JCCs hit with bomb threats for the third time a month.
In the month of January, Jewish Community Centers (JCCs) were threatened with bomb attacks three times.[/tweetit] The third wave of attacks was on January 31, affecting 14 centers in 10 states in the U.S. and one in Canada.
Jewish Community Centers Nationwide Face Third Wave of Bomb Threats[/tweetthis]
David Posner, a director at the JCC Association of North America remarked in a statement, “We are concerned about the anti-Semitism behind these threats.” JCCs in California, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, Utah, Wisconsin and Ontario, Canada received the threats.
The authorities have established that some of the calls to the JCCs were made using automated “robocall” systems while others were made by individuals. The first slew of phone threats was on January 9, against 16 JCCs in nine U.S. states. The second wave of bomb threats was on January 18, with 27 centers in 17 states being targeted.
Posner, who advises JCC centers on security commented though security had been heightened at various JCCs, most of the centers had already been cleared by the authorities to continue with normal operations. After the second wave of attacks on Jan. 18, the FBI and the Justice Department started a probe in order to find the culprits. No arrests have been made to date.
Anti-Semitism is unique in its longevity, universality and intensity. Catholic Priest Edward Flannery in his book, The Anguish of the Jews: A History of Anti-Semitism wrote, “As a historian of anti-Semitism looks back over the millennia of horrors he has recorded, an inescapable conclusion emerges. Anti-Semitism is different because of its longevity and consistency.”
The Lawrence JCC is fine after this horrible third wave of Anti-Semitism in America. Be afraid. #PresidentBannon… https://t.co/hK3ALkfTah
— Laurie Black (@LaurieBlackSD) February 1, 2017
Anti-Semitism has also been universal, with the Jews throughout Europe being expelled at least once every 21 years from the year 250 CE to 1948 CE. Jews have also experienced the intensity of anti-Semitism, with numerous attempts at genocide such as Chmielnicki Pogroms, the Holocaust and threats of nuclear war coming from Iran.