By Kerry Schlossberg
SAN DIEGO — The City of San Diego’s Chicano Park has displayed anti-Semitic slogans (‘Free Palestine’ / ‘From the River to the Sea’) on its official display sign for more than a week. A bipartisan U.S. Congressional resolution in November 2023 confirmed the genocidal, anti-Semitic meaning of these slogans (see H. RES. 883).
This brazen display of hate against a minority group, utilizing official City resources, is unprecedented in San Diego. Mayor Todd Gloria, the City Council, and the Parks & Recreation Department have failed to remove it despite multiple requests for immediate action from San Diego Jewish community leaders since May 12, 2024.
The City of San Diego has a complex history in dealing with Chicano Park, which was taken over in 1970 by anti-American militants who declared it part of “Aztlán.” The City of San Diego has allowed a group of volunteers called the ‘Chicano Park Steering Committee’ to help manage the park.
According to its official website, “unlike other parks, Chicano Park was taken by militant force by a community angered by decades of neglect, ignorance and racism” and “the only way to take that park away is to wade through our blood.” Despite this threat of violence and open hostility, Chicano Park was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2016 and has received federal funding. The City of San Diego’s official website also refers to Chicano Park as a “National Landmark, Local Treasure.”
While City of San Diego officials may feel that their hands are tied, Chicano Park remains City property and can be dealt with in the same manner as another California park that experienced a hostile takeover in the same timeframe. In Northern California, “People’s Park” was taken over by militants in 1969 and declared a cultural and historical landmark by the City of Berkeley in 1984. Yet it is now 2024, and People’s Park was recently reclaimed, closed and cleared out for housing construction.
There is no question that the utilization of City resources to propagate antisemitism cannot be allowed to stand. There is also no question that the City can remove this official display.
On May 17, 2024, Councilmember Vivian Moreno sent a letter to the Chicano Park Steering Committee, stating “Every city park, including Chicano Park, should be welcoming and open to all people who wish to peacefully recreate regardless of their faith, ethnicity, or stance on foreign policy issues… I respectfully request that the Steering Committee take it down immediately.” Despite her polite plea, the antisemitic sign remains on prominent display at Chicano Park at the time of this article’s publication.
San Diego’s Jewish community deserves more than words of sympathy and support from City officials—those words must be backed by swift action. There is no question that a message of hate and intimidation aimed at any other religious and ethnic minority would have been removed from an official city park display as a top priority.
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Kerry Schlossberg is an attorney and a board member of the House of Israel in Balboa Park.
Kerry Schlossberg seems to be one of those annoying people who thinks SHE owns the Jewish experience and has the right to dictate how everyone else should express their religious and cultural experience. The fact is that there are LOTS of Jews who are not on board with the brutality and violence of the Israeli attack on Gaza. And who don’t support IDF and Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. These are FAIR criticisms of Israel!
As for Ms. Schlossberg framing the issue as one of anti-Semitism, I note from looking at the photo that the sign Ms. Schlossberg complains about doesn’t even say ONE WORD about Jews. It’s a straightforward expression of support for Palestinian national aspirations. So why is she so sensitive that she reads in an attack where none is expressed?
The vast majority of Jews are “Zionists,” which simply means that Jews have a right of self-determination in their historic homeland. Israel is core to Jewish belief and history. A fringe left-wing minority of people with a tenuous connection to Judaism do NOT speak on behalf of the Jewish people. It’s vile that they advance their agenda by pretending to represent any of us during this existential defensive war for Israel’s survival.
Ew. This oped is so bad and full of fear mongering and anti-Mexican sentiment. I thought attorneys were supposed to be smart? From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. Stop defending the genocide of Arab peope, you know, the real semites, it’s gross Kerry.
A recent Harvard-Harris poll shows that 79% of Americans support Israel in its defensive war against Hamas terrorists, who killed dozens of Americans and took 8 Americans hostage on October 7th. You are part of a loud, obnoxious anti-Israel crowd that does not speak for the vast majority of San Diego residents. Your racist, ignorant parroting of Hamas terrorists’ slogan is a disgrace. As cited in my article, a bipartisan Congressional resolution was passed confirming that your rhetoric is anti-Semitic. Other countries (including Germany, the Netherlands, etc.) have criminalized this slogan because it calls for the killing of Jews in their historic homeland, which is the world’s only Jewish nation. You likely understand this, but have no moral compass. Collateral damage in war is NOT genocide. October 7th was genocide. Ethnic cleansing of Jews throughout the Middle East (where there are dozens of Arab Muslim countries) was genocide. 2 MILLION Arabs live peacefully in Israel with equal rights and a higher standard of living than anywhere else in the Middle East. Muslims were among those killed on October 7th, and Muslims are serving in the Israel Defense Forces to defeat Hamas. These are inconvenient facts for your hateful narrative. As one of your Chicano Park fans recently posted, “Raza before Gaza”– stop trying to create chaos in our city.
There is nothing hateful about this sign. It’s silly to say otherwise. Opposing the genocide that Israel is commiting in Palestine is not hateful, it’s just the most basic moral stance one can have
The elimination of hamas rapists and murderers is not genocide. Israel has a right to protect it’s people and arrest or liquidate those who try to harm citizens. If you’re such a big fan of “palestine” go there and see what they’re really about. Try harder next time and stop being a tool of antisemitic bigots.
A disgusting display of uninformed hate. This sign needs to come down.
H. Res 883 was passed into law on April 16, 2024.
That sign needs to be removed or covered immediately.
This is a public park and this has no place there. It is 100% biased and offensive
The real antisemitism is pretending that Israel (the genocidal settler colony) somehow represents Jewish people. The community organizers who volunteer at the park just want freedom for everyone in Palestine
Take this hateful sign down! It is the land of Israel, home of the Jews. If the arabs put their weapons down, their would be no more violence. If the Jews put their weapons down, their would be no more Israel!
Sara J keeps living in different hypocritical reality
Dear Sara, if you are saying that if you have nothing to hide its not a problem, why did you go after PI who uncovered you and your boyfriend runs for district he doesn’t live in?
This being said these courts will always find that Israel is in fault by applying double standard. Antisemites always do it. Surprised?
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City must remove this sign immediately. Shame on chicanos to be on a hamas rapers and murderers side. This is nothing to do with colonization but radical islam war against free world
Don’t know how many times it needs to be said but being anti colonization, anti genocide, and anti occupation isn’t being antisemitic. Genocide and Zionism are interrelated issues since it involves the systematic and deliberate removal of Palestinians. This is just an article confusing being Jewish with being Zionist.
News flash for the upset Jewish community. You can be pro-Palestine and not hate Jews! This means free from apartheid, not extermination of israel
And yet so many Jews will keep voting for Democrats who hate you and, as shown here, want nothing less than the total destruction of Israel and death to the Jewish people.
Why is that?
Thank you for your article highlighting this signage. Chicano park by the liberal’s definition is a racist park. It was a racist slur and is a park based on a persons ethnicity. It is akin to a naming a park Gringo or Negro Park. While I am not offended by these appellations, my point is, the park is not a place I would ever set foot. I am more offended by the reading of sexual pruient material to young kids in San Diego public libraries (sure to take place in June) and flying the sexual orientation flag off of city buildings and U.S. flagpoles. All that being said, why does the community permit the signage? Because the community agrees with it. Why does the signage still remain up because people And the Mayor lack the moral fortitude and courage to remove it. The radical left has not problem with criminal mischief but conservatives and rational people tend to follow the law.
This is disgusting filth from pro-Hamas terrorists. If this said “TRUMP MAGA” how many seconds would pass before the City took it down?
Shocking. Genocidal sign in San Diego.
I am a Jew with the right of return to Israel. The article and many of the comments falsely equate Judaism with Zionism. JUDAISM is a religion, a history, a people, a culture, and more, ZIONISM is a political position holding that Jews in the political state of Israel should have more rights than other people in Israel, including Palestinians – even though the Palestinians lived on that land before Israel even existed. ANTI-SEMITISM is hatred of Jews. In contrast, Anti-zionism disagrees with the political position of Zionism. Conflating the two – anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism – is an intentional misrepresentation.
I have lived with the scourge of anti-Semitism my entire life. Hatred against any group of people is unacceptable in a democratic society. Hatred against Jews is unacceptable. Hatred against Palestinians is unacceptable. Hatred against Chicanos, Blacks, Muslims, Asians, Christians, women, men, LGBTQ+ people, old people, people with disabilities … all of this is unacceptable and inconsistent with democracy.
But disagreement with the actions of a political state is not hatred of the people who live in that state, regardless of their religion. As a Jew with relatives living in Israel, with family members killed in the Holocaust and pogroms, I embrace the Jewish value of Never Again. When we cried out “Never Again,” we were talking about everyone. Never Again can the world remain silent when any group of people is murdered simply because of who is in that group.
Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Tens of thousands of Palestinians are dead. Far more are maimed and disabled. Even more will suffer their entire lives from seeing their families and neighbors killed right in front of them and their homes and livelihoods destroyed.
There is nothing Jewish about mass murder.
Shame on you! Israel is core to Jewish belief and history, so it seems that you have renounced your Judaism. The vast majority of Jews are “Zionists,” which simply means that Jews have the right of self-determination on their ancestral homeland. Jews have had a continuous presence in the land of Israel for nearly 4,000 years, pre-dating Islam and Arab colonization. In fact, the Dome of the Rock is built on top of the ruins of the ancient Jewish Temple.
Collateral damage in war is NOT genocide. Israel didn’t start this war, and has literally set a world record in minimizing civilian casualties (1:1, instead of the typical 9:1 ratio for other wars around the world historically).
Massacres of Jews happened in Israel long before 1948. Furthermore, Hamas attempted genocide on October 7th and is openly committed to killing Jews (and Americans) worldwide.
Gaza was unoccupied (with zero Jews) since the 2005 withdrawal (without concessions) that Israel decided to do in the interest of peace. As a “thank you,” the Palestinians in Gaza elected Hamas to lead them and launched continuous rocket attacks at civilian areas of Israel, culminating in the grand finale of October 7th. Even today, more than 3/4 of Palestinians support Hamas according to Arab polling, and plainclothes Palestinian “civilians” participated in the October 7th atrocities.
Meanwhile, there are 2 million Arabs living peacefully in Israel as equal citizens— there are Muslims in the Israel Defense Forces, Knesset, and every other aspect of Israeli life. FYI Muslims and other Arabs were also massacred on October 7th, but you obviously couldn’t care less. Don’t pretend to speak for us, Marilynn. “Free Palestine” is the modern-day “Judenfrei” aimed at committing genocide on indigenous Jews in the land of Israel. Stop supporting terrorism!
Now that I’ve had a few days to reflect on Ms. Schlossberg’s response to my comments, here’s what I want to say. By my comments, I am speaking to readers who have an open and questioning mind, and who are willing to consider whether there is any legitimate reason for Israel’s killing of 30,000 to 35,000 Palestinians, about two-thirds of whom are civilians, children, and women. By the way, these numbers are not from any Palestinian organization. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cites 30,000 as the number of dead Palestinians; the United Nations says nearly 25,000 Palestinians have died. (source: https://tinyurl.com/cyefcwa9)
First, I note that Ms. Schlossberg’s response is replete with:
– False statements that are presented as if they were true;
– Fabrications;
– Misleading comments;
– Rebuked stories; and
– more.
Given this, it is not surprising that Ms. Schlossberg did not provide even one source to support her outlandish claims.
Ms. Schlossberg demanded that I not “… pretend to speak for [Jews].” Yet she did exactly the same thing to me. She asserted Israel is “core” to any belief in Judaism. She said “… it seems that you have renounced your Judaism.” She even told me that I “don’t care” about “… Muslims and other Arabs [who] were also massacred on October 7th….” Ms. Schlossberg was wrong on all counts.
◊ Israel is not core or even necessary for a belief in Judaism. Judaism pre-dates Israel by centuries, starting at least in 1300–1000 BCE and possibly much earlier. (source: https://tinyurl.com/3bkdnvrd)
◊ I have not renounced Judaism in the slightest. But unlike you, my definition of Judaism doesn’t tolerate the annihilation of any group of people.
◊ And I care deeply about every single death in the region. I care and object to the deaths on October 7 and the deaths after October 7.
She said Zionism “only” means Jews have the right of self-determination. However, she left out any right to self-determination for Palestinians who have lived in the area for centuries. This omission is also not surprising because Zionism is inconsistent with Palestinian self-determination.
Astonishingly, Ms. Schlossberg claims Israel has “set a world record in minimizing civilian casualties….” The International Criminal Court (ICC) disagrees. Just three days ago, an ICC prosecutor applied for warrants for Netanyahu and Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallat. The prosecutor reported that based on evidence, he had “reasonable grounds to believe” Netanyahu and Gallat bear criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity, beginning at least on October 8.
The prosecutor listed seven horrifying crimes including:
– Willful killing or murder;
– Intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population;
– Extermination and/or murder contrary including deaths caused by starvation.
(source: https://tinyurl.com/r6hbnxr7)
Another failure in her reply is the statement that the Palestinians elected Hamas. She omitted necessary context. The most recent election was nearly two decades ago, in 2006. In that election, Hamas did not win a majority of votes, though it won more than any other. Hamas was able to claim leadership because there was nobody else in that role. And “… it was misleading to conflate that electoral outcome with the views of people in the region today.” (source: https://tinyurl.com/bdehxvx2)
Finally, it is ridiculous to say that three-fourths of Palestinians support Hamas when there is no other option. Hamas is the closest thing to leadership the Palestinians have, and the only regional entity opposing the mass slaughter of Palestinians. Who else is there for Palestinians to support? Certainly not the state of Israel, which is actively killing, starving, and removing Palestinians from their homes.
To the good people reading my reply, please do not accept what Ms. Schlossberg pretends is correct and true. Please look at the links I provided and you will see for yourself that Ms. Strossberg lacks credibility.
Well said Ms Spencer.
Bravo
Your column is antisemitic because it opposes freedom for Palestinians, who are all Semites. If you want to stop hate start by educating yourself.
You’re asking for a lot from someone who does not even understand the meaning of the word antisemitism. Lol this article is a joke.
What else can you expect from a park that displays several swastikas around the park in the murals? Even though they are reversed from the usual representation I think they hint at the same meaning.
Who remembers the extremely anti-Semitic Chicano radio station. I think it was called Vox de Aztlan? I think the antisemitism is still there.
You’re interpreting the symbol incorrectly. The swastika is a very old cultural and religious symbol used as far back as 10,000 BCE. It can be drawn or written with the half-arms pointing either left or right. The word “swastika” comes from Sanskrit and means “of benefit to one’s well-being.” Many religions and cultures use the swastika as a symbol of good health including Asian, European, African, and American. Many indigenous people, East Asian, and Asian people continue to use the swastika to exemplify strength and vigor. This is the meaning of the symbol you see in Chicano Park and in many other places throughout the world. Most likely, the symbol’s use in Chicano Park represents the indigenous people who lived on the land the Park now occupies. It is offensive that the Nazis copied the symbol and used it in a manner inconsistent with the symbol’s origins and meaning.
References:
Discovering San Diego’s Native American Heritage
https://www.sandiego.org/explore/things-to-do/arts-culture/history-heritage/native-american-history-and-heritage-sites.aspx
Indians denounce swastika
https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-joseph-gazette-indians-denounce-swas/36417593/
Swastika
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika
It’s difficult to believe (even after everything that is going on) that there is so much hate against jewish people for the only reason of being jewish… and it’s disappointing that the different gov officials are not doing enough to educate and stand in the right side of equality and respect for everyone. This display has been there for some time and it should be removed NOW.
This also shows who people should and not should be voting in the next election to move for a fair country!
Wow. So, we’re advocating to take more land, eh? Is this writer suggesting that she has a claim to land that is already occupied by people and a culture that’s not hers? Talk about a pattern. What “City resources” are being used exactly regarding the sign? It appears this lawyer is suggesting that the City “take back” the land of Chicano Park like People’s Park. Does this person feel the same way about the “genocidal phrase,” when used by the founding charter of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party: “Between the sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty”? Is Islamophobia and the displacement of Palestinians and imposition of her views on the Chicanx Committee somehow not racist and evidence of a colonizer mindset? Did you know that Palestinians ARE Semites, therefore standing up for their freedom cannot be antisemitic, unless of course you accept that what is happening to Palestinians is antisemitic? The entitlement, self righteousness, and self aggrandizement is astounding, really. Maybe try listening to the Jews for a Free Palestine. They live the principles of the faith in a way every person on the planet with a heart can respect.
I invite you to visit Rudy Rochman’s YouTube channel for a fresh perspective and open dialogue about the concerns your reply articulates. It’s an earnest, friendly invitation. Maybe, just maybe, we can begin a conversation that leads to something better than the current stalemate.
My origin story begins in Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles, not far from Hollenbeck Park, for those of you that might be familiar with the city. Like the Cheech and Chong song, I was truly “Born in East LA”, a Yiddish-Chicana. That’s right. It was a vibrant, multicultural neighborhood, back in the day. People celebrated their differences, respected one another, and lived in relative peace. There weren’t any signs in Hollenbeck Park poisoning the vibe between neighbors with political slogans of any stripe or taking any side. I miss those origins, and the tears they elicit are so bittersweet.
It would hardly be free if Islamist extremists took over Israel, or more likely “Judenfrei” instead. I suppose that is probably the kind of freedom they mean.
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In reply to A. Mentsch.
That’s what the German middle class said about the Nazis, just wait and they will fade away over time.
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In reply to Jennie.
The City manages the Park, but it is on California State land, I believe CalTrans. It’s underneath an overpass of a State highway and on land that was intended to be a California Highway Patrol station. You may want to pressure the State of California. They got $10M a year of two ago from Newsom to restore the murals in the Park.
We all know that antisemitism is prejudice against or hatred of Jewish people.
Thank you, Kerry Schlossberg, for your insightful and well written OpEd, bringing the outrageous signage at Chicano Park to the community’s attention.
Clearly, the sign language is antisemitic and should come down. No question. If not, then consequences should be put into effect.
As for the reply from Anonymous on May 20, 2024, at
4:45 PM, “You should ger your facts straight…”, the criticism comes from a place of ignorance and lacks any substantiation to the claim. The words of a pathetic troll, no doubt.
Not to minimize the merit of the OpEd, reflecting on the bigger picture, a broader view, just like Peoples Park in Berkeley, Chicano Park in San Diego will eventually wither away with the sands of time, but Israel will remain, standing strong.
Am Yisrael Chai.
Not shocked at all by this. Chicano park itself is a ball of hate.
As Alan Dershowitz, the Harvard Law Professor has said, the only way to stop this antisemitism are lawsuits. Civil lawsuits will hurt these people until they stop this. There must be some attorneys with a lot of civil experience that will take this on.
I am equally frustrated and I also feel it’s ridiculous to constantly be emailing and calling for this type of stuff to come down. It is truly disheartening to see our parks used to spread hate none the less with our tax paying dollars.
The fact that our local news outlets have not provided adequate coverage or rather none to my knowledge of this issue only adds to the sense of frustration and the feeling of speaking into an echo chamber. It is crucial that we take action to ensure that our voices are heard and that our community’s concerns are addressed.
As a community we all need to work to keep raising awareness about the increasing anti semitic issues by reaching out to our local news outlets, community leaders, and elected officials. We have to keep demanding more honesty and this type of lies be stopped.
Disgusting that the city would allow this
We are a community, no public form of hatred should be allowed to be displayed! And no form of aniti-semitism should be tolerated! I wonder if this signed said, kill all muslims or kill all african american or kill all latin population, what would the reaction be??
From the river to the sea calls for genocide!
Disgusting! This is not ok. It needs to be removed immediately.
This is dangerous and I hate to think representative of americas finest city. It literally brings hate into young peoples view and display. Does the city really see itself as calling for the end of a democratic country and ally of the United States? That is what from the river to the sea means. Genocide for the Jews, Arabs, Palestinians, Christian’s living in Israel today. Hamas murdered all in their way jew, Muslim, druze, Thai in fact 22 nationalities. Didn’t matter. That’s what the city stands for? Hard stop, I think not. I truly hope this was an employee violation of use of city property to politicize and spew hate and not some kind of city position. The city needs to act here and take it down immediately identifying who posted it and disciplining them as well. We should not tolerate hate of any kind and city employees need to know signage is not theirs to use to fuel hatred and there are consequences.
There is a huge ignorance, if not deception, in the calling for freeing form river to the sea. There. Is no other country in that space besides Israel, and any territory that was passed to the Palestinians immediately became 100% Jew free. Not only that Palestine itself is a name of a colonial entity, those who claim this term have shown time after time that they want to kill all Jews there. So this “naive” sign is nothing else but a call for Jewish genocide.
It really is sad that a park that uplifts the Hispanic community is taken over for a hateful racist purpose with a racist and genocidal message. That it is done with public funding is doubly shameful.
You should get your facts straight before trying to make a claim. You’re under developed
And look what was said almost 50 years ago. The 1977 election manifesto of the Israeli Likud party stated, “between the sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty”. The phrase “from the river to the sea” is ambiguous and has multiple meanings. It refers to the area of land west of the Jordan River and east of the Mediterranean Sea, which includes the boundaries of Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.
It is more than “Sad”, to kill thousands of innocent children and civilians than to publicly declare those acts on this Park, which itself represents the same fight n struggle for Human Dignity as the Poor Innocent Palestinians. It must remain to remind people of the Genocide being committed by Israel!
Exactly. If the other absurd comments above (and the article itself especially) claiming caring about Palestinian freedom, caring about >15,000 children murdered by US weapons is “A-S” then that word has utterly lost all meaning.
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/if-everything-is-antisemitic-then-nothing-is
Eradicating hamas terrorists is not genocide. Hamas doesn’t tell you that the 14,000 dead terrorists are being counted as “civilians” or women and children. The fact is that the vast majority of those killed in Gaza are fighting age males, not “children”.
Israel isn’t responsible for the thousands of hamas rockets that fall short and have killed hundreds of Gazans either.
In the past 7.5 months the number of deaths in Gaza from natural causes; old age, disease, and crime number at least 18,000 according to statistics in previous years. At least 30,000 Gazans die each year due to natural causes. Israel is not responsible for these deaths either.
When all of these facts are calculated, the number of actual civilian deaths is estimated to be less than 7,000, many of whom were likely family members of the dead terrorists.
There is no place for hate! Period.
EXACTLY!!!
Us Chicanos largely support Palestine as we see their struggle parallels our ancestors colonization.