Messages expressing support for Hamas and denouncing Israel’s ongoing military campaign in the Gaza Strip were spray-painted across the University of Colorado early Friday, prompting a rebuke from university officials and Jewish students.
Images of some of the graffiti have been posted in the comments of a social media post from the CU Police Department addressing the incident. Police spokeswoman Nicole Mueksch said Saturday morning that officers were investigating the incident, which involved an unknown number of vandals.
One message on a sidewalk near the Kittredge residence halls read: “HAMAS IS RESISTANCE” and was accompanied by a downward-pointing triangle.
The messages also included vulgar criticism of Israel and statements of support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, as well as accusations that Israel has “blood on its hands” and is “committing a new Holocaust” in Gaza.
Mueksch said four buildings on the south side of CU’s main campus were destroyed, in addition to walkways and a pedestrian underpass. She said the university has seen an increase in complaints about anti-Semitic and Islamophobic incidents since October 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel’s southern border and Israel responded by bombing and invading Gaza.
CU Boulder Hillel, a Jewish student organization, wrote in a statement on Friday that members were “deeply disturbed by the anti-Semitic vandalism and graffiti” and that the messages were inconsistent with the values of the university community.
“While anti-Semitism continues to rise at colleges and universities and across our country, there is no place at the University of Colorado for hatred or intimidation of any kind directed toward Jewish students,” the organization wrote.
The university condemned the graffiti in his own statement, also referring to the messages as ‘anti-Semitic’ and warning that they are contradictory the school’s free speech policy but also constitutional law.
“This type of behavior is not a productive way to address the difficult conversations facing our society today in a respectful and civil manner,” the school’s statement read.
Mueksch said the graffiti was still being removed Saturday morning and the cost of the removal had yet to be determined.
Citizens who have information about the incident can contact the police anonymously online or at 303-492-6666, referencing case number 2024-2190.
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