Back in April 2025 there was a rather strange ‘anti-Semitic hate crime’ at – of all places – an Applebee’s in Miamisburg, Ohio.
Grace Gilson writing for JTA whose article was then syndicated to the ‘Jerusalem Post’ writes how:
‘An Applebee’s in Miamisburg, Ohio, was closed Saturday after employees discovered the building had been defaced with antisemitic graffiti, including a swastika and the messages “F— Jews” and “Jews work here.”
“We’ve seen the statistics, an 893-percent increase in antisemitic incidents in the United States over the past decade, according to the ADL,” Cathy Gardner, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton, told the Dayton Jewish Observer, citing a recent audit of antisemitic incidents by the Anti-Defamation League.
She added that the vandalism came shortly before her federation’s ceremony marking Yom Hashoah, the Jewish Holocaust memorial day that was observed last week.
“To see it here, the day before our Yom Hashoah remembrance, is devastating,” she said. “It exhibits the Jew hatred that we know exists, and that was at the root of the horrors of the Holocaust.”
Miamisburg is a suburb of Dayton, Ohio. In 2023, Dayton became embroiled in another antisemitic incident when a school board member gave a Nazi salute and said “Sieg heil” at a public meeting.
'There is no reason for this type of hate'
Images of the weekend’s graffiti were shared in a private local Facebook group where a user posted the vandalism and wrote, “This is absolutely disgusting. There is no reason for this type of hate and vitriol. An absolutely disgusting display supporting hate and Nazi ideology,” according to the Dayton Jewish Observer.
Police responded to reports of the graffiti early Saturday morning, and the restaurant was closed for the remainder of the day. The graffiti was power-washed off its windows and walls by the afternoon, and the restaurant reopened Sunday morning.
A police report obtained by the Dayton Daily News said that the manager told police he was “unaware of any issues with other employees or customers” and didn’t know of any potential suspects.
Cameras outside of the establishment were unable to get a clear view of the perpetrators, according to the report. The investigation into the vandalism is ongoing and no arrests have been made, but there were no other recent similar incidents of antisemitic graffiti reported in the city, according to police.
“We are living in volatile and difficult times, and I cannot be more disappointed by this act. Whether it was driven by hatred, racism, or a thoughtless prank, there is no justification. Applebee’s has been a longstanding fixture in our community, providing a gathering place for countless families and friends over the decades. This behavior is unacceptable and does not reflect our diverse, accepting community,” said Miamisburg City Mayor Michelle Collins in a statement.
John Peyton, CEO of the restaurant’s parent company, Dine Brands, and interim president of Applebee’s, condemned the incident.
“We are disgusted by, and condemn, the vandalism that occurred at the Miamisburg Applebee’s,” he told the Dayton Daily News. “Guest and team member safety will always be our top priority and there is no place for antisemitic – or any form of – hate speech in our neighborhoods.”’ (1)
Now it is perhaps helpful to see what the graffiti concerned looked like:
Now there is a significant problem with the narrative that this is an ‘anti-Semitic hate crime’ which is… well… the obvious one, because Miamisburg is south of the city of Dayton, Ohio and a few miles outside of the Greater Dayton area.
In other words: Miamisburg – if you’ll pardon my French – is broadly in bum fuck no-where and the nearest synagogues are small ones over 10 miles way as the crow flies.
Indeed, Miamisburg has only circa 20,000 people living in it according to the last US census data (2) and I cannot find reference to any jews living in Miamisburg and according to the ‘Dayton Jewish Observer’ in February 2023; there are only about 3,000 jews (religious and secular) in the Greater Dayton area of which nearly half are over the age of 60. (3)
Thus, it is hard to imagine how the graffiti at the Applebee’s in Miamisburg can be literal – which is how jewish publications have been trying to spin it as otherwise it isn’t ‘anti-Semitism’ in the proper sense of the term – but rather must be figurative.
We have to remember that the term ‘jew’ can also be verb and means to ‘cheat’/’steal’ (with the inference by deception/sleight of hand) (4) which suddenly a lot more sense of this graffiti. It also makes sense of the statement in the graffiti – which the jewish commentators have all deliberately glossed over – ‘Fuck this place’ which when combined with the other graffiti reads:
‘Fuck Jews, Jews work here, Fuck this place’
In addition to this there was a red swastika on the main door to the Applebee’s restaurant.
Now if we think about if ‘jews’ is meant as a verb then all this graffiti doesn’t literally mean ‘fuck jews’ but rather ‘fuck this place, people who act like jews work here’ and is probably the work of a former employee (or possibly a disgruntled customer) protesting at being screwed in some way (likely over money/pay) by this particular Applebee’s restaurant and shouldn’t be taken literally.
Thus, we can this is not actually an ‘anti-Semitic hate crime’ at all, but rather an act of vandalism that uses anti-Semitic language in a figurative rather than literal way.
I will note by way of ending that it is gratifying that once again young men and women – and let’s be honest if this is the work of a disgruntled employee, they are almost certainly Generation Z – are reflexively using the term ‘jew’ as a form of abuse.
It bodes well for the future: doesn’t it?
References
(1) https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-851894
(2) https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/ohio/miamisburg
(3) https://daytonjewishobserver.org/2023/02/after-years-of-shrinking-miami-valley-ohios-idd-jewish-population-plateaus/
(4) https://www.oed.com/dictionary/jew_v?tl=true