Anti-Israel slogan spray-painted on MIT building, vandalism under investigation, school says
Vandals spray-painted the words 'Death to the IOF,' known as a slur for the Israel Defense Forces, onto glass doors of the Stata Center, a large academic complex at the elite school, sometime over the weekend.
The graffiti was tagged with the letters DAMPL, which stands for the Direct Action Movement for Palestinian Liberation.
'The MIT Police Department is working with local and federal officials to identify the individual or individuals responsible for the graffiti on campus this weekend so that they can be held accountable for these outrageous acts of vandalism, targeting and threats of violence,' an MIT spokesperson said Tuesday.
'While we do not publicly discuss the specifics of internal safety plans, I can confirm we are taking steps beyond the investigation to further increase security on campus,' the spokesperson said.
MIT Israel Alliance, a Jewish advocacy group on campus, denounced the vandalism.
'The MIT Israel Alliance is disturbed—but not surprised—by the recent vandalism of the Stata Center,' the group said in a statement.
'This incident is the latest in an Escalating string of attempts to harass and intimidate MIT faculty with research ties to Israel,' the group said. 'The spray-painted slogan 'Death to the IOF' (a slur for the IDF) goes beyond political speech; we take it as a direct threat to all IDF veterans at MIT, who make up the majority of Israeli students, postdocs, staff, and faculty."
'We have received no guidance from the MIT administration despite reaching out,' the group said. 'We hope to hear promptly how the university will address these threats and ensure the safety of all community members on campus.'
The vandalism comes about two weeks after a federal lawsuit was filed accusing MIT and its leaders of cultivating an environment 'rife with anti-Semitism and fear.'
The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law filed the lawsuit on June 25 in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts.
The 71-page complaint alleges that anti-Semitism soared on MIT's campus after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking 250 hostages.
'After October 7, the campus became a hotbed of anti-Semitic hate and lawlessness, where student groups celebrated the murderous rampage of October 7, demonstrators shouted for violence against Jews worldwide, students occupied buildings and interrupted classes with hateful anti-Semitic chants,' the complaint states.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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