Tuesday, August 08, 2006

More terrorism in the U.S....

It would probably be a safe bet to say that the perps' last names weren't Peterson or Smith.

From UPI:

WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- Unknown persons threw a Molotov cocktail at a side door of Baltimore Hebrew University's Joseph Meyerhoff Library on Aug. 3.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Sunday that police quickly responded; they estimated the damage at about $200.

Arthur Abramson of the Baltimore Jewish Council said the community was aware of the need to protect its institutions and the current crisis in the Middle East had increased its concern over its properties.

[snip]

The attack came a week after a gunman attacked Seattle's Jewish Federation offices. Naveed Afzal Haq, a Muslim-American with a history of mental illness opened fire inside the offices, killing federation official Pam Waechter and wounding five others includign a pregnant woman.

I found this paragraph particularly interesting:
Conservative synagogue Beth El Congregation of Baltimore executive director Gil Kleiner told Haaretz Friday that Shabbat prayers would take place in a state of "heightened alert." He said the firebombing was an isolated incident rather than being part of a trend. (emphasis mine)
I guess I wouldn't bet on that.

Since Haq's attack there have been other assaults on Jewish property, including an incendiary bottle being thrown in Queens, New York City. In addition, a number of vandalism incidents against Jewish property have been reported in Brooklyn, Miami and Chicago.

The rising tide of unrest has attracted the attention of the U.S. government. After Arab-Americans demonstrated in Detroit against the Israeli military campaign in Lebanon the Federal Bureau of Investigation said that security must be heightened in Michigan, which has a large Middle Eastern population.

Man--history is so repeating itself.


(Filed under Religion of Peace?, war on terror)