Police investigate stars of David painted on Palestinian-owned grocery store – Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg police are investigating several stars of David painted on the sidewalk outside a West End grocery store owned by a Palestinian-Canadian family.

Co-owner Ramsey Zeid said more than a dozen symbols were scrawled in chalk outside the Food Fare restaurant at 905 Portage Ave., west of Arlington Street, on Sunday afternoon.

“Absolutely it is (a hate crime). That’s the only way to see it,” he said Free press Monday.

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press Food Fare co-owner Tariq Zeid stands outside the grocery store at 905 Portage Ave., where Star of David graffiti was still visible on the ground near the building. — Ruth Bonneville / Free Press

Food Fare co-owner Tariq Zeid stands outside the grocery store at 905 Portage Ave., where Star of David graffiti was still visible on the ground outside the building.

“I think the reasons are quite obvious. I think they are trying to intimidate us. This is all to intimidate and silence us.”

A cellphone video provided by Zeid shows 17 stars of David — a symbol of Judaism — and a heart drawn in white chalk on a stretch of sidewalk between the store’s front door and the parking lot.

“It wasn’t like the middle of the night. It was early in the day when we were open,” Zeid said.

Zeid, who is president of the Canadian Palestinian Association of Manitoba, said the graffiti was reported to the Winnipeg Police Service.

Police spokesman Const. Danny McKinnon said the Major Crimes Unit was investigating.

Video from Food Fare’s surveillance system has been turned over to investigators, Zeid said.

“We hope they will identify them and deal with them accordingly,” he said.

Footage shared with Free pressshowed one person squatting on the sidewalk and they must have been painting on the sidewalk. A second person stood nearby watching customers and vehicles pass by.

Zeid, who has been organizing rallies to protest Israel’s military actions in Gaza, said he and members of his family have faced threats and acts of intimidation since the Middle East war began a year ago.

“They are becoming more frequent and they are more open about it because there have been no consequences,” he said. “They are really putting our family and our customers at risk.”

Zeid gave a statement to police on October 19, claiming he was attacked by a man he described as a pro-Israel counter-protester. The alleged attack happened during a Palestinian Association rally at Grant Avenue and Kenaston Boulevard.