We need pressure applied, especially to university leaders, who tolerate violence and illegal encampments.
One month after October 7 last year, a Jewish man in Los Angeles was killed by a pro-Palestinian protester during a pro-Palestinian rally. In February this year, two Jewish men in the Los Angeles, California area were shot and wounded as they left their synagogues. In August, a Jewish man was stabbed outside a synagogue in Brooklyn while the perpetrator yelled “Free Palestine” and “Do you want to die?”
Students at dozens of colleges have been harassed, threatened, and assaulted on campus by protesters. A student at Cornell University was sentenced to prison for making online posts that included, “if you see a jewish ‘person’ on campus… slit their throat” and threatening to rape, torture, and throw Jewish women off a roof.
And in September, Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, a 20-year-old Pakistani citizen, was arrested for allegedly planning an ISIS-inspired mass terrorist attack targeting Jewish people in New York City. The attack was planned for October 7, 2024.
What began in Israel has reached US soil.
The FBI just reported that the Jewish community is the most targeted religious group in the United States for hate crimes. Jews are just 2% of the population but account for 67% of all religiously motivated hate crimes.
These include the 1,005 bomb threats and swatting incidents in the last year logged by the Secure Community Network (SCN), the official security organization of the North American Jewish community – incidents that can force evacuations as people are abruptly pushed out of their facilities.
Religious services, school days, and other events are interrupted, causing fear and sometimes trauma for those who engage in Jewish life. People go to synagogues to pray. They should not have to flee.
