’s police department. She also urged residents to report the incidents as a hate crime through the Orange County Human Relations website.
Huntington Beach Mayor Tony Strickland released a statement through the city’s public information office in which he condemned the antisemitic flyers and said the messages conveyed do “not reflect the values or ideas we believe here in Huntington Beach.”
“Hateful rhetoric or prejudice of any kind is inexcusable and we have zero tolerance for it within our community,” Strickland said. “I know that I speak for all of my fellow City Council Members in condemning not only this flyer but all instances of hate within our City.”
