With Donald J. Trump’s campaign and rise to power threats made to Jewish Community Centers have increased as well. 48 JCCs in 27 states and one Canadian province received upwards of 60 bomb threats during January. The majority of the threats were made during three days: January 9, 18 and 31. Several JCCs, including Orlando’s, received multiple threats.
Is this simply coincidental? Or did the tone of the Trump campaign and inauguration, with its obvious appeal to xenophobia and America First nationalism, encourage overt anti-Semitism and anti Muslim activity? It certainly is plausible that the increase is at least partially the result of the tone set by Trump.
(CNN) – Samantha Taylor was at Orlando’s Jewish Community Center for a morning meeting when she heard reports of a bomb threat crackle from the director’s walkie-talkie.
Her daughter attends preschool there; she ran to the classroom and evacuated with the students and teachers.While police and bomb-sniffing dogs searched the building for several hours, the teachers kept the children calm and happy at a safe spot down the street, Taylor said. No explosives were found.On the same day, January 4, an Orlando Chabad center also received a threatening call, marking the first trickle in what would soon swell to waves of calls menacing Jewish institutions across the country.In a statement, the FBI said the bureau and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division are “investigating possible civil rights violations in connections with threats to Jewish Community Centers across the country.”The JTA, a Jewish news agency, says it has obtained a recording of one of the calls. On it, the caller says a C-4 bomb has been placed in the JCC and that “a large number of Jews are going to be slaughtered.”
Several JCC sources said the FBI has told them it is investigating the calls as hate crimes. Online, another term has circulated: “telephone terrorism.”“I’ve been in the business for 20-plus years, and this is unprecedented,” said Paul Goldenberg, national director of the Secure Community Network, which advises Jewish organizations on security. “It’s more methodical than meets the eye.”No bombs have been found, but Jewish leaders hesitate to label the calls “hoaxes.” The chaos and terror the calls have caused are real, as are more tangible consequences.JCCs across the country are bolstering security and holding town halls to calm frightened parents. Still, several centers have seen students withdraw from their early childhood education programs, typically reliable sources of revenue. As a result, some are slashing budgets, cutting staff and holding emergency fundraisers.
