ST. LOUIS, Missouri — The American Jewish Committee condemned the mass vandalism at the Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in University City. More than 100 headstones were reportedly damaged in the attack early Monday.
“Destruction of Jewish headstones is a painful act of anti-Semitism,” said Nancy Lisker, director of AJC St. Louis. “We feel the pain of the families whose grave sites of loved ones were desecrated and look to the authorities to apprehend and bring to justice those responsible for this heinous act.”
The extent of the damage would suggest that more than one individual carried out the attack. It comes during a period of rising anti-Semitism across the country.
Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said it was deeply disturbed by additional bomb threats directed against Jewish Community Centers (JCCs) in multiple states across the United States – the fourth series of such threats since the start of the year.
While ADL does not have any information at this time to indicate the presence of any actual bombs at any of the institutions threatened, the threats themselves are alarming, disruptive, and must always been taken seriously.
“We are confident that JCCs around the country are taking the necessary security protections, and that law enforcement officials are making their investigation of these threats a high priority,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “We look to our political leaders at all levels to speak out against such threats directed against Jewish institutions, to make it clear that such actions are unacceptable, and to pledge that they will work with law enforcement officials to ensure that those responsible will be apprehended and punished to the full extent of the law.”
In response to the threats, ADL issued a Security Advisory for all Jewish institutions nationwide with action steps including:
- Review the Bomb Threat Guidance provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Department of Homeland Security;
- Refer to the chapter on Explosive Threat Response Planning in ADL’s Security Manual Protecting Your Jewish Institution, which assists Jewish institutions in creating welcoming environments while keeping them safe;
- Refer to ADL’s list of 18 Best Practices for Jewish Institutional Security.
In a related development, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, on Monday offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who threatened to bomb at least 10 Jewish community centers around the nation on the President’s Day holiday.
CAIR said the threats targeted community centers in Birmingham, Cleveland, Chicago, St. Paul, Tampa, Albuquerque, Houston, Milwaukee, Nashville, and Buffalo. Today’s threats were latest in a series of bomb threats targeting Jewish community centers nationwide in the last two months.
“It is the duty of American Muslims to offer support to the Jewish community and any minority group targeted in the recent spike in hate crimes nationwide,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. “We hope this reward will aid in the swift apprehension and prosecution of the perpetrators.”
He noted the “tremendous level of support” offered to American Muslims by the Jewish community whenever Muslims have been targeted by hate in recent months.
Awad said CAIR has reported an unprecedented spike in hate rhetoric and bias-motivated incidents targeting American Muslims, Jews and other minorities since the election of President Trump.
CAIR and the American Muslim community have in the past expressed solidarity with Jewish, Christian, Native American, African-American, and Sikh communities in New Mexico, Florida, South Carolina, Maryland, Alabama, Massachusetts, South Dakota, Ohio, Texas, and other states following acts of hate, threats, violence, vandalism, arson, or bombings.
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Preceding provided by the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Against the backdrop of surging hate crimes targeting Jews and Jewish institutions across the US, the Simon Wiesenthal Center(SWC) is urging US Attorney General to establish a special taskforce to apprehend the culprit or culprits who have launched four waves of bomb threats against scores of Jewish Community Centers across the US and for President Trump to outline his Administration’s plan to combat surging anti-Semitism.
“The multipronged threats of anti-Semitism today demand concerted action. We look to President Trump to take a leadership role in addressing the problem of anti-Semitism and hate in America head-on in a speech at a time and place of his choosing, said Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper, Dean and Founder and Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish Human Rights NGO.
“American Jewry is being targeted by extremists from multiple sources: On our nation’s campuses, where incessant anti-Israel campaigns have created a climate of intimidation; in New York, home to the world’s largest Jewish community, which reports a spike in anti-Semitic incidents, and just this week, 100 headstones in a Jewish Cemetery in Missouri were overturned.”
“Further, Social Media is being deployed 24/7 by extremists to target and demonize individual Jews, entire communities, our faith and values. We need lead leadership from the top to effectively combat the hate.”
The SWC letter to Attorney General Sessions read in part;
“Jewish institutions have, for many years, been spending millions of dollars a year to protect our Houses of Worship, Community Centers, Kindergartens and Jewish Schools from attacks from extremists… While we appreciate the efforts made by law enforcement to protect people of all faiths… given the current circumstances … the Simon Wiesenthal Center is urging you to create a special taskforce with the assignment of identifying and capturing the culprit or culprits who seek to terrorize American Jewry through their threats.”
The Central Conference of American Rabbis is dismayed by bomb threats called into scores of Jewish Community Centers across the country in four sprees over the last several weeks. We are grateful that none of these threats have been backed up by violence. We give thanks that no lives have been lost and no injuries sustained.
Reform rabbis commend our cherished colleagues in leadership of Jewish Community Centers, some of them Reform rabbis and members of the CCAR, who have continued their critical programs and services undeterred. We also applaud the efforts of law enforcement to enhance security around Jewish Community Centers and of various community and Jewish organizations that have provided support to JCC’s at this hour of crisis.
We are deeply aggrieved that Jewish Community Centers and other Jewish organizations must expend additional valuable funds on security, diverting resources that could otherwise be devoted to enhancing Jewish life.
These bomb threats are only a subset of an uptick in anti-Semitic incidents in the United States in recent months. Just Monday, dozens of headstones were desecrated at a Saint Louis Jewish cemetery. Not long ago, a swastika defaced our own seminary, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.
Many believe that anti-Semitic acts are encouraged by a Presidential election that included hateful white nationalist rhetoric and the election of a President openly supported by anti-Semites. We lament President Trump’s failure to forcefully address anti-Semitism when given the opportunity to do so twice during press conferences last week. We know that anti-Semitism is as potent on the extreme left as it is on the far right. We call upon the President and leaders of both parties to speak up forcefully against anti-Semitism and all forms of hatred based on religion, race, sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity, among others.
Following reports of a new wave of bomb threats directed at more than 10 Jewish centers across the country and the vandalizing of a Jewish cemetery in St. Louis, Stosh Cotler, CEO of Bend the Arc Jewish Action, released the following statement:
“We are horrified by the ongoing hatred, intimidation and violence being directed at our fellow Jewish Americans. We are also outraged by President Trump’s utter silence as these attacks escalate and continue unabated. Presented with an easy opportunity to condemn antisemitism and white nationalism at a recent press conference, the president chose instead to brag about his election victory and bully the reporter asking the question. This type of behavior, along with Trump’s hateful policies toward immigrants, the Muslim community, women and people of color, suggests tacit approval of the deplorable actions across the country targeting these groups.
“As Jews and Americans, we call on President Trump to immediately and forcefully denounce these acts of hate and pledge to commit any necessary resources of the executive branch to ensure a full and comprehensive investigation. Bend the Arc Jewish Action will continue to speak out against this escalating violence toward our fellow Jews and stand with all those who have been scapegoated and demonized by the Trump administration.”