Sometime between Saturday night and early Sunday morning on the weekend of March 16-17, one or more unidentified vandals spray painted and tore the posters of each of the October 7th hostages displayed in front of a home on Homer Street, thereby obliterating all the faces and identification of the hostages. Miriam and Jeffrey Kosowsky, who mounted the posters on their fence, said they wanted to make a human statement to passersby, rather than a political one. They chose to display all the hostages so that people would take in the scope of the tragedy and understand that the hostages were beloved children, husbands, wives, siblings, and relatives. In addition to the obliteration of the faces, the vandal or vandals also broke the fence and spray-painted “Free Gaza” on the “We Stand With Israel” sign in front of the fence.
Miriam Kosowsky, a native New Yorker, expressed shock that “it happened in Newton, one of the country’s safest cities.” She said that there has been an ongoing progression of antisemitism, beginning with heated rhetoric and demonstrations and now vandalism on private property. Will attacks on individuals be next, she asks? “First they come for the private property and then they come for the people,” she said. Her husband believes, ‘It is important to call it out,” so they are allowing themselves to be filmed and interviewed. They both express the need for community engagement to forestall additional acts of vandalism. “It’s a question of what we tolerate,” Mr. Kosowsky said, explaining their willingness to talk about the attack on their property. As Mrs. Kosowsky noted, the vandalism occurred on a busy street, possibly during daylight hours.
The Kosowskys praise Mayor Ruthanne Fuller and Ward 2 City Councilor David Micley for coming to their house to offer concern and support. The Mayor told them that swastikas have been appearing at the high schools as well. In addition, according to the Mayor’s statement, on Saturday, someone threw a rock and broke a glass door with a “We Stand with Israel” sign.
Neighbors on Homer Street report seeing increasing numbers of defaced posters and signs, at the same time that many signs have been disappearing from trees, fences, and posts. Two people, stopping to look at the vandalized fence, voiced shock and dismay at the act. Both thought that the destruction was the result of a well-planned act.
Newton Police said, “The incident is being investigated as a hate crime due to the underlying crimes specifically targeting the victims of a protected class.”
Detectives were deployed to the area, talking to neighbors and asking people to check their surveillance cameras for possible suspicious activity. Newton Police Chief John Carmichael issued a statement saying, “We denounce such behavior, and our community has no tolerance for such bias and hateful acts. We will investigate the matter fully and seek to prosecute anyone involved.” If residents have information, they are asked to call the Newton Police Anonymous Tip Line at 617-796-2121.