16-06-2025
Brick reading ‘Free Palestine' thrown through window of Brookline kosher grocery store
Brookline police are investigating an incident in which a brick reading 'Free Palestine' was thrown through the window of a Kosher grocery store June 15, 2025.
Marcela Rodrigues
'Individuals came with the purpose of vandalizing our store, using political slogans as a cover to spread intimidation and hatred,' the statement read. 'Let us be clear: this was not a statement of protest, it was an attack on the Jewish community. This was not about policy or politics. It was an act meant to threaten, to isolate, and to target us for who we are.'
Dena Snyder, a Newton resident who's on the board of directors of Temple Emanuel and is a regular shopper at The Butcherie, said she was 'heart sick' when she heard the news Sunday morning.
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'Jews are just feeling really threatened everywhere, and I think that there's a heightened concern about the safety of American Jews,' she said. 'The amount of antisemitism that my children are living with is really different from [what] I experienced growing up.'
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Antisemitic incidents have been on the rise since Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on Israel, according to the Anti-Defamation League. In 2024, a total of 638 incidents of assault, harassment, and vandalism were reported in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, according to the ADL, up from 628 in 2023.
In a statement on social media, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey said the incident is concerning and unacceptable.
'Acts of violence and intimidation have no place in our communities. We stand with our Jewish neighbors against antisemitism,' she said. 'Everyone deserves to live, pray and do business without fear in Massachusetts.'
Marcela Rodrigues can be reached at
