Swastikas are found spray-painted on trees outside Quaker cemetery in South Jersey as hate crimes in the state skyrocket
- The symbols of hatred were first observed on Thursday outside of the Haddonfield Friends Meeting Cemetery
- The two trees on both side of the burial grounds’ entry can be seen with spray-painted pink swastikas and racist language
- The hate crime came on the mark of the cemetery’s 300th anniversary this year
- An estimated 1,900 bias incidents were documented in New Jersey last year – a record-high in the state
- The state has observed a 29 increase in hate crimes as there were 1,447 bias incidents recorded in 2020
- Anti-Jewish bias was mentioned as the reason behind 347 incidents reported in 2021
- The incident comes a less than two weeks before Passover – a Jewish holiday
Swastikas were seen graffitied on trees near a Quaker cemetery in southern New Jersey, another vile sign of soaring hate crimes in the state.
The symbols of hatred were first observed on Thursday outside the Haddonfield Friends Meeting Cemetery by employees before being reported to local police on Friday.
Two trees on both side of the cemetery’s entry can be seen with spray-painted pink swastikas and bigoted language while facing the local Quakers meetinghouse near North Haddon Avenue and Lake Street in the town located about 15 miles from Philadelphia.
Thursday’s discovery came just a day before acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced a record number of hate crimes in the state last year.
Swastikas were found spray-painted outside Quaker cemetery at Haddonfield Friends Cemetery in Haddonfield, New Jersey, on Thursday as hate crimes in the state continue to rise
Preliminary data indicated that an estimated 1,900 bias incidents were documented in New Jersey last year — the highest number since the state started individually recording hate crimes in 1994.
‘Even though we are Quakers, there are times when we cannot and should not be silent,’ said Dave Austin, clerk for the Haddonfield Friends Meeting, in a statement in reaction to the discovery.
‘It is a sad fact that hate crimes of all kinds, especially incidents involving anti-Semitic hate, have been on the rise in recent years across our state and our country, including locally.’
Hate crimes have spiked 29 percent from the 1,447 bias incidents recorded in 2020.
Anti-Jewish bias was mentioned as the reason behind 347 incidents reported in 2021.
‘Our commitment to protecting New Jersey residents from acts of hate and bias remains unshakable,’ Platkin said in a statement.
Bigoted language was also found on another tree at the other side of the cemetery, which is home to a local community of Quakers
He added that the hate crime came on the 300th anniversary of Haddonfield Friends this year, and that the religious group ‘will have to reflect on this as a community.’
Quakerism is a Christian religious denomination, known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Followers of the movement are generally united by a belief in each human’s ability to experience the light within or see ‘that of God in every one.’
‘We’ve done work on anti-racism; we’ll take care of each other,’ he told NJ Pen. ‘I want the local community, the wider community, to be aware that this has happened, and to give folks something to think about.
‘This isn’t right,’ he added. ‘It seems like we’re in this place right now as a country where this stuff is everywhere. There are a lot of people pushing agendas that are just plain wrong. They’re anti-American, anti-human, as much as they’re anti-Semitic.’
Haddonfield Police Department is currently leading the investigation into the hateful graffiti, according to its Chief Jason Cutler. City officials were sent to the cemetery to remove the spray-paint on Friday morning.
Haddonfield Friends Cemetery in Haddonfield, New Jersey, has become the latest location in the state where a hate crime was carried out
Haddonfield mayor Colleen Bianco Bezich said she was ‘disgusted’ by Thursday’s findings and said it was ‘important to stand in solidarity with our Jewish community members and denounce the symbols’ in the wake of Passover, which is less than two weeks away from today
Haddonfield Mayor Colleen Bianco Bezich expressed her ‘disgust’ by the findings of the hate symbols in the borough, and thanked members of the cemetery and police for ‘responding, reporting, and working to clean up these signs.
‘Hate and bigotry have no home in Haddonfield, whether anti-Semitism or any other type,’ Bianco Bezich said.
‘As Passover is only two weeks away, it’s important to stand in solidarity with our Jewish community members and denounce these symbols.’
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