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Milwaukee landlord’s comparison of Israel, Nazis ‘only hurtful to survivors’

The sign, posted on a building owned by Palestinian-American Ihsan Atta, features a swastika in a Star of David, along with the words, “the irony of becoming what you once hated.”

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Milwaukee on March 13, 2024. Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty images.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Milwaukee on March 13, 2024. Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty images.

The Milwaukee Jewish Federation has condemned as “horribly antisemitic” a sign posted by a Palestinian-American landlord on a building he owns in the city.

The sign features a swastika within a Star of David, along with the words, “the irony of becoming what you once hated.”

The landlord, Ihsan Atta, has previously compared Israel and the Nazis, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Local MJF president Miryah Rosenzweig told the paper that the mural wasn’t meant to change anything in Israel and Gaza. “It has no capacity to do that,” she said, adding, “It’s only meant to be hurtful to our Holocaust survivors who see it.”

Ihsan Atta’s brother Othman Atta is executive director of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee—the largest mosque in Wisconsin—and his sister Janan Najeeb is president of the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition.

The promotion of one of the president’s most partisan and hard-nosed lieutenants to one of the most powerful jobs in Washington may signal how Trump intends to respond to his party’s defeat in the midterms.
“It’s an evolving trend that shows greater signs of permanence than temporary quality,” Dan Diker of the Jerusalem Center for Foreign Affairs told JNS.
“She’s young. She’s dumb. She deserves an opportunity to become a better person,” Liz Benichou told JNS. “The only way to do that is through accountability.”
“The most powerful response we can offer is not conflict but proudly and peacefully enjoying the food, atmosphere and togetherness that these wonderful businesses bring to Philadelphia,” the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia said.