Georgia Tech Jewish fraternity house vandalized

By Brittany Ford

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    ATLANTA, Georgia (WANF) — Georgia Tech police are investigating vandalism at a Jewish fraternity.

Members of Alpha Epsilon Pi found the words “free Palestine” written beneath an Israeli banner on Sunday.

It comes as tensions heighten in the Israel-Hamas war.

Students are speaking out denouncing acts of division.

“Obviously, it’s not something that we want to happen because we don’t endorse hate speech around the campus,” one student said.

“It’s disturbing to see this kind of thing happening around the campus but as a whole, I know Georgia Tech doesn’t approve of those things,” said another student.

In a statement, Georgia Tech said the “safety and security of (its) campus is of utmost importance.”

“Georgia Tech police are investigating an incident of vandalism from over the weekend. Someone used shaving cream to write a pro-Palestinian message on the wall of a Jewish fraternity,” the university said in a statement.

The vandalism is not considered a hate crime. Democrat State Rep. Ester Panitch is working to change that.

Panitch, Georgia’s only Jewish legislator, weighed in on the vandalism on X, formerly Twitter.

“This is why I fought so hard to define antisemitism last time. If I get attacked because of what’s going on over there, it’s not a hate crime,” said Panitch.

Panitch said House Bill 30 is a bill she’s co-sponsored that would help prosecutors and other officials identify hate crimes and illegal discrimination targeting Jewish people.

“We will be reintroducing the bill. Unfortunately, these are just more examples of why we need it,” she said.

Atlanta News First reached out to members of the Alpha Epsilon Phi who did not want to go on camera.

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