Swastikas Found on Israeli Flag in Homer Glen

The Anti-Defamation League is calling for a hate crime investigation, after a Homer Glen man discovered two swastikas spray-painted on an Israeli flag hanging outside his home.

The man found the symbol of Nazi Germany outside his home in the 12800 block of Lauffer Road in Homer Township. The homeowner told police he was unsure of why anyone would want to desecrate the flag, and that he had not experienced any prior threats.

He also told police that he is not Jewish.

“He did not say why he flies the flag of Israel,” Will County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Kathy Hoffmeyer told Chicago Tribune.

With no additional reports of similar vandalism in the area, she said sheriff’s police are considering it a random act.

Lonnie Nasatir, Midwest regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said police should consider it a hate crime, and investigate it as such.

A swastika placed directly on a symbol for the nation of Israel “is an affront to Jews,” Nasatir told the Tribune.

“There’s definitely a causal relationship between somebody putting a swastika on an Israeli flag,” he said. “The way I look at that is it should be investigated as a potential hate crime and as affront to somebody’s freedoms and being able to put whatever flag they want in their front yard. A swastika being put on a Jewish symbol adds import to the investigation as well.”

The man’s admission that he is not Jewish does not change the implication of the crime, Nasatir said, as “there’s a lot of non-Jews who support Israel. It’s not so uncommon.”