A Sant Cugat del Vallès bookstore was vandalized on Tuesday with anti-Israel graffiti accusing the business of complicity in a supposed genocide in Gaza, according to the shop and local Jewish groups.
The owner of Pati De Llibres found on Tuesday morning that the bookstore's facade and windows had been spray-painted with a Palestinian flag and slogans proclaiming the shop to be "Zionazi" and "Zionist."
"Accomplice to genocide," read graffiti on the building facade, with an arrow pointing to the shop window.
Owner Mont Soler rejected the "offensive" and political messages as against the values of coexistence and respect that he stood for, and that his vocation was about keeping the bookstore as an open and safe space for dialogue.
"Pati de Llibres is not a space for political confrontation," Soler said in Tuesday’s social media posts. "It is and will continue to be a cultural and community meeting place, where everyone is welcome. I have always been and always will be there for all people who are suffering, whatever their race, religion, ethnicity, or gender."
Echos of Nazi Germany
The Jewish Community of Barcelona compared the vandalism to the graffiti and signage placed on Jewish businesses during the Nazi regime in Germany, arguing that they already knew where the path of symbols and words painted on walls led.
"Hate is never innocent," the community group said on X. "Hate always seeks to sow fear."
The European Jewish Congress said that it was outraged over the incident, which it categorized as an attack on the values of dialogue, respect, and free expression that sustained democratic societies. After the municipality removed the graffiti, the EJC added on X that it was grateful for the town's quick response.
The bookstore thanked supporters on Wednesday and said that it would now focus on instilling the community with the love of reading, stories, and new ideas.