At a political event in San Francisco on Wednesday afternoon, individuals present chanting “tax the rich” switched their chant to “tax the Jews,” San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie stated.
“This was an event I put on with [District Five] Supervisor [Bilal] Mahmood, labor leaders, and dozens of workers to announce a plan that creates more jobs for those workers and housing for San Franciscans,” Lurie said of the event in a post to X/Twitter.
“Suggesting that Jews are wealthy is a tired trope, and targeting our community at an event focused on creating economic opportunity for San Franciscans is decidedly antisemitic,” the Democratic mayor added.
Lurie went on to state that he wouldn’t tolerate antisemitism or any other form of hatred and that such bigotry did not belong in San Francisco.
Previous incidents of antisemitism in San Francisco
The Jewish community of San Francisco has been targeted by a number of antisemitic acts over the last couple of years.
In December of last year, a dumpster outside the San Francisco Hillel was set on fire in a suspected arson attack. An individual suspected of starting the blaze was later arrested.
The fire initially broke out as the Hillel student team was inside the building, preparing for the final Shabbat of the term.
A year earlier, the same Hillel was vandalized with the word “Khaybar,” a term that refers to a location in modern-day Saudi Arabia where the Islamic prophet Mohammed led his followers in a war against Jews that ultimately resulted in massacres and expulsions.
The chant “Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews, the army of Mohammed will return” is commonly heard at anti-Israel protests and is seen by many as a threat of violence against Jews.
Mathilda Heller and Michael Starr contributed to this report.