Anti-Semitic vandals who defaced the Brooklyn Museum’s director’s shared office on Tuesday night painted a red triangle on the front door, a symbol widely used in Hamas propaganda to indicate that Israelis are being targeted for death.
Shocking photos show that anti-Israel activists targeted the Brooklyn Heights apartment of museum director Anne Pasternak, as well as the homes of other Jewish board members.
The graffiti on Pasternak’s home includes an inverted red triangle, and red triangles have also been painted on other destroyed houses.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, the triangle has become a commonly used symbol both online and offline since November 2023, following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and Israel’s heavy-handed retaliatory strikes.
The footage first appeared in a propaganda video from the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, showing Israeli soldiers nearly killed or injured in targeted terrorist attacks.
In the footage, a red triangle tracks the target before a sniper bullet, rocket-propelled grenade or other deadly explosion hits it.
“While the inverted red triangle can be used harmlessly in typical pro-Palestinian social media posts, it is now used in many popular anti-Zionist memes and political cartoons to represent Hamas itself and glorify its use of violence,” the ADL said. It says on the website.
For example, anti-Israel protesters will place the symbol over statues of Israeli soldiers or Stars of David “as a call for further violent resistance,” the group said.
Activists also scrawled the words “Anne Pasternak Brooklyn Museum White Supremacy Zionist” on the sign at her home, while another message claimed the museum director had “blood on your hands.”
The act was widely condemned by local officials, including New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who said this was not a case of peaceful protest or free speech.
“This is a crime and is clearly and unacceptably anti-Semitic,” Adams said in a statement.
He apologized to Pasternak and vowed to bring those responsible to justice.
