Pittsburgh, Poway — and now Jersey City
On 10th December, two antisemitic gunmen attacked a kosher grocery store in Jersey City, New Jersey, killing three civilians. A Jersey City Police Department detective was also shot and killed at a nearby cemetery shortly before the attackers targeted the store, and the gunmen themselves were killed by law enforcement.
It is now understood that the attackers — a man and a woman — were motivated by hatred towards Jews. At least one is believed to have had connections with the Black Israelite Hebrews, an extremist Black supremacist group that has also harassed and intimidated Jews on the streets of the UK and the London Underground.
Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “First Pittsburgh, then Poway and now Jersey City. Yet again American Jews are being murdered for who they are, and by those with connections to a racist group active in the UK as well. Although white supremacists pose a serious and violent threat to Jews in the United States and throughout the Western world, antisemitism is by no means confined to their extremist ideology alone, but is present among the far-left, Islamist circles and, evidently, other racist groups. It is also desperately clear that what begins as intimidation of Jews on the streets eventually escalates to violence and murder, and we call on the authorities to show zero tolerance toward anti-Jewish hate crime whenever it arises. Once more we are reminded why all decent human beings must all stand #TogetherAgainstAntisemitism, not just in word but in deed.”
Those wishing to show solidarity with the Jewish community at this time may wish to visit TogetherAgainstAntisemitism.com to add a badge to their social media profiles.
