Search For Anomalous Threats Against Jewish Communities and Centers: CNN Reached out to the FBI and the Joint Task Force on Terrorism
The FBI took threats seriously and was engaged with its faith based partners in the affected community, as it worked to investigate the threat. CNN has reached out to the FBI.
We ask that you take all security precautions to protect your community and facility. We will share more information as soon as we can. Stay alert. In case of emergency call police,” the post said.
Part of that concern, the source added, comes because of previous mass killings involving extremists who posted on social media, including the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue killings, the deadliest attack on Jewish people on US soil; the 2019 mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, the deadliest attack on Latinos in modern US history; and the May massacre at a Buffalo supermarket, an attack which officials said was racially motivated.
We are working with local law enforcement to make sure that houses of worship are protected.
If you notice a police presence in your area, be careful, because law enforcement will be increasing patrols out of an abundance of caution, according to the New Jersey Attorney General.
The president of a company which provides security for hundreds of Jewish homes of worship and schools in the New York and NJ areas told CNN that he sent out guidance to clients to ask for additional security from law enforcement.
Synagogues should contact local law enforcement and “request not just increased patrols but actual manpower during prayers and other activities,” said Joshua Gleis, of Gleis Security Consulting.
He also advised Jewish schools in the area should take similar actions until more information is available, as “any credible threat to a Jewish synagogue can become one to a Jewish school or community center.”
The FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force were working with the NYPD Intelligence and Counter terrorism Bureaus to ensure the safety and wellbeing of Jewish people in New York City and the tri-state area.
2,717 cases of antisemitism were reported in 2021, up 34% from the previous year according to The Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism.
West previously made a series of antisemitic outbursts, notably on October 8, when he tweeted he was “going death con 3 [sic] On JEWISH PEOPLE,” and also that, “You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda,” without specifying what group he was addressing, according to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine records pulled by CNN.
His account was locked by the social networking site. West told Piers Morgan that he was sorry for the people he hurt, but that he didn’t regret making the remark.
NJ Attorney General Eric Schneider and a Jewish Synagogue Victim were killed in a Molotov-Milnor-Bombing Event
The New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness said in a statement they are aware and closely monitoring an early morning incident in which a man targeted a synagogue with a bomb.
In Jersey City, Mayor Steven Fulop said police would be posted at the city’s seven synagogues and foot patrols would be added in the broader Jewish community. Two people were killed by hate crimes in a kosher market in Jersey City, along with a police officer. Police officers armed with rifles guarded a synagogue one city over, in Hoboken, where the public safety director also announced increased patrols in Jewish communities.
Two New Jersey men were sentenced to 35 years imprisonment for a series of attacks in 2012 that included the firebombings of two synagogues. The rabbi’s home was thrown a Molotov cocktail, as he slept with his wife and children.
Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer, whose district encompasses part of the area in northern New Jersey affected by those attacks, said in a statement Thursday that recent comments by Kanye West and the social media post shared by NBA star Kyrie Irving have contributed to the problem.
“I am deeply concerned and outraged by today’s alert from the FBI,” Gottheimer said. He said that this was the result of years of antisemitic comments from public figures.
Detection of explosive devices in a terror attack at the Twin Towers of Jerusalem, Israel – the last of two suicide attacks
Raphael Poch, a spokesman for United Hatzalah International, a volunteer medic group, told CNN first responders saw a variety of injuries, including some from the blast itself. Poch said others were wounded by shrapnel from damaged cars as well as nails and ball-bearings – a hallmark of “bombs that detonate for the sake of terror.”
Initial investigations indicated that explosive devices were placed at both blast sites and a search is underway for suspects, the police spokesperson said.
The devices used in the attacks were powerful and were likely to be detonated remotely, according to a police spokesman. One device was hidden behind a wall and the other behind a bush, the spokesperson added.
The incident was different from what we’ve seen in the past, said the outgoing Prime Minister.
“An extensive intelligence effort is now underway that will lead us to find these heinous terrorists, those behind them, and those who provided them with weapons,” Lapid said. We will find them. They can run, they can hide — it won’t help them; the security forces will reach them. They will be eliminated if they resist. If not, we will punish them to the fullest extent of the law.”
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/23/middleeast/explosion-jerusalem-wednesday-intl-hnk/index.html
Aryeh Shechopek: a Palestinian student in Har Nof, Jerusalem, the deadliest Israeli civilian killed in the West Bank since 2022
The person who died was named Aryeh Shechopek. Shechopek was a student at a yeshiva, a Jewish religious school, and lived in the Har Nof neighborhood in Jerusalem, the family said. Shechopek also held Canadian citizenship, Israeli and Canadian authorities said. Israeli emergency services had earlier reported that Shechopek was 16 years old.
At least 29 Israelis have been killed this year on the Israeli side of the conflict. This year has also been the deadliest for Palestinians in the West Bank since 2015. At least 146 Palestinian civilians and militants have been killed there in 2022, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
At the site of the first blast, images showed debris strewn on the ground and a parked bus with holes pierced in its windscreen. Metal railings surrounding the bus stop were also damaged and the area was cordoned off.
The people said that they heard a big explosion near the entrance to the city. “We immediately headed to the scene in large numbers, including ambulances, MICUs (mobile intensive care units) and medicycles.”
If there were more people waiting at the bus stop, this incident could have ended badly.
This is something very sad, and it has not been seen in a long time. Poch said they hope it doesn’t become a regular situation. “Everyone should be able to go to work on a regular day without having to worry.”
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/23/middleeast/explosion-jerusalem-wednesday-intl-hnk/index.html
New Jersey Attorney General Platkin is Investigating the Arson Attainment of a Molotov Cocktail at Temple Ner Tamid
The US Embassy in Jerusalem condemned in “the strongest possible terms today’s terrorist attacks on public locations” in a post on Twitter, while White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that “the United States stands with the Government and people of Israel.”
The suspect lit and threw a Molotov cocktail at the front door of Temple Ner Tamid around 3 a.m. and fled the scene, Bloomfield police said in a news release. The bottle broke, but did not cause any damage to the building, police said.
Temple Ner Tamid includes a preschool and a K-12 religious school, according to its website. It describes itself as a “welcoming, diverse, and musical Reform congregation where members connect with their heritage while thinking progressively about the present.”
Police in New Jersey said they would increase patrols of temples as a result of the attack. Livingston is located approximately eight miles west of Bloomfield.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said in a statement that his office was investigating the arson attempt in collaboration with local, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies. He also referenced the protests over the death of Tyre Nichols, a young Black man who died after being beaten by police in Tennessee. “I want to reassure all New Jerseyans – especially our friends and neighbors of the Black community and the Jewish faith – that law enforcement continues to take the appropriate steps to increase our presence around sensitive places so that everyone in our state can worship, love, and live without fear of violence or threat.”
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/29/us/new-jersey-molotov-cocktail-synagogue/index.html
The Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ is proud to be a part of a spike in antisemitic hate crimes at the synagogue
All activities at the synagogue have been paused for the day and there will be “an ongoing, heighted police presence into the week,” according to a statement from the temple.
“We have and will continue to do everything in our power to keep our community safe,” he said in the temple’s statement. “Everything worked as it should. The incident was recorded by our cameras and the doors held up.
The incident coincides with a rise in anti-Jewish hate crimes and speeches against Jews.
Dov Ben-Shimon, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest New Jersey, to which Temple Ner Tamid belongs, wrote on Twitter that the attack was part of a wider spike in antisemitic hate crimes.
“Our Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ will continue to work with all partners in the community to stand up to hate, build our resilience, and promote safety and security,” he said.