The Greater Los Angeles Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Jewish Federation (JFed) held a joint press conference with law enforcement on January 21 about the January 15 hostage crisis in Colleyville, TX.
ADL Los Angeles Regional Director Jeffrey I. Abrams said during the press conference that the kidnapper, identified by law enforcement as 44-year-old Malik Faisal Akram, “took four Jewish men hostage,” “not just in any building but in a synagogue [Congregation Beth Israel]. Not just any day, but Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath.” Akram called for the release of Pakistani neuroscientist Dr. Aafia Siddiqui from a federal prison in the Fort Worth area; Siddiqui is serving an 86-year sentence for attempting to kill US soldiers and FBI agents in Afghanistan.
“This appears to be the only reason this synagogue in Texas was attacked that day,” Abrams said, “because the kidnappers believed that if the rabbi were taking Jewish hostages, he could just call another rabbi in New York — – a rabbi with whom the hostage-taker was dating [former] president [Barack] Obama – and because of age-old anti-Semitic tropes about Jewish power and government control, [he] believed that somehow this would lead to the release of that person. As crazy and unbelievable as this sounds, it is yet another example of the rise of anti-Semitism in our country – which ADL has been tracking – anti-Semitism fueled by rhetoric and propagated by unregulated and uncompromising social media corporations.”
He added that synagogue rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker said his training with the ADL and JFed was key to surviving the hostage crisis. Abrams also noted that the ADL and JFed have lobbied for more funding from the federal and state governments for Jewish security nonprofits, and praised the fact that the federal government had increased funding to $360 million. Abrams also applauded Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel (D-San Fernando Valley), who chairs the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, for introducing a bill to extend charitable grants. In addition, Abrams touted the ADL’s partnership with law enforcement in “sharing information from the ADL Center on Extremism” and “best practices and hate crime information.”
Rabbi Noah Farkas, President and CEO of JFed of Greater Los Angeles, said that Jews make up only about 2% of America’s population – noting that “more people live between San Diego and Santa Barbara than there are Jews in the world” – but 60% of hate crimes in the US are committed against Jews. He promoted the Federation’s Community Security Initiative, which he described as connecting all of the various Jewish institutions in Los Angeles to provide security training and work with law enforcement to monitor potential security threats. “This past weekend our team worked overtime to make sure every Jewish person … knew we were there for them,” Farkas said. He called for all safety grants for nonprofits — not just Jewish nonprofits — to be doubled or tripled “so they can have a safe experience and live their lives like everyone else.” Farkas added that providing security was a “very expensive undertaking,” noting that the Beth Israel congregation could not afford a security guard to protect the synagogue. In Los Angeles County, communities have to spend “millions and millions of dollars” on security, Farkas said.
Kristi Johnson, FBI deputy director for the Los Angeles field office, then spoke and said the FBI considers the Colleyville hostage crisis to be “an act of terrorism against the Jewish community” and is working “to determine why this individual attacked that specific synagogue of the.” Sabbath.” She also encouraged the Jewish community to contact the FBI about specific threats against the community. Amir Ehsaei, senior special agent in charge of the Los Angeles field office’s counterterrorism division, said the FBI had not found a “major plot” targeting the Los Angeles area.
Other speakers included Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Deputy Chief of Police Beatrice Girmala and Beverly Hills Police Chief Mark Steinbrook.
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