Antisemitic vandals’ graffiti included Hamas symbol for targeted killings on Brooklyn Museum director’s front door
Antisemitic vandals who defaced the Brooklyn Museum director’s co-op Tuesday night painted a red triangle on the front door — a symbol that has been widely used in Hamas propaganda showing Israelis marked for death.
The anti-Israel activists targeted Jewish museum director Anne Pasternak’s apartment building in Brooklyn Heights as well as the homes of other board members, shocking photos show.
Among the graffiti on Pasternak’s home was the red inverted triangle. One other home that was vandalized also shows a red triangle.
The triangle became a prevalent symbol online and offline beginning in November 2023 following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and Israel’s aggressive retaliatory offensive, according to the Anti Defamation League.
It first appeared in propaganda videos from the al-Qassam brigades — Hamas’ military wing — to highlight an Israeli soldier that was about to be killed or wounded in a targeted attack by the terrorists.
In the clips, the red triangle followed the target, which was then hit with a sniper’s bullet, a rocket-propelled grenade or another deadly blast.
“Though it can be used innocuously in general pro-Palestine social media posts, the inverted red triangle is now used to represent Hamas itself and glorify its use of violence in many popular anti-Zionist memes and political cartoons,” the ADL says on its website.
For example, the group said, anti-Israel protesters will put the symbol over an image of Israeli soldiers or on a Star of David “as a way to call for further violent resistance.”
The activists also scrawled “Anne Pasternak Brooklyn Museum White Supremacist Zionist” in a sign on her home. Other messages claimed the museum leader “had blood on your hands.”
The stunt was widely condemned by local officials, including New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who said this was not a case of peaceful protests or free speech.
“This is a crime, and it’s overt, unacceptable anti-Semitism,” Adams said in a statement.
He apologized to Pasternak and vowed to bring those responsible to justice.
