{"id":113242,"date":"2017-03-23T13:44:02","date_gmt":"2017-03-23T21:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=113242"},"modified":"2017-03-23T13:44:02","modified_gmt":"2017-03-23T21:44:02","slug":"jewish-bomb-threat-suspect-undermines-groups-narrative-on-anti-semitism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=113242","title":{"rendered":"Jewish bomb threat suspect undermines groups\u2019 narrative on anti-Semitism"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK (JTA)<\/a> \u2014 Many Jewish groups blamed white supremacists, emboldened by Donald Trump\u2019s campaign, for the bomb threats that have plagued Jewish institutions since the beginning of this year.<\/p>\n

It appears the groups were wrong.<\/p>\n

The news that one Jewish teen \u2014 an Israeli, no less \u2014 was behind most of the approximately 150 bomb threats that have hit Jewish community centers since the start of 2017 is a shocking twist in light of months in which the Anti-Defamation League and other groups pointed their collective finger at the far right.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in unprecedented times,\u201d said Oren Segal, director of the ADL\u2019s Center on Extremism, at a March 10 news conference on the bomb threats. \u201cWe\u2019ve never seen, ever, the volume of bomb threats that we\u2019ve seen. White supremacists in this country feel more emboldened than they ever have before because of the public discourse and divisive rhetoric.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ADL has repeatedly charged Trump with emboldening extremists, anti-Semites and far-right groups in the U.S. Other groups were even more explicit in linking rising anti-Semitic acts this year to the new president. On Jan. 10, following the first wave of JCC bomb threats, Bend The Arc, a liberal Jewish group, said that \u201cTrump helped to create the atmosphere of bigotry and violence that has resulted in these dangerous threats against Jewish institutions and individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n

In February, the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect said in a statement to Trump that \u201cRightly or wrongly, the most vicious anti-Semites in America are looking at you and your Administration as a nationalistic movement granting them permission to attack Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the perpetrator of the anti-Semitic acts, while his political opinions are not known, does not fit the profile of a white supremacist. According to Israeli reports, he\u2019s a mentally ill Israeli-American Jewish teenager.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK (JTA) \u2014 Many Jewish groups blamed white supremacists, emboldened by Donald Trump\u2019s campaign, for the bomb threats that have plagued Jewish institutions since the beginning of this year. It appears the groups were wrong. The news that one … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[605],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anti-semitism"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t