Edited by: Fern Sidman
As anti-Semitic violence continues unabated across the United States and the entire world, on Thursday afternoon the FBI in Newark, New Jersey stated in a tweet from its office that it had received “credible information of a broad threat to synagogues” in the state, as was reported by CNN.
“We ask at this time 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.
CNN also reported that in a second tweet, the agency said it was taking a “proactive measure” with that warning, while “investigative processes are carried out.”
Law enforcement sources told ABC News that they had not received a bomb threat but the nature of the threat was not immediately clear.
Several hours after the original report from the FBI was released, CNN updated their story to provide updates. Early Thursday evening, CNN reported that an online posting with anti-Semitic comments in a forum that is frequented by extremists is what prompted the FBI’s alert, according to a law enforcement source who spoke with the cable news network. While no specific target, timing or plan was mentioned, the nature of the post created enough concern on the part of the FBI that the agency decided to put a general warning out of an abundance of caution, the source told CNN.
CNN also reported that part of that concern, according to the source, is a result of previous mass killings involving extremists who posted on social media, including the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue killings,; 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.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy tweeted that he’s in touch with the FBI, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office and the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness.
“We are closely monitoring the situation and are working with local law enforcement to ensure that all houses of worship are protected,” the governor said on Twitter.
The Anti-Defamation League reported that over the past few years, the US has seen an alarming escalation in anti-Semitic incidents, with 941 incidents in 2015 jumping to 2,717 tracked in 2021. “We don’t see any meaningful decrease in 2022,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, the ADL’s CEO.
CNN reported that the FBI’s warning on Thursday comes amid continued reports across the country of anti-Jewish bigotry, including multiple anti-Semitic messages that appeared in public spaces in Jacksonville, Florida, over the weekend, and a group of demonstrators from the Goyim Defense League who hung banners over a Los Angeles freeway earlier in October showing support for the vile anti-Semitic comments that were made by billionaire rapper Kanye West. Photos also showed the group with their arms raised in what appeared to be the Nazi salute. Los Angeles officials condemned the incident
In what has become an annual ritual, Pittsburgh’s Jewish community last week honored the memory of the 11 Jews who were murdered at the Tree of Life synagogue in the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history, as was reported by the AP.
For many community leaders, their grief is mixed with dismay over the continued and growing incidents of anti-Semitism in the United States and beyond.
The AP reported that included the widely publicized comments of Ye, the rap superstar formerly known as Kanye West, who voiced anti-Semitic stereotypes in interviews and social media, including a tweet that he would soon go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.”
“It is horribly sad that this week as our community tries to remember and heal, we are retraumatized with anti-Semitism once again making the headlines,” said a statement from Laura Cherner, director of the Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.
“It is horrifying to see someone with such large platform casually espouse antisemitic conspiracy theories with such conviction and little regard for the violent impact his words may have,” she added, according to the AP report.
Despite concerns over rising anti-Semitism, participants said afterward they were focused on remembering the victims and what they stood for in being martyred during worship.
“We’re not defined by the people who would do us harm,” said Lauren Bairnsfather, director of the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh and one of the event’s speakers, as was reported by the AP. “We’re defined by our culture and tradition and the way we treat people. Remembrance is a strong part of it. I feel rising in me the strong commitment to live a Jewish life.”
Audrey Glickman, a survivor of the attack, agreed. As troubling as comments like Ye’s are, “at least now it’s out in front,” she said, according to the AP report. “People can see it, and people are saying, ‘That isn’t good,’ instead of it being underground.” (Sources: CNN.com & AP,com)
