Billerica Interfaith Association and the Town of Billerica, together, would like to condemn a recent act of cowardice and ignorance. Swastika graffiti was found on a storage container in the parking lot that serves the Korean War Memorial, Little League Field, and Kids Connection Playground on Andover Road in Billerica. Breaking down communication barriers and building public and private partnerships is a part of community building. It is incidents like this that make our work much harder, we strive to improve services and encourage inclusiveness for our residents. Covering over the graffiti will be an easy task, erasing the pain and hurt caused by the use of that symbol is much harder. For our Jewish Community this symbol is an act of violence and a threat to their sense of security and well-being in our town. It is a direct attack on our Jewish neighbors and an affront to our community values.

At a time when civil discourse is in decline and violence against faith communities is on the rise, we are seeing acts that attack the values we hold central to our shared humanity. The philosopher and statesman Edmund Burke offered that,

“The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.”

The Interfaith Association and the Town seek to work within the community to educate against religious, ethnic, and racial hatred. We begin by supporting our Jewish neighbors, and working together to dismantle systems from which these hateful acts emerge.

Billerica Interfaith Association and the Town of Billerica