Synagogue walls daubed with anti-Jewish graffiti

Residents were today warned to look out for suspicious activity following the racist attack in north-east London.

Vandals sprayed shops, pavements and walls outside four synagogues in Clapton Common and Stamford Hill on Tuesday night. Worshippers were yesterday confronted with slogans such as "Jihad to Israel" and "Jihad to Tel Aviv".

Hackney council is removing the graffiti, which consisted of 40 pieces of writing.

David Greenwald, 20, who visits the Chasidey Belz Beth Hemedrash synagogue in Clapton Common, said the close-knit community was shocked.

"This morning I went to synagogue to pray and saw the writing all over everywhere - walls, shops, traffic lights," he said. "Everyone feels scared. Here we do not have any problem with Arabs - there has never been anything like this before, but now we are worried."

Another worshipper said: "It makes us feel that we are in exile. It could be kids doing it but even so, it shows something." The other synagogues were Satmar Beth Hamedrash Yetev Lev, Atereth Zvi Beth Hamedrash, and the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations. Yesterday further racist graffiti appeared in Bethnal Green.

A spokesman for the Community Security Trust, an organisation which looks after the safety of British Jews, said: "We are already on a relatively high state of alert due to pronouncements by pro-al Qaeda supporters relating to attacks on Jews, and this adds to the picture of threat." Jules Pipe, Mayor of Hackney, said: "Hackney is a tolerant place and we've never seen anything like this before. Our graffiti removal teams are working with the police to remove it as quickly as possible to minimise any further distress."

Scotland Yard said officers were looking at CCTV footage and forensic teams have recovered a canister of spray paint. Anyone with information should call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.