Hamilton police investigating hate note, stolen lawn sign supporting Palestinian human rights

An Ancaster man says he woke up Tuesday to discover his lawn sign was missing and replaced by a note saying “go back where you came from”.

Mohamed Moussa tells CityNews that earlier this week, he posted a sign on his lawn in support of protecting the human rights of the Palestinian people. The sign which read “we stand for Palestinian human rights”, was only there for a few days before it was taken.

“My wife was leaving the house to go to work and said the sign was missing,” said Moussa. “She noticed on the lawn that instead of the sign there was a piece of paper.”

Upon closer inspection they discovered it was a note placed inside a plastic bag accompanied by a rock.

“Keep your politics and anti-Semitic racism out of my country and my neighbourhood” read the anonymous note in all capital letters. “If you don’t like my country, go back to where you came from!”

Last night, someone stole the sign and left a hate note in its place that reads:

“KEEP YOUR POLITICS AND ANTI-SEMITIC RACISM OUT OF MY COUNTRY AND MY NEIGHBOUR-HOOD. IF YOU DON’T LIKE MY COUNTRY, GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM!” 2/7 pic.twitter.com/DyIZDn6b5q

— Mohamed Moussa (@themmmoussa) May 25, 2021

Moussa took to social media to share what had happened.

“Their country and neighbourhood is our country and neighbourhood too. We are both Canadian” he tweeted. “Coming onto a person’s private property and stealing their belongings is a crime, which is quite anti-Canadian.”

Moussa said he is determined not to let this person intimidate or silence him and he has since repurchased the sign and it is back on his lawn.

“I don’t think some of my neighbours know [about the incident] yet, but I’m planning to make sure they are aware of it, so they are able to take caution if they need to,” he said.

Constable Indy Bharaj of the Hamilton Police confirmed with CityNews that the incident is being investigated by their Hate Crime Unit.