Why do people fast for Lent? – Vox
Posted By richards on March 2, 2017
Soft-toned Trump reaches out to religious and other minorities – Religion News Service
Posted By richards on March 2, 2017
presidential address By Lauren Markoe | February 28, 2017
President Trump delivers his first address to a joint session of Congress, on Feb. 28, 2017. Courtesy of Reuters/Jim Lo Scalzo
WASHINGTON (RNS) President Trump, long chided for failing to address a surge in hate crimes, began his first address to Congress by invoking Black History Month and condemning recent threats against Jewish institutions and the shooting of Indian men in Kansas City.
His uncharacteristically soft-toned speech, which included several religious references, at points emphasized the commonalities among religious groups and toward the end declared thatwe are all made by the same God.
And, heralding a new chapter of American greatness, the president acknowledgedour Muslim allies fighting the militant group known as the Islamic State, or ISIS.
He called itanetwork of lawless savages that have slaughtered Muslims and Christians, and men, women and children of all faiths and beliefs.
But his other remarks Tuesday night (Feb. 28) would no doubt confirm for many criticsthat he still scapegoats Muslims and other minorities. He defended his Jan. 27 executive order, stayed by a federal appeals court, that temporarily bans nationals of seven Muslim-majority nations from visiting the U.S.
And hepromised to fight terrorism, slowly enunciatingradical Islamic terrorism, to make the point that he would use the phrase, despite even his own national security advisers stated belief that it helpsextremists to paint the U.S. as anti-Muslim.
He also reiterated his intention to build a great, great wall along our southern border.
Trump invoked Scripture when he praised a Navy SEAL, Chief Petty Officer William Ryan Owens, who died in a controversial raid in Yemen that the president approved.
Ryans legacy is etched into eternity. For as the Bible teaches us, there is no greater act of love than to lay down ones life for ones friends, said Trump, invoking John 15:13.
And he championed school choice, sayingfamilies should be free to choose the public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home school that is right for them.
But perhaps what most surprised his audiencewas the speechsopening, a seeming attempt to bridge the divides among Americans that so many have accused Trumpof widening.
Tonight as we mark the conclusion of our celebration of Black History Month, we are reminded of our nations path toward civil rights and the work that still remains to be done, he said to applause and cheers.
Hate crimes have been a growing concern so far this presidency. In less than two months, bomb threats have targeted about 100Jewish community centers, schools and offices of the Anti-Defamation League. Vandals have desecrated hundreds of graves at Jewish cemeteries in St. Louis and Philadelphia.
And last week in Kansas City, two Indian men were shot, one fatally, in what is widely assumed to be a hate crime.
Recent threats targeting Jewish community centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries as well as last weeks shooting in Kansas City remind us that while we may be a nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms, the president told the lawmakers.
Trump has dismayed Jewish and other groups for failing, until last week, to denounce rising anti-Semitic hate crimes in the nation. And he has offered no specificcondemnation of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hate crimes, which have surged in the past several years.
READ:Trump condemned anti-Semitism. What about Islamophobia?
Trumps remarks Tuesday night were unlikely to mollify Jewish leaders upset with his record on addressing hatred toward Jews.
Just hours before the speech they called on him to address reports that he had, in a meeting with state attorneys general, suggested that threats against Jewish community centers might be coming from the reverse to make otherslook bad.
It was not clear what Trump meant, but some Jewish leaders expressed concernthat hewas implying that the threats could be attempts to frame his supporters, rather than threatenJews, and called on him to clarify his statement.
Jewish leaderswere also worriedabout new reports that the Trump administration is considering scrapping a State Department post created to monitor and combat anti-Semitism.
Lauren Markoe has been a national reporter for RNS since 2011. Previously she covered government and politics as a daily reporter at the Charlotte Observer and The State (Columbia, S.C.)
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Soft-toned Trump reaches out to religious and other minorities - Religion News Service
Threats to Jewish community centers concern Pagans – The Wild Hunt
Posted By richards on March 2, 2017
TWH Jewish facilities have been targeted with vandalism and bomb threats in recent weeks, and that has some of their Pagan neighbors on edge even as they stand ready to assist. Hundreds of headstones were damaged in two Jewish cemeteries this month, and 100 bomb threats have been reportedly called into Jewish community centers and temples in the United States and Canada in whats being called telephone terrorism.
It was enough to get a mention by President Trump during his first speech before a joint session of Congress, although those remarks have been criticized for not outlining to plan to stop the attacks.
While most of the bomb threats targeted community centers in the eastern United States, they were located in a total of 33 states as well as two provinces of Canada. The calls may have originated overseas, authorities believe, and used voice-masking technology, as in this example posted online.
No bombs have thus far been found, but federal officials are investigating them as hate crimes. While the threats have caused some participants 67% of which are not Jewish to pull their families out of programs, there are also reports of solidarity as neighbors show up to express their support.
[Penny White]
Its easy to overwhelm a religious community with outsiders good intentions. Were issuing a statement, of course, and supporting on social media. We are prepared to stand guard but that probably wont be necessary, she added, because of the response by local police and FBI agents.
Asheville resident and Pagan Laura LaVoie lives no more than a tenth of a mile away. When I read the news in our local paper, I was stunned. I dont want this kind of bomb threat happening anywhere, but when it is right next door to your house, it impacts you a little differently, she said.
Neither LaVoie nor Ballard believed the threat could have originated locally, an opinion which has since also been shared by law enforcement officials. That doesnt make it any less unsettling, however.
LaVoie said, The Pagan community in Asheville as a whole seems to be very out, so of course I have concerns that it could be targeted. But overall, our community is a welcoming one so I dont imagine it would happen from someone who is a part of Asheville culture.
On the other side of the country, the Marin Interfaith Councils name was added to one such statement. Member Aline Macha OBrien said that Congregation Rodof Shalom, a group that is very prominent and active in that council, was one of the centers which was threatened.
OBrien said, In the current climate, where certain religions (primarily, of course, Islam and Judaism) are openly or implicitly demonized, it is vital to point out these shared values and to use them as a starting point for addressing the ethical issues entailed in todays conflicts.
The issue of the reception of refugees, for instance, touches directly on questions of hospitality and care for the vulnerable that virtually all religious and ethical traditions address.
Mike Novack is both a member of Covenant of the Goddess and a practicing Jew living in Massachusetts. You do raise an interesting question about whether folks should get involved in that as Pagans, he said, but thought that should be answered by those Pagans are who not also Jewish.
Novack went on to say that he wasnt doing anything differently in the wake of the attacks. Jews always consider this sort of thing not out of the ordinary. It is only the recent number of events that is unusual so a little more time must elapse before treated as a real increase (if the rate stays high).
By and large the Muslim and Jewish communities are taking advantage of the attacks to heal breaches between them, he added. Jews coming out to help clean up after attacks on Muslims and vice versa.
To Novacks last point, $5,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest of the telephone terrorist[s] via the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
The programming and services offer by Jewish community centers have a reach and variety similar to that found in YMCAs, which is why a majority of members, in some cases, are not Jewish. Nevertheless, they do indeed serve as a social hubs for Jews, someof whom no longer observe the religion but wish to honor their shared cultural heritage.
Its a cultural thing, an ancestral heritage, said Hank Eder, an eclectic Pagan with Jewish ancestry who denounced the attacks. Acts against any of us, no matter what their faith, are acts against all of us, no less than cutting off some part of yourself in an attempt to hurt another.
Ballard said that, while shes waiting to learn how best she can support her neighborhood JCC, she does believe that magical work would be an effective response.
The proposed Trump action was poorly thought out and ineffectively designed, in my opinion. Plus messy with too many moving parts. But magical working can be very effective. Certainly protective magic can be part of a strong security system, working in tandem with other kinds of security: electronic, security guards, etc.
The one thing that appears clear is that threats such as these are bringing people together, encouraging them to work for the common cause of protection in solidarity.
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Threats to Jewish community centers concern Pagans - The Wild Hunt
New Israeli Initiative to Equip Jewish High School Students With … – Algemeiner
Posted By admin on March 1, 2017
Email a copy of "New Israeli Initiative to Equip Jewish High School Students With Tools to Counter Campus Anti-Zionism Lauded by Advocacy Groups" to a friend
The apartheid wall at Columbia University. Photo: Columbia SJP/Facebook.
Anew Israeli initiative to prepare high school students to deal with and confrontanti-Zionist activity that they are liable toencounter when they get to college was laudedby Jewish advocacy groups this week.
Opportunities that expose young people to Israels people, history and culture are incredibly important in developing educated, engaged students who can stand up for Israels right to exist when threatened on campus. We welcome programs that educate students about Israel and build love and respect for the Jewish homeland before students arrive on college campuses, Hillel International spokesmanMatthew Berger told The Algemeiner on Tuesday.
Berger, speaking for the worlds largest Jewish student organization, was referring to the joint Jewish Agency for Israel-Strategic Affairs Ministry endeavor first reported on by The Jerusalem Postto equip Jewish studentsabout to enter universities with the tools tobetter cope with propaganda smears, antisemitism and boycotts, according to JAI Chairman Natan Sharansky.
March 1, 2017 2:38 pm
EducationalgroupStandWithUs Executive Director of High School Affairs Miri Kornfeld told The Algemeinerthat preparing the many high school students who may not know how to respond articulately to the ideological assault on the Jewish state will shift the emphasis from putting out fires to preventing them before they even start.
Gilad Skolnick, director of campus programming for the campus bureau of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, saidthat anti-Israel activists and professors are more organized than ever before at spreading lies and disinformation about Israel. He said that students especially those not coming from the Jewish day school system, and therefore have greater challenges when it comes to understanding the complexities of the Arab-Israeli conflict can always benefit from more training to counter hostilenarratives.
But a lack of knowledge is not the mainproblem that Hasbara Fellowships Executive Director Elliot Mathias said he hopes the initiative will take into account. The key, he said, is first teaching kidswhy they should care about Israel beforetraining them in how to advocate for it.
He explained: Students must be engaged in why Israel is so important to the Jewish people; how they can have a personal connection to Israel; and why standing up for their brothers and sisters in Israel is an integral part of their Jewish identity.They must be given the tools to understand the mission of the Jewish people to make the the world a better place, and the central role that Israel plays in this. If they understand these things, they will be receptive tolearning how to advocate for the Jewish state.
Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, head of campus watchdog group the AMCHA Initiative, told The Algemeinerthat many Jewish students, regardless of their personal or political affiliations are being singled out, harassed, intimidated and sometimes even assaulted by anti-Israel activists. As a result, they are thrust into the role of Israels foot soldiers simply because they are Jewish. Preparing high school kidsfor this intolerant climate, which we are working hard to change, is critical.
The announcement about the launch of theinitiative comes amid a sharp increase in anti-Israel activity often crossing the line intoantisemitism on campuses around the world. In February alone, images of a Nazi gas chamber and nearby crematorium were scrawled in the room of a Jewish student at the University of Minnesota; pamphlets accusing Jewish terrorists trained by Israeli Zionists of orchestrating last months deadly shooting at a Montreal mosque were found atCanadas Western University; and a speech at Trinity College in Dublin by the Israeli ambassador to Ireland was cancelled at the last minute,due to protests outside the lecture hall.
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New Israeli Initiative to Equip Jewish High School Students With ... - Algemeiner
ADL receives second bomb threat at San Francisco office – Jerusalem Post Israel News
Posted By admin on March 1, 2017
A headstone, pushed off its base by vandals, lays on the ground near a smashed tomb in the Mount Carmel Cemetery, a Jewish cemetery, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. February 27, 2017. (photo credit:REUTERS)
NEW YORK The Anti-Defamation Leagues San Francisco Regional Office was evacuated late Monday afternoon after yet another bomb threat was called in to its San Francisco office.
The threat was received at 4:19 p.m. by a staff member answering phone calls at the location and is the second one received by the ADL, after its New York headquarters were targeted last week.
This is also the latest such incident in a series of nearly two dozen fielded by local Jewish institutions across the country earlier on Monday, including Jewish community centers and Jewish day schools.
The latest wave of bomb threats comes after over five others since the beginning of the year, with a total of 89 incidents at 72 locations in 30 states and one Canadian province. In addition, two Jewish cemeteries were vandalized in the past week, in St. Louis and Philadelphia.
In Washington, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said, The president continues to be deeply disappointed and concerned by the reports of further vandalism at Jewish cemeteries. The cowardly destruction in Philadelphia this weekend comes on top of similar accounts from Missouri and threats made to Jewish community centers around the country. The president continues to condemn these and any other form of antisemitic and hateful acts in the strongest terms. From our countrys founding, weve been dedicated to protecting the freedom of our citizens right to worship. No one in America should feel afraid to follow the religion of their choosing freely and openly.
The ADLs San Francisco offices were evacuated without incident. Local law enforcement authorities swept the scene and an investigation is underway.
One threat or evacuation is one too many, and yet weve now seen more than 20 incidents in a single day, not just at ADL, but to childrens schools and community centers and more than 90 incidents since the start of this year, ADL CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt said. The level of threats and incidents is astounding, and must not stand. We will do everything in our power to combat this wave of antisemitism.
ADL added that it is working closely with law enforcement officials at the local, state and national level in response to the calls and has previously convened community security briefings.
Earlier on Monday, the organization had released the ADL Action Plan on Antisemitism calling on the Trump administration to adopt a plan of action to address the scourge of threats aimed at Jewish institutions. This, they said, includes ordering the Justice Department to launch a robust investigation into these incidents, establishing an interagency task force to combat antisemitism and improving hate crime training, reporting and response.
After Mondays rash of bomb threats, the JCC Association of North America also called on federal authorities to take a stand against the latest manifestations of antisemitism.
The Justice Department, Homeland Security, the FBI and the White House, alongside Congress and local officials, must speak out and speak out forcefully against this scourge of antisemitism impacting communities across the country, said David Posner, the groups director of strategic performance.
Actions speak louder than words. Members of our community must see swift and concerted action from federal officials to identify and capture the perpetrator or perpetrators who are trying to instill anxiety and fear in our communities, he added.
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ADL receives second bomb threat at San Francisco office - Jerusalem Post Israel News
ADL offers reward for information about Philadelphia Jewish cemetery vandals – Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Posted By admin on March 1, 2017
ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt speaking at the organizations Never is Now conference in New York City, Nov. 17, 2016. (Courtesy of the ADL)
(JTA) The Anti-Defamation League offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of those responsible for the vandalism of a Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia.
More than 100 gravestones were toppled and damaged at the Mount Carmel Cemetery in the citys Wissinoming section. The vandalism was discovered Sunday.
The reward money leading to the arrest and conviction of the vandals is being provided by the Mizel Family Foundation, according to the ADL.
Abouta week ago, over 150 headstones were discovered overturned and damaged at the Chesed Shel Emeth Jewish cemetery in St. Louis in vandalism that made national headlines. Vice President Mike Pence was among those who contributed to the cleanup effort.
It is not known who committed the vandalism or if the motive was anti-Semitism.
A Gofundme campaign for the Philadelphia cemetery was launched by a private citizen, Raphael Caroline, 31, in the hours after the vandalism was discovered. It reached its $10,000 goal and beyond in sevenhours.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia also is collecting donations for repairs to the cemetery.
Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey in a tweet called the attack on the cemetery a despicable act of vandalism these acts of hate cannot be tolerated.
The states governor,Tom Wolf, in a tweet called the vandalism a cowardly, disturbing act. We must find those responsible and hold accountable.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said city officials are working to discover who committed the attack.
My heart breaks for the families who found their loved ones headstones toppled, he said in a statement. We are doing all we can to find the perpetrators who desecrated this final resting place, and they will be prosecutedto the fullest extent of the law. Hate is not permissible in Philadelphia. I encourage Philadelphiansto stand with our Jewish brothers and sistersand toshow them that wearethe City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection.
Area Muslims from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USAs Philadelphia mosquejoined local Jews to help clean up the cemetery.
They wanted to divide us. We united even more, tweeted Kashif Chaudhry, a physician and Muslim activist.
This is America, read more than one response.
This Jewish girl from Philly thanks Muslim community of Philly 4 standing w/us, read another.
A candlelight vigil to support the Jewish community was held on Sunday night.
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ADL offers reward for information about Philadelphia Jewish cemetery vandals - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
As anti-Semitic bomb threats continue, ADL office evacuated in San … – Boing Boing
Posted By simmons on March 1, 2017
The terror attacks against Jewish folks in America continue. No one seems to care.
In what may be a land speed record for the number of Jewish Community Centers evacuated in a single year, 2017 is off to a bang with nearly 30 such incidents recorded before the end of February. While every Jewish person around the world is watching to see if our worst fears about the American people come true, I was particularly struck by the second round of bomb threats against the Anti-Defamation League's San Francisco office. The offices were evacuated.
When some asshole Hitler enthusiasts on the internet got upset with me for being Jewish, I called the San Francisco ADL. The ADL was more concerned with my safety than I was, more helpful than I'd hoped, and displayed the ultimate in respectfulness: the ADL followed up. As I reflected on it, I realized this was exactly the foundation of support I'd been raised, as an American Jew, to expect. When I needed it, the ADL was there.
The ADL are heroically back to work in San Francisco today. The wave of hatred has not gone away.
We need them working because those headstones toppled in St. Louis and Philadelphia were not incidentally those of Jewish graves. Wave after wave of threats that chase children out of classrooms won't stay just threats forever. The monsters have been emboldened, and as is so often the case, the canary in the coal mine is a Jew.
We are headed in the wrong direction.
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As anti-Semitic bomb threats continue, ADL office evacuated in San ... - Boing Boing
Scarsdale Attorney Files Amicus Brief for ADL Challenging Trump’s Travel Ban – Scarsdale10583.com
Posted By admin on March 1, 2017
Good Work Published on Tuesday, 28 February 2017 15:03 Joanne Wallenstein
Scarsdale attorney John B. Harris is the principal author of an Amicus Brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit on behalf of the Anti-Defamation League ("ADL") objecting to President Donald Trump's recent executive order to ban travel into the United States from seven majority-Muslim nations.
The brief is not a typical synopsis of legal issues. Rather, it is a review of the United States' long history of welcoming immigrants and the tragic consequences of times when America turned away from its core values, such as when the United States turned away Jewish refugees desperately seeking safety aboard the St Louis during World War II, excluded immigrants from China and interned Japanese Americans.
The brief quotes luminaries in American history such as John Winthrop who "admonished the future colonists of Massachusetts to always remember that their new community would be "as a city upon a hill." It recalls Walt Whitman, Emma Lazarus and John F. Kennedy who in his book "A Nation of Immigrants" wrote, ""America has always been a refuge from tyranny. As a nation conceived in liberty, it has held out to the world the promise of respect for the rights of man."
Harris' law firm, Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz in Manhattan, submitted the brief on behalf of ADL where Harris is the Chair of the ADL Legal Affairs Committee. He said, "The U.S. has been and should be a beacon of hope for refugees from war-torn countries and for victims of persecution."
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Scarsdale Attorney Files Amicus Brief for ADL Challenging Trump's Travel Ban - Scarsdale10583.com
Clear uptick in US antisemitism since election, says ADL – Jerusalem Post Israel News
Posted By admin on March 1, 2017
The desecration of Jewish cemeteries in Philadelphia and the St. Louis area have prompted an outcry from Jewish groups nationwide: The problem of antisemitism in the United States appears to be rapidly worsening. They can see it and they can feel it.
And the rest of the country is beginning to sense it as well.
But who is measuring it? That would be the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which records hate crimes nationwide, and the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish nongovernmental organization that tracks and verifies antisemitic incidents on an annual basis.
Neither the FBI nor the ADL has yet issued a report for 2016, much less for the beginning of 2017, which has witnessed a slew of high-profile attacks and threats against Jews and their institutions.
But both can discern from their collection of reported incidents a clear increase in activity beyond what they have seen in recent memory.
Regardless of what final numbers of antisemitic incidents will be, were definitely seeing an uptick in reporting and thats actually why it takes longer to go through this data and verify everything. It was happening before Election Day, but definitely since Election Day, weve seen an uptick, said Oren Segal, director of the ADLs Center on Extremism.
Weve never seen anything like this before, he added.
The ADL was alarmed by a spike in antisemitic behavior on social media in 2016, facilitated by the anonymity that attackers enjoy on platforms like Twitter. The group issued a special report on the phenomenon late last year that found more than two-thirds of 19,253 antisemitic tweets targeting journalists during the presidential election campaign had been sent by roughly 1,600 Twitter accounts.
Now it is investigating over 70 bomb threats phoned in to Jewish community centers over the past two months and into its own headquarters, prompting a brief evacuation last week.
The perpetrators of the bomb threats have not yet been identified, and law enforcement has been unable to confirm whether one individual is orchestrating the campaign or whether several people are involved.
Were looking at the impact of this, so who does it is important we need to find out but what the impact of this is on the communities is our primary concern, Segal said.
The ADL has also received reports of approximately 90 different white supremacist flyers being distributed on college campuses, an unprecedented number.
Alt-right groups have determined that now is their time to strike, said Segal, referring to a political coalition of nativists and ethnic-nationalists who supported President Donald Trumps political rise.
FBI and ADL reports from 2015 recorded an increase in antisemitic incidents from the prior year, which at the time was considered significant.
But that relatively small increase has now been dwarfed by recent developments, Segal said, making note of a decade-long decline in activity leading up to the recent spike.
I dont think we can draw a direct line from any one thing to say thats why antisemitism seems to be up, except for perhaps one place: social media, Segal said.
The reality is, he continued, more people are likely to encounter a swastika on their [cell]phone than they are in their neighborhood.
And when you see the number of trolls engage online in this antisemitic narrative, our concern is that their Internet activities will mainstream these hateful messages and have real-world consequences.
Jewish Federations of North America president and CEO Jerry Silverman has expressed deep concern over the issue.
Talking to The Jerusalem Post on the sidelines of the Jewish Agency Board of Governors winter meeting in Tel Aviv, Silverman said: The level of hate crimes, both antisemitic and against other faiths, around the world scares me deeply.
On the other hand, he said, the Jewish community has great confidence in law enforcement authorities, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, all of which he referred to as great partners. He also referenced training that has been conducted over the past few years in all community infrastructures.
Weve increased the capacity and capability of our security network over last three years because the wave was building and we saw what was happening, Silverman asserted.
With clear methods and protocols in place, he said, its business as usual within a very short space of time following an incident.
A phone call creates an environment of terrorism that is designed to change behavior, said Michael Siegal, former chairman of the Jewish Federations of North America Board of Trustees and a member of the Jewish Agency Board of Governors.
The good news is that the calls have not manifested themselves into anything serious, even though the call in and of itself is serious, said Siegal, who also serves as head of the Secure Community Network, a project of the JFNA and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
When you have to evacuate a JCC and see children standing outside, as a parent, you wonder whether or not I should continue to send kids to those environments, he reflected. But we dont know if its one person or an organization, and until we work with the government to discover who is doing these particular calls, the pattern is that its probably one person or organization very sophisticated but not a groundswell of lots of people doing something.
Indeed, Siegals successor on the board of the JFNA, Richard V. Sandler, pointed to a recent Pew Research Center study that found Jews as a religious group received the warmest ratings among Americans.
I dont believe myself that as a result of whatever happened over the last year that there are a greater number of antisemites in the country, Sandler said.
Antisemitism is a problem; always is. I think more have felt the freedom to raise their ugly heads, but hopefully that will subside.
Silverman, too, sees light in the darkness, highlighting the thousands of dollars donated by Muslim charities to renovate the vandalized St. Louis cemetery and the fact that Vice President Mike Pence made time in his schedule to help clean up the damage. He added that he himself had received phone calls from the largest nonprofits in America offering their help.
We dont know enough information at this point, frankly, for this in any way to change our culture or our attitudes, he said. What it does is make us more alert and smarter in how to deal with it, and it allows us as communities to come together and thats a good thing.
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ADL San Francisco Office Evacuated After Bomb Threat – YubaNet
Posted By simmons on March 1, 2017
New York, NY, February 27, 2017 The Anti-Defamation Leagues San Francisco Regional Office was evacuated late this afternoon after a bomb threat was received by a staff person answering calls at the location. The threat was the latest in a series of nearly two-dozen threats fielded by local Jewish institutions across the country earlier today, and the second bomb call threat received at an ADL office in the past week.
Local law enforcement authorities are currently on the scene and an investigation is underway. The ADL offices were evacuated without incident. A number of Jewish Community Centers in Northern California were targeted in the first wave of calls several weeks ago.
One threat or evacuation is one too many, and yet weve now seen more than 20 incidents in a single day not just to ADL, but to childrens schools and community centers and more than 90 incidents since the start of this year, said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO. The level of threats and incidents is astounding, and must not stand. We will do everything in our power to combat this wave of anti-Semitism.
The call to ADLs San Francisco Office was logged at 4:19 p.m. local time.
ADL is working closely with law enforcement officials at the local, state and national level in response to the calls and has previously convened community security briefings. Earlier today, Mr. Greenblatt released the ADL Action Plan on Anti-Semitism calling on the Trump Administration to adopt a plan of action to address the scourge of threats aimed at Jewish institutions, including ordering the Justice Department to launch a robust investigation into these incidents, establishing an interagency task force o combat anti-Semitism, and improving hate crime training, reporting, and response.
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ADL San Francisco Office Evacuated After Bomb Threat - YubaNet
