Earlier this week, a man was accused of taking part in an antisemitic attack in San Francisco’s Marina District that left the victim with multiple blows to the head. The district attorney’s office charged Juan Dias Rivas, 36, with two counts of assault, including allegations that he had committed a hate crime and intended to inflict great bodily harm on his victim.
The charges came after reports that the attackers shouted, “F— Jews, free Palestine,” before punching and kicking the victim, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The attack is only one of several incidents that have occurred in the last few weeks.
Earlier this month, Jewish cafe owner Manny Yekutiel arrived at work only to discover that his Mission District business had been broken into and trashed, the Chronicle first reported. Graffiti on the wall read, “Die Zio” and “The Only Good Settler is a Dead 1” — a reference to the war in Palestine by Israeli forces.
Yekutiel, who owns and hosts community events at his cafe, Manny’s, said he is not Israeli. The cafe has been hit with anti-Israel graffiti several times since opening seven years ago, the Chronicle reported.
“I don’t know if I’m safe here,” Yekutiel said. “There is a dark tide of antisemitism that is covering our country, and its shadow has reached our city. San Francisco cannot allow this to happen. We have to stand against it because it is in our blood to be a city that welcomes everyone.”
Abigail Bornstein, an instructor at City College of San Francisco, told the Chronicle that she was targeted by an expletive-laden rant during a board meeting last month by Maria Salazar-Colon, president of a college chapter of the Service Employees International Union Local 1021.
The union leader allegedly called Bornstein a “colonizer” and insulted her Jewish name, according to the Chronicle report.
Salazar-Colon said in a statement to KQED that her intention was not to be antisemitic but to express frustration with Bornstein. Bornstein did not respond to a request for comment, but previously told the Chronicle that she no longer feels safe at work.