On Saturday morning, a 22-year-old student named Rachel and her family left their home near 41st Street in Miami Beach to head to synagogue when they noticed a crowd gathered around their car. They quickly realized why: Someone had egged the vehicle and tagged "Hamas" on the window in cream cheese. "It was so shocking," says Rachel, who asked Riptide to not use her family's last name out of fear that the vandals could strike again. "It frightens me, too."
This morning, another target was hit: This time, "Hamas" and Nazi symbols were spray painted on the front of a synagogue in North Miami Beach.
The vandalism comes as the conflict in Gaza continues to broil, with more than 1,000 Palestinians and 46 Israelis now dead in the ground battle and missile barrage.
Rachel -- who was raised in Miami Beach and whose family attends the nearby Shaare Ezra Sephardic Congregation -- says her family's car was targeted between midnight and 6 a.m. on Saturday. The graffiti was found early in the morning by a passing jogger who called the police.
"Our vandals were not exactly the smartest," she says, noting that they left behind a carton of eggs in a CVS bag. Police are reviewing surveillance footage from the nearby store.
There's no sign yet whether the attack is connected to this morning's vandalism in North Miami Beach, where the Congregation Torah Ve'emunah was targeted.
The pillars in front of the synagogue were spray-painted with swastikas and "Hamas" graffiti sometime overnight, CBS4 reports.
Rachel says her whole congregation is hoping the police nab the vandals soon. "We've never seen anything like this before," she says. "I always boast that in Miami Beach, we're so safe. Then these things start happening."
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