SAN DIEGO – The Lawrence Family JCC in La Jolla was among a group of JCCs across the United States that received a non-specific, general bomb threat via email on Sunday morning, according to Betzy Lynch, its chief executive officer. She said the staff immediately notified the San Diego Police, which has a substation right next door. Law enforcement determined that the threat was not credible and no evacuation was necessary, Lynch reported. This was in contrast to the JCC in Albany, New York, which evacuated approximately 100 people to allow bomb-sniffing dogs and officers to comb through the facility, which also was subsequently declared to be safe.
“We have security all the time,” Lynch told San Diego Jewish World.
The Chicago-based Secure Community Network reported on Monday that it had been working with law enforcement and with the JCC Association of North America to coordinate responses to “dozens” of bomb threats made over a 36-hour period. The organization reported that “at this time, SCN is not aware of any credible threat related to the emails.”
Michael Masters, national director and CEO of Secure Community Network (SCN), said that “after learning of the threats made against JCCs across the country SCN alerted our partners at the FBI as well as DHS so as to ensure the safety and security of JCC’s throughout the United States.
“The JCCs that alerted SCN to the threats played a vital role in protecting Jewish communities across the country,” Masters said. “Reporting threats to local authorities and SCN allows us to notify other Jewish groups of potential dangers. We are grateful to our partners at the JCCA and JCCs for their partnership, as well as the many security directors who began addressing the threats in their communities. We encourage all Jewish organizations and individuals to alert local authorities, Jewish community security directors where they exist, the SCN Duty Desk when they receive anti-Semitic threats or identify suspicious activity.
“These threats are yet another reminder of the dangers our community faces every day,” Masters continued. “Safety and security must be a priority for Jewish organizations across the Unite States. We know that threats exist and we must be proactive in addressing them. SCN is committed to ensuring the safety of every Jewish person across North America. We will continue monitoring the situation with our law enforcement partners.”
In a phone interview, Masters said that by Monday afternoon, the number of bomb threats–all to JCCs–had grown to over 50. In terms of volume, he said, it was similar to the rash of bomb threats made against JCCs all over the world in 2017, but in terms of content, the threats were quite different, he said. The recent threats, saying bombs would be detonated, did not contain any anti-Semitic material and did not mention any individual JCC.
Masters said that law enforcement is trying to trace the real email from which the messages were sent, understanding that a sender’s true e-address can be masked. He also said the fact that JCCs were the target, but not any other kind of institution, may be important to law enforcement’s investigation.
On Sunday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a rash of 18 emailed bomb threats to JCCs across the country after the evacuation of the Sidney Albert JCC in Albany. Although declared safe, that JCC was closed for the rest of the day. “It’s a virus across this nation,” Cuomo commented. “The way people are worried about the coronavirus, which we’re watching in this state. It’s a virus of hate. It’s spreading and it’s spreading quickly.”
On Monday morning, the Sidney Albert JCC opened on schedule. Albany Police Spokesman Steve Smith commented that “as parents were dropping their kids off to the day center,” the police force “had patrols stationed right at the JCC to provide comfort and allow people to know what we are there so that they feel safe, and we’ll be doing the same this afternoon as children are being picked up.”
In 2017, more than 2,000 bomb threats were made against JCCs around the world, ultimately resulting in the arrest and conviction of two persons, who worked separately. One was an Israeli-American man, Ron David Kadar, who reportedly suffered from a brain tumor and paranoid delusions. He was sentenced in Israel to ten years imprisonment, and was also fined, and will be required to serve a year’s probation after he completes his prison term. The other was Juan M. Thompson, an African-American and former journalist with The Intercept, who was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment for making eight threats in what was described as his plot to frame a woman whom he previously had dated.
*
5,000 walkers expected at 5K Walk Against Hate
It’s a 5K walk and the local Anti-Defamation League is expecting 5,000 walkers to walk around NTC Park at Liberty Station on Sunday, April 26, to demonstrate that San Diego is “No Place for Hate.” Leram Silberstein, an ADL board member who is chairing the annual event, commented that the 2020 Walk Against Hate “is incredibly important to me because of how great it feels seeing san Diego schools, and other community groups, making a commitment to be No Place for Hate in America’s Finest City. Registration for the walk is via this website.
*
Appeal made for return of missing Israelis
Jewish communities around the world are being asked by the Jewish Agency
for Israel “to urge their governments to pressure the UN to uphold
Resolution 2474 requiring prompt return of remains following armed
conflict.” The appeal from the Jewish Agency’s Board of Governors came
after an address from Dr. Leah Goldin, mother of missing IDF soldier Lt. Hadar Goldin, who
said, “I’m here to bring the remains of my son for burial in Israel. …
The best way to motivate Hamas to return our son is to make it clear
that reconstruction projects are conditional. I ask you please, when you
go back to your communities, please urge your countries to enforce UN
Resolution 2474.” The Board of Governors also asked assistance in
bringing Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul , who like Goldin has
been missing since Operation Protective Edge in 2014, and two
civilians—Avera Mangistu and Isham Al-Sayed, back to Israel.
*
Political bytes
*Sarah Davis, a candidate in the 78th
Assembly District, has thus far contacted over 27,750 voters via phone
calls, social networking, and door-to-door canvassing, according to her
campaign spokesperson Danny Avitia. In a news release, he predicts
Davis will be one of the top two candidates who will advance from the
March 3 primary to the general election, based upon “early polls and
recent projections.”
*The campaign of Assemblyman Todd Gloria, a candidate for mayor of San Diego, contends that “Todd’s millionaire opponent [Barbara Bry] has spent more in just two weeks on her campaign that the median annual household income in San Diego.” Specifically, “Last week, we found out Todd’s ultra-wealthy opponent dumped $60,000 of her own money into her campaign. Now, we just learned she has given another $60,000 for her campaign this week.”
*Terra Lawson-Remer, a candidate in the 3rd county supervisorial district, reports that the Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce “just dropped $40,000 to support my Democratic opponent [Escondijdo City Councilwoman Olga Diaz.] Yesterday [Feb. 23] they spent another $17,200 against me. … They’re attacking me for my lifetime of organizing ; for fighting global corporate trade deals that puts profits before the well-being of communities and workers and the environment; for protesting to stop the Iraq War, while everyone in Congress was asleep at the wheel; and for rigorous, empirical economics research debunking the Hayek-Reaganomics that has destroyed our precious natural resources and led to an economy that works only for the powerful.”
Hadar Susskind, campaign director for the Hatikvah: Progressive Israel Slate that is seeking to send delegates to next October’s World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem, says various right-wing newspapers have been misrepresenting Hatikvah as an anti-Zionist organization. “A recent article in the Israel right wing news outlet Arutz 7 suggests that we want ‘to hijack the World Zionist Congress and steer funding away from anything related to the settlement,’” he said. “Actually, we want to win the election, fair and square, so we can cut settlement funding.” The online election continues through March 11.
*
Coming our way
*Chabad of Chula Vista sponsors a hamantash bake at 12 p.m., Sunday, March 1, with prizes for children that come in costume. Tickets are $5 per baker who will get to “tke home a batch of these three cornered treats.” Address will be given to those who RSVP at this website.
*Israeli photographer Sharon Gabay will showcase photos of Jerusalem that portray the city’s diversity and coexistence at an 11 a.m. farm-to-table brunch, Sunday, March 22, at the Hive at the Leichtag Ranch in Encinitas. Charlene Seidle, the Foundation’s executive vice president, will moderate a discussion about the creativity among Jerusalemites, their passion for their city, and how things aren’t always what they seem.
*
Recommended reading
*The Hill reports
that Bernie Sanders accused AIPAC of being a forum for bigotry, and
that AIPAC has rejected his “odious” criticism as “truly shameful.”
*
Mazal Tov! Mazal Tov!
Cantor Hanan Leberman, who splits his time between Jerusalem and San Diego, where he occasionally leads services at Tifereth Israel Synagogue, has announced that he and his wife, Ariel Hirsch, had a son, Leo Solomon Leberman, on Feb. 15. A brit milah was conducted Feb. 23 at the Ohel Nehama Synagogue in Jerusalem.
*
In memoriam
*Deborah (Fishman) Tov, 97, died Feb. 23. Her funeral will be held Wednesday, Feb. 26, at noon at Greenwood Memorial Park, 4300 Imperial Avenue, San Diego. The service will be officiated by Rabbi Joshua Dorsch of Tifereth israel Synagogue.
Howard Falberg, 87, died Feb. 24. His funeral will be conducted Wednesday, Feb. 26, at the Home of Peace Cemetery, 1299 El Camino Real, in Colma, California.
