Campaign launched to ‘paint over prejudice’ on Berlin wall

Young British Jews have started a crowd-funding campaign to clean the Berlin Wall by painting over anti-Semitic and anti-Israel graffiti.

The ‘Paint over Prejudice’ initiative from the Federation of Zionist Youth (FZY) came about after FZY member Imogen Wise was travelled to the German capital and noticed the “defecation of the Vaterland”.

Organisers are now calling on the Jewish community to help them raise £6,000 to pay for German artist Gunther Shaefer to repaint the wall then cover it in a special glaze “in order to mitigate against similar acts of vandalism happening again”.

FZY also said an aim of its campaign was to “raise awareness of the constant stream of graffiti on the Berlin Wall, specifically at the Star of David, with the aim of it becoming an instant reaction of the relevant council authority to clean up any further graffiti”.

To help FZY members understand the history of Berlin and the importance of preserving the monument the organisation will be taking 25 people to the city for a weekend seminar.

Joe Woolf, Mazkir of FZY, said: “We want to empower our young leaders to make a difference, not just in our community but also in the wider world by engaging with Jewish communities across Europe and Israel.”

He added: “By connecting the issue in Berlin and our young leaders in the UK, we want to raise awareness and ultimately clean a wall that is meant to symbolise tolerance.”