Park Avenue Synagogue vandalized with 'Palestine' graffiti

The Park Avenue Synagogue was vandalized on Friday with pro-Palestinian graffiti, according to the New York City house of worship.

The synagogue said on Instagram on Friday that it was disheartened to announce that its building was defaced, adding, however, that the synagogue was secured ahead of Shabbat services that evening.

“It is shocking, and it is distressing, and it is a reminder of the world outside and what we face as a Jewish community in this moment of time,” Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove told his congregation at the Friday night services.

A crowd gathered outside of the Manhattan synagogue to show solidarity with the congregation, according to

Cosgrove, who urged congregants to be agents of change against the rise of hate in the country.

Officials speak on the vandalism

According to pro-Israel activist Hen Mazzig, the excerpt of the biblical figure Balaam’s blessing (Numbers 24:5) on the synagogue’s facade was defaced. A photograph that he published showed that “Palestine” was scrawled under the word “Israel” in the quote, “How great are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel.”

“Vandalizing a synagogue in New York is not fighting for justice,” Mazzig said on X on Friday.

On social media, City Councilwoman Julie Menin, a former member of the congregation, called the incident a “vile antisemitic act.”

“A house of worship is a sanctuary,” said Menin. “Defacing it is an attack on all of us.”