By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER (Associated Press)
BOSTON (AP) — Police in New York, Los Angeles, and different U.S. cities elevated patrols, authorities put up fencing across the U.S. Capitol and a few colleges closed Friday amid fears of violence impressed by the Israel-Hamas warfare. But regulation enforcement officers pressured there have been no credible threats within the U.S.
A former Hamas chief’s name for a day of rage put American Jewish communities on edge, and sparked heightened safety round homes of worship, colleges and cultural establishments. The jitters had been an indication of simply how a lot the warfare between Israel and Hamas is reverberating world wide, putting concern in communities even within the absence of a reputable risk.
Law enforcement officers mentioned they had been on excessive alert for violence pushed by antisemitic or Islamophobic sentiments within the wake of the Hamas assault on Israel. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist group by the United States, Canada and the European Union. Jewish and Muslim teams have reported a rise of hateful and threatening rhetoric on social media.
“We cannot and do not discount the possibility that Hamas or and other foreign terrorist organizations could exploit the conflict to call on their supporters to conduct attacks here on our own soil,” FBI Director Christopher Wray instructed Jewish neighborhood leaders at a safety briefing on Thursday.
Ashley Reyes, 40, who’s Jewish and lives in Montclair, New Jersey, mentioned the escalating battle has made her really feel much less protected and has sparked worries for her 10-year-old son.
“This is the primary time in my life that I’ve actively considered saying to my son, ‘If someone asks you if you’re Jewish or in case your mother’s Jewish, you say no,’ Reyes mentioned.
At the Palestinian American Community Center in Clifton, New Jersey, Executive Director Rania Mustafa mentioned there was a rise in harassing cellphone calls, emails and messages on social media. Mustafa mentioned the group has closed its doorways and is simply letting in folks they know or who determine themselves.
“It’s been a very stressful week in all regards, from one end trying to convince the world that we’re human and that our lives are as sacred as anyone else’s lives and on the other end, trying to protect our own from being targeted. And protecting freedom of speech, of expressing opinions and solidarity with the Palestinian people,” she mentioned.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams instructed reporters Thursday that police would do further patrols in some metropolis neighborhoods and ship extra assets to colleges and homes of worship. There has been a big police presence at protests, rallies and vigils within the metropolis over the previous week. Some synagogues have additionally mentioned they’d have non-public safety guards.
Adams and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul pressured that regulation enforcement wasn’t conscious of any credible threats towards the state or the town.
“We want to reiterate to New Yorkers: There’s no reason to feel afraid. No one should feel they have to alter their normal lives or their routines; and indeed when we change our behavior without a serious credible threat, then we’re letting the terrorists win,” Hochul mentioned.
“I want all New Yorkers to feel confident going to a synagogue, going to school, walking in the streets of New York and throughout our state.”
Meanwhile, a New York City councilmember was arrested Friday for bringing a handgun to a scholar demonstration supporting Palestinians.
Inna Vernikov, a Republican who’s Jewish, has been among the many most outspoken opponents of Palestinian activists, describing the protesters as “terrorists” whereas accusing them of constructing Jewish college students really feel unsafe. She was seen in photographs and movies with the butt of a pistol jutting from her waistband. Vernikov didn’t instantly reply to an emailed request for remark and messages left at her workplaces weren’t returned.
New York City’s public college system has seen a wave of dueling protests in current days following the Hamas assault on Israel and escalating warfare in Gaza.
Columbia University halted public entry to its Manhattan campus Thursday prematurely of a deliberate demonstration by pro-Palestinian activists and a rival pro-Israel group, saying solely college students, school and credentialed journalists could be allowed in. The demonstrations wound up being peaceable.
In Washington, crews had been seen placing steel boundaries outdoors the Capitol Thursday night. A Capitol police spokesperson mentioned in an e-mail they had been “not taking any chances” despite the fact that there aren’t any particular threats.
Las Vegas’ Innovations International Charter School, which has a campus situated in a former Jewish temple, mentioned Friday they had been canceling lessons out of an “abundance of caution.” Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, Maryland, additionally closed its campuses, telling dad and mom in an e-mail that there was no particular risk to the varsity, but it surely, too, was performing out of “an abundance of caution.”
Los Angeles police mentioned they had been reaching out to Jewish and Muslim communities and offering further patrols. Police in Westchester County, New York, additionally mentioned they had been growing patrols round colleges and Jewish homes of worship on Friday. In Boston, police for the reason that starting of the battle have elevated their uniformed presence round non secular and cultural establishments, a spokesperson mentioned Friday.
The Secure Community Network, which advises U.S. Jewish establishments on safety, has inspired Jewish communities to be vigilant and bolster their safety efforts. But the group has suggested establishments there isn’t a want to shut their doorways, absent particular info in any other case from regulation enforcement.
Michael Masters, the group’s CEO, warned towards letting “fear or clickbait threats cause chaos” in Jewish communities as a result of he mentioned that’s a part of the target of these spreading hateful rhetoric on-line.
“We saw some of the worst of humanity on Saturday, but we also saw some of the best,” he mentioned of the horrific Hamas assault. “People rushing with literally nothing at their disposal to the lives of family, friends and people they don’t know.”
“I think we owe it to them that we are not going to give in easily and that we are not going to bow down … because others wish for us to go away.”
Associated Press reporters Jake Offenhartz, Deepti Hajela and Karen Matthews in New York City contributed.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”