Antisemitic graffiti scrawled on the outer wall of Norwich Synagogue in England. Photo: Screenshot

The sole synagogue in the English city where the first known instance of the medieval anti-Jewish “blood libel” occurred has been vandalized with antisemitic graffiti.

The wall of the Norwich Synagogue was daubed with the slogan “Zionism = Nazism, Isra’hell, apartheid. Tsiahal [sic] + Saitanyahu = Genocide.” The word “Tsiahal” (“Tsahal”) is the Hebrew acronym for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), while “Saitanyahu” is a contraction of the Arabic word for “Satan” with the name of current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The offensive graffiti was spotted by a congregant as he walked with his family near the synagogue last weekend.

The witness, who chose to remain anonymous, told the London-based Jewish Chronicle that he had been deeply shocked by the message.

“I stopped in my tracks when I noticed the writing,” he said. “I quickly ushered my wife and children along saying I’d catch up with them while I reread it again to try and take it in. I didn’t want them reading any more of it. I was quite shocked and saddened that they had targeted our lovely little community, and I didn’t really want to have to inform other members.”

Norwich City Council quickly removed the graffiti. “The antisemitic graffiti seen on Norwich Synagogue is totally unacceptable. Our contractor painted over it as an initial temporary measure, before completely removing it today,” a spokesperson for the council said on Thursday.

The synagogue houses the Norwich Hebrew Congregation. It is the only synagogue in the region of eastern England.

Norwich occupies a notorious place in Jewish history as the location of the first “blood libel” — a medieval anti-Jewish slur which falsely claims that Jews use the blood of non-Jewish children in their religious rituals — in 1144. The murder of a local 12-year-old boy known as William was blamed on local Jews. Other instances of the blood libel manifested throughout the 12th Century in England, resulting in massacres of Jews in London, York, and other cities in 1189 and 1190.