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Thousands gather in Newton to rededicate poster wall of Hamas hostages defaced last month
Newton police are investigating the March 17 vandalism incident as a hate crime.
Thousands gathered in Newton Sunday to rededicate a poster wall depicting hostages taken by Hamas after a similar display was defaced last month.
An estimated 2,000 people came out to Jeffrey and Miriam Kosowsky’s home at 255 Newton St. — where the original display was vandalized — to remember the hostages and commemorate the 6-month anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in Israel. U.S. Representative Jake Auchincloss and Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller made speeches condemning antisemitism, The Boston Globe reported.
“Today we stand together against antisemitism and in solidarity with the hostages and their families,” Auchincloss said in his speech, which he also posted on X. “We stand together against the surge in anti-Jewish and anti-Israel hate crimes, nationally and locally.”
Vandalism of the posters being investigated as hate crime
The rededication comes weeks after the Kosowskys woke up March 17 to see posters outside their house memorializing hostages taken by Hamas defaced with black spray paint. Newton police are investigating the incident as a hate crime.
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On March 18, the department said it is looking into five instances of hate and vandalism in Newton since late February. Two instances, which occurred at two separate locations on the same night, involved signs reading “We Stand with Israel” defaced with “Bombing Kids is not self defense.”
“Bias, hatred, and targeting those for their personal beliefs can not and will not be tolerated by the Newton Police Department,” Chief John Carmichael said in a statement. “We ask the community to partner with us to identify the individual(s) responsible for these acts and help send the message that such hate has no place in Newton.”
Attendees wrote letters to families of hostages
At Sunday’s event, attendees remembered hostages by writing letters to the hostages’ families, reading out short biographies of each person, and unveiling new posters depicting each hostages’ photo, the Globe reported.
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The wall’s rebuilding was led by teens and tweens, according to an event flyer. Participants were also encouraged to “adopt a hostage family” by taking home a yard sign and sending notes of support to families of the hostage.
Fuller also spoke at the event and condemned the “explosion” of antisemitism across the world.
“As the mayor of Newton, and as a Jew, I want to say loudly and clearly that hate will not and cannot silence us,” she said at the rally, the Globe reported.
Fuller condemned the March 17 vandalism in a Facebook post.
“Antisemitic and hate incidents are on the rise,” Fuller wrote. “We as a community must stand together to condemn antisemitism and acts of hate and violence against anyone.”
Auchincloss drew connections between the war in Ukraine and the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in his speech.
“My forebears in Ukraine — and yours from countries the world over — learned through torment that hate may begin with solitary, anonymous acts of desecration, but it does not end there,” he said. “Hate does not end unless we drag those cowardly antisemitic actions into the daylight, bear witness as a community to their personal and penetrating effects, and resolve together that we are our neighbor’s keeper.”
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