Concerns raised after Oakland school mural featuring Palestinian flag defaced with Star of David

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- For more than 15 years, a painting of a girl waving a Palestinian flag has been part of a social justice mural along Manzanita Seed Elementary School in Oakland.

And then last week, it was vandalized with a Star of David.

"As a Jewish person, it was really upsetting to me to hear that that symbol was being used as a hateful way and being misused to show domination over Palestinian people," said Natasha Saleski, a kindergarten teacher who has been teaching at the school for the past 12 years.

A big concern is that students and parents pass by it on the way to campus.

"I was sad to see that. I think we want our school to be a place where children feel safe. And I think this was clearly intended to create an unsafe space for our Palestinian, Arab and Muslim children," said parent Sarah Norr, whose daughter goes to the school.

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Norr first learned of it when parents started circulating a photo of the defaced mural.

"I am a Jewish parent. When we see (the Star of David) intentionally painted over a Palestinian flag, we understand that to be a denial of Palestinian rights to existence and safety as individuals and as a nation," Norr said.

Late Wednesday morning, an Oakland Unified School District maintenance crew was seen onsite with a work order to clean the graffiti but told ABC7 News off-camera that someone had already painted over the mural.

"But until yesterday, I saw it still up here," Saleski said.

Along with concerns of possible anti-Palestinian hate, are allegations that the OUSD didn't take any immediate action to remove the graffiti -- until public pressure mounted.

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"The fact that it took a full week for there to be any action is just shameful," said Mohamed Shehk, the organizing director at the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, or AROC, which advocates for Arab and Muslim civil rights.

"If this was a hateful message against any other community, it would have been addressed immediately. But because of the pervasiveness of anti-Palestinian racism and how normalized it has become, the school district felt like it was OK to not address this, not even acknowledge it," Shehk said.

Shehk said AROC confirmed with teachers that a work order was placed with the district last week to clean up the mural. AROC wants more done going forward.

"We want (OUSD) to confront anti-Palestinian racism head on and swiftly and publicly condemning every incident that happens in the future," Shehk said.

Representatives from OUSD were not available for comment but tell ABC7 News that it takes the situation seriously and is investigating further.