Islamophobic, anti-Palestinian graffiti at Maryland high school sparks outrage

Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian graffiti discovered on the walls of a high school in the U.S. state of Maryland has drawn strong condemnation from school officials and civil rights groups.

According to local media reports, administrators at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda sent a letter to the school community addressing the incident. Principal Gregory Miller said staff had found hateful messages written on the building early in the morning.

"This morning we discovered graffiti on the school that read, 'Muslims get out, nuke Palestine,' along with a Star of David symbol," Miller wrote in the letter. He described the messages as "extremely offensive, threatening, anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic hate speech," stressing that such behavior was unacceptable.

Miller confirmed that the school is working with Bethesda police to investigate the vandalism.

The Maryland office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a leading Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, also condemned the incident. CAIR Maryland Director Zainab Chaudry linked the rhetoric to the ongoing situation in Gaza.

"Language that advocates for the destruction of a population that has endured more than two years of genocide and decades of oppression is an expression of vile, pathological cruelty," Chaudry said in a statement.

She emphasized that hate speech should not be confused with free expression and that Muslim students at the school deserve to feel safe, valued, and protected.

Local outlets noted that similar acts of hate-motivated vandalism have occurred in recent years within the Montgomery County School District, where the high school is located.

Bethesda, situated near the diplomatic quarter of Washington, D.C., is home to many members of the diplomatic community and hosts one of the largest Jewish populations in the region.