As thousands of people took to the streets of the Colombian capital of Bogotá to express solidarity with Palestine on October 7, nine church staff at Iglesia Dios Está Formando Un Pueblo (IDEFUP, translated as “God Is Forming His People”) stayed locked inside its building as hooded individuals broke windows, dumped garbage in front of its door, and spray-painted slogans against Israel and the US on the church’s façade.
One likely reason they targeted IDEFUP, a church with 1,500 parishioners and 38 years of history, is the church’s logo—a blue Star of David with a globe at its center.
“It was deeply painful and disappointing to witness an act of disrespect committed by people influenced by antisemitic rhetoric,” said Bogotá city council member and IDEFUP pastor Marco Acosta Rico. “This event not only affected my family and me but also had a profound impact on our entire congregation.”
IDEFUP wasn’t the only church targeted during the pro-Palestinian protests called for by the national government last month. In Medellín and Bucaramanga, media reported that protesters vandalized religious buildings along the route of demonstrations, including an evangelical church. On October 24, a group of students damaged the cloister and plaza of Santo Domingo, which is next to a Catholic church, in the historic center of Popayán in southwest Colombia.
While religious freedom groups warn that attacks on Christians in some regions of Colombia have increased in recent years as intertwined with drug trafficking and armed conflict in agricultural areas, the recent vandalisms have more to do with growing secular intolerance and antisemitism in the country under leftist president Gustavo Petro.
Petro has called on the UN to create an army to “liberate Palestine,” banned the sale of coal to Israel, broke off diplomatic relations with the country, and appointed anti-Zionist “rabbi” Richard Gamboa as the new director of the Interior Ministry’s Office of Religious Affairs, which is responsible for coordinating interfaith dialogue and promoting religious freedom in the country. (Colombia’s Jewish community does not recognize him as a rabbi, as he reportedly purchased his rabbinical degree for $160 from a Florida institution.)
Petro also called citizens to join pro-Palestinian demonstrations on the second anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks, which brought students, artists, and social groups onto the streets, as well as masked groups that destroyed ATMs, smashed shop windows, and painted or destroyed monuments.
A former M-19 guerrilla leader in the ’80s, Petro is the first left-wing president in Colombia’s history. Colombians voted him into office in 2022, a year after a series of protests against increased taxes, corruption, and health care reform proposed by the previous president. Since US president Donald Trump entered his second term, Petro has clashed with his American counterpart over US military aircraft deporting thousands of migrants to Colombia, strikes on a boat Trump claimed was carrying illegal drugs, and Petro’s call for American soldiers to disobey Trump at a pro-Palestinian rally in New York.
Marcos Peckel, executive director of the Confederation of Jewish Communities of Colombia (CCJC), said that the pro-Palestinian protests in Colombia did not surprise him. “The demonstrations, not only here but in various parts of the world, have become exhibitions of hatred against Israel, against Jews, against the West, against the United States, against Europe, and against all those they consider allies or friends of Israel; and churches are part of that group.”
In a country of 53 million people, Jews are a tiny community, making up around 6,000 people. However, Jewish families like the Gilinskis own large companies in the food, hotel, banking, and media sectors. Many evangelicals support Israel, with church leaders holding annual events like Colombia Bendice a Israel (“Colombia Blesses Israel”).
The political polarization over Israel has led protesters to attack any sign perceived as contrary to the pro-Palestinian cause without distinguishing between institutions and people. In recent weeks, that has included the vandalism of IDEFUP.
“From its inception, the Star of David has represented the spiritual identity of our church,” Acosta said, referring to the church logo and the blue and white colors of the church’s façade. “It reflects a deep conviction: Just as the people of Israel were chosen and set apart by God, IDEFUP identifies with that same biblical truth.”
Later in October, a pro-Palestinian protest in Popayán led to the defacement of a Catholic heritage site. A group of students painted curse words on the walls of the cloister and plaza of Santo Domingo, which the Dominican order built in 1589. When members of the mayoral office and local residents tried to protect the site, the students threw paint in their faces, shoved and pushed them, and shouted insults.
“The damage was not only physical, they also attacked the memory and identity that belong to us all,” said Permanent Board for the Holy Week, a foundation seeking to promote Popayán as a tourist destination during Holy Week.
Authorities have responded with investigations into the vandalism and calls for order. The Bogotá City Council condemned the events and demanded guarantees for the exercise of peaceful protest. The city’s attorney general’s office opened investigations into the acts of vandalism, and the Colombian National Police requested public assistance in identifying those responsible.
Acosta told a local news radio station that when he called the police emergency line the day after the protest, “the local commander told us that the National Government had given orders not to take action.” Yet under the mayor’s orders, the national prosecutor is investigating. In Popayán, police have not yet made any arrests for the vandalism.
Following the defacement of IDEFUP, the Evangelical Confederation of Colombia demanded concrete measures from the government, including a greater police presence during demonstrations, coordination between march organizers and churches, and protocols in place to protect places of worship during mass events.
Acosta said volunteers from their church cleaned up the trash and painted over the walls and door covered in by graffiti. The church received messages of solidarity and encouragement from the Christian and Jewish communities online, as well as offers to repair the damage to the building.
“Our community did not allow fear or anguish to take root in our hearts,” Acosta said. “On the contrary, this difficult episode awakened a deeper love for the house of God, the place where we gather, disciple, and grow together in faith, service, and purpose.”
On October 12, the first Sunday after the vandalism, assistant pastor Jeisson Camacho acknowledged those who were brave enough to come to church that morning.
“Thank you for being here,” he said. “Thank you for understanding that gathering together is part of a life of surrender, a life of obedience, and a life of sacrifice.”
