UK: “Scum Nazis” scrawled across Belfast memorial for commander of the Jewish Legion during First World War

Via CAA:

The Police Service of Northern Ireland is investigating a graffiti attack on the memorial to the former commander of the so-called Jewish Legion as a hate crime.

“Scum Nazis” was scrawled across the memorial to Lt Col John Henry Patterson DSO who commanded the so-called Jewish Legion during the First World War, which was the first Jewish fighting force in nearly two millennia. Whilst his men fought with distinction, Lt Col Patterson, who was not Jewish, had to defend them from the antisemitism of his superiors, peers and subordinates, even threatening to resign his commission on multiple occasions in protest at the treatment of his soldiers. Lt Col Patterson sacrificed any hope of a successful military career in order to stand by his Jewish soldiers and ensure that they were treated fairly.

In accordance with his dying wish, Lt Col Patterson was reburied in Israel in 2014 in order to be close to the soldiers who fell under his command.

The memorial had only recently been restored following an attempt to set it alight.

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