Rabbi Shaoul Hamaoui's synagogue, the Persian Hebrew Congregation in suburban Chicago, had never been the subject of vandalism while he's served as spiritual leader for more than a decade.
But that changed Sunday afternoon when a window was shattered and surveillance video captured two people, one carrying a stick and another holding a "Freedom for Palestine" sign.
The incident isn't an outlier. From New York to Los Angeles, an apparent uptick of antisemitic vandalism and incidents have been reported to police and shared on social media as deadly fighting escalated over the past two weeks in the Gaza Strip between Israelis and Palestinians.
Mosques in the United States have reported damage in recent days, as well. Muslims are also grappling with acts of vandalism and bias.
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