A swastika was carved into an elevator at State Department headquarters, prompting an investigation, reports Business Insider.
"This hateful graffiti has been removed and this incident will be investigated. As the secretary has shared with a message to all of our employees, this is completely abhorrent. It's a painful reminder that anti-Semitism isn't a relic of the past, it's still a force that we're dealing with in the world and unfortunately, we're dealing with it close to home," said Jalina Porter, a spokesperson at the State Department.
"Anti-Semitism has no place in the United States and certainly has no place in the State Department," she added.
The symbol, which has since been removed, was found scratched into the wooden panel of an elevator near the office of the special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken in an internal email to the State Department workers addressed the incident.
“Late yesterday, I learned that a swastika was found carved in an elevator at the Harry S Truman building,” he wrote. “The hateful graffiti has been removed and this incident will be investigated.”
Blinken went on to say that “this painfully reminds us, anti-Semitism isn't a relic of the past. It's still a force in the world, including close to home. And it's abhorrent. It has no place in the United States, at the State Department, or anywhere else. And we must be relentless in standing up and rejecting it.
“To our Jewish colleagues: please know how grateful we are for your service and how proud we are to be your colleagues,” he added.
Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. and UN Gilad Erdan called the incident anti-Semitism.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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