Antisemitic flyers were scattered throughout the Squirrel Hill neighborhood in Pittsburgh, and residents reported being subjected to slurs, marking yet another hateful incident in the same area that endured the tragic Tree of Life synagogue massacre in 2018.
According to Pittsburgh police, the offensive materials were tossed out of a moving car. The flyers were enclosed in small plastic bags weighed down with kernels of corn, making it easier to throw them from a vehicle while driving.
One flyer bore the message, “Every single aspect of the Jewish Talmud is satanic,” a phrase captured in a photo shared by county comptroller and Pittsburgh mayoral candidate Corey O’Connor.
The flyer featured selectively extracted lines from the Talmud, the central text of rabbinic Judaism, which contains centuries of legal and moral discourse. Manipulating and misrepresenting Talmudic passages in order to slander Jews has long been a tactic employed by antisemites.
“Despicable antisemitic acts like those taking place in Squirrel Hill today have no place in our city,” O’Connor posted on social media.
While police have not yet released the identities of the perpetrators, the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh linked the incident to the Goyim Defense League, a known white supremacist hate group. According to the Federation, the individuals also shouted antisemitic insults at members of the Jewish community.
“This kind of hate has no place in our neighborhoods,” said Laura Cherner, who directs the Jewish Federation’s Community Relations Council. “Our community is strong, united and we will stand together to oppose these vile actions.”
The Anti-Defamation League recently reported that the Goyim Defense League is one of the top three white nationalist organizations behind nearly all antisemitic propaganda distributed in 2024.
“Antisemitic materials that were distributed in parts of Squirrel Hill today are reprehensible and have no place in Pittsburgh,” said Mayor Ed Gainey in a statement. “We will not stand for such hateful acts meant to intimidate our neighbors.”
Distributing propaganda via flyers has become a go-to method for extremist groups in recent years. In the aftermath of the 2018 Tree of Life attack—the most lethal antisemitic act in American history—Squirrel Hill was again blanketed with hateful materials.
Just last summer, vandals painted an upside-down red triangle—an emblem used by Hamas and later by certain anti-Israel demonstrators—on the local Chabad center, situated near the scene of the synagogue attack.
Elsewhere, the threat continues. Jewish institutions in Las Vegas were targeted just last week with threatening letters containing antisemitic language, prompting concerns over security. The city’s Jewish Federation took to Instagram to advise community members to “stay vigilant with incoming mail.”
One recipient of the threatening letter was Friendship Circle Las Vegas, a Jewish nonprofit dedicated to fostering inclusion by pairing volunteers with children and young adults with special needs.
Rabbi Levi Harlig, the organization’s executive director, posted an image of the letter on Instagram. It read: “To all Zionist Jews stay out of our valley. We will destroy your synagogues Hamas lives on you all burn in hell.”
Reflecting on the hateful message, Rabbi Harlig wrote: “The irony of this hateful letter? It was sent to our nonprofit — an organization built on inclusion, love, and friendship. But we’re not afraid. We won’t be silenced, and we won’t back down. We will double our efforts to spread light, kindness, and unity. Goodness will always be louder than hate. Am Yisrael Chai.”

{Matzav.com}