Terrorist Incidents and Attacks Against Jews and Israelis in the United States 1969-2016 Yehudit Barsky Foreword by Mitchell D. Silber COMMUNITY SECURITY SERVICE 2016 Yehudit Barsky Yehudit Barsky is Chair of Community Security Strategy of the Community Security Service’s Council of Experts. She advises the organization on issues related to safety, security, and counter-terrorism, and is also a Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy. Formerly the Director of the Division on Middle East and International Terrorism at American Jewish Committee, Ms. Barsky specializes in issues that impact the security of the Jewish community. Mitchell D. Silber He served as Director of Intelligence Analysis at the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) where he supervised research, collection and analysis for the Intelligence Division’s entire portfolio of terrorism related investigations. Mr. Silber also was responsible for strategic assessments of emerging and future threats to the City of New York and is the author of The Al Qaeda Factor: Plots Against the West. He is a visiting lecturer at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. About the Community Security Service (CSS) Founded in 2007, the nonprofit Community Security Service (CSS) proactively protects the people, institutions, and events of the American Jewish community. Partnering with Jewish organizations, governmental authorities, and the police, CSS safeguards the community by training volunteers in professional security techniques, providing physical security, and raising public awareness about safety issues. © YEHUDIT BARSKY AND THE COMMUNITY SECURITY SERVICE All Rights Reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the author and the Community Security Service. Dedicated to the memory of the victims whose lives were lost in attacks and terrorism against Jews and Israelis in the United States. COMMUNITY SECURITY SERVICE Table of Contents Executive Summary 1 Foreword by Mitchell D. Silber 3 Historical Background 5 An Unceasing Hatred: The Role of Ideology 7 White Supremacists – The “Jewish Problem” Islamist Movements and Terrorist Organizations Overview of Incidents and Methodologies 14 White Supremacists Palestinian Extremists Radical Islamist Terrorist Organizations Analysis of Incidents 18 Targets of Attacks Types of Attacks Types of Attacks Over Time A Trend Toward More Complex Attacks A Trend Toward Attacks by Ideologically Motivated Individuals Lessons Learned 26 The Critical Role of Pre-Operational Surveillance Attacks on Jews as Precursors to Larger Attacks Perpetrators of “Lone Wolf” Attacks Are Not Always Lone Prison Radicalization Plays a Role in Recruitment Threat Awareness is Critical Complacency is Deadly Toward a Culture of Security Awareness and Resilience: 29 Recommendations and Conclusions Awareness Training for the Jewish Community Invest in a Comprehensive Communal Security Infrastructure CHRONOLOGY OF INCIDENTS 31 Executive Summary Executive Summary This research is an attempt to catalogue violent attacks and terrorist incidents against Jews and Israelis in the United States from 1969 to 2016.1 It is important to note that this report focuses only on the most serious incidents, and that they occurred within the context of many thousands of other anti-Semitic acts. Indeed, of the 1,354 anti-religious hate crimes2 The FBI recorded by the FBI in 2015 alone, 51.3% 3 - 695 incidents4 - targeted Jews. hate crimes The FBI hate crimes statistics report demonstrated that Jews are the most targeted religious group in the U.S. This is a consistent finding of the FBI statistics report report over many years. demonstrated that Jews are the This catalogue is intended to raise awareness within the American Jewish community of the real challenges that face and continue to confront our most targeted community’s security and well-being. religious group in the U.S. This report catalogues 104 incidents whose analysis revealed: • The primacy of ideology: Of the incidents where motivation can be ascertained, white supremacist and radical Islamist ideologies were a central influencing factor. Periods of increased levels of attack are also associated with the growth of extremist movements and terrorist organizations connected to white supremacy and radical Islamist terrorism. • Synagogues are most targeted: The overwhelming majority of attacks (51%) were carried out against Jewish houses of worship, followed by Jewish communal institutions (14%), Jewish persons (13%), and educational institutions (10%). • The modality of incidents varies: Arson, shootings, and explosive devices were used in about equal number. • Increase in severity, slight decrease in frequency: Although the total number of attacks has declined slightly, recent incidents have been increasingly lethal and have, or would have, claimed many more victims. 1 The chronology of incidents is based on open source research, including earlier reports by the International Institute for Counterterrorism, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. National Counter Terrorism Center, RAND Corporation, the Southern Poverty Law Center, American Jewish Committee, Anti-Defamation League, Community Security Trust, and Secure Community Network. 2 Hate Crimes Statistics 2015, US Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, November 2016, https://ucr.fbi.gov/hate- crime/2015/topic-pages/incidentsandoffenses_final 3 Ibid. 4 Table 4 - Offense Type by Bias Motivation, Hate Crimes Statistics 2015, US Department of Justice, FBI, 2016, https://ucr.fbi.gov/hate- crime/2015/tables-and-data-declarations/4tabledatadecpdf 1 COMMUNITY SECURITY SERVICE Executive Summary Continued from previous page It is vital that the As a result, several lessons and recommendations are apparent: American Jewish • Jewish targets often serve as precursors to larger attacks: Perpetrators community, of well-known larger attacks, such as the 1993 World Trade Center together with our bombing, were first involved in anti-Jewish incidents. law enforcement • Awareness is critical: In many of these incidents, perpetrators conducted learn the partners, pre-operational surveillance. Training and engagement of community lessons of the past, members to detect suspicious activity is thus essential. understand the nature of the challenges • A need to invest in community security infrastructure: The Jewish community can ill afford passivity and apathy against security arrayed against it, threats. The community should broaden its understanding of what and take the proper effective security entails, and invest in initiatives that provide tangible precautions to ensure results. Foremost amongst these strategies is ensuring community that violent acts members have the training and capacity to assist in securing their against Jews and own communities, and partnering more closely with law enforcement Jewish institutions agencies. can be prevented in the future. Unfortunately, much as we do not care to admit it to ourselves, the threats are real; there have been too many incidents to deny that. Now in the second decade of the twenty-first century, we find ourselves in an era where those who promote anti-Jewish rhetoric and instigation have the technical tools to reach a broader audience in less time than ever before. In fact, as recently as March 2016, the Islamic State in Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) publicly encouraged its followers to attack Jews and their allies, “wherever they find them.” It is vital that the American Jewish community, together with our law enforcement partners, learn the lessons of the past, understand the nature of the challenges arrayed against it, and take the proper precautions to ensure that violent acts against Jews and Jewish institutions can be prevented in the future. In doing so, we will work towards fulfilling the vision of CSS—Making Jewish communities safer and stronger. 2 Foreword Foreword by Mitchell D. Silber Violence against the Jewish people as a minority community has a long Despite law and terrible history, especially from the European experience. Threats and enforcement violence came from fellow countrymen as well as from the state. In fact, it is this very phenomenon that served as the motivating factor for Jews to successes, immigrate to the United States, which was viewed as a haven where Jews numerous violent would be protected from these types of threats. attacks against Jews and Jewish For the vast majority of the Jewish experience in the United States, this hope has proven true. American law enforcement has served a vital role institutions in protecting the American Jewish community, as it has for so many other continue and the minority communities as well. variety of groups However, in spite of this overwhelmingly positive experience, there have advocating for more been groups and individuals, some linked to groups overseas and some violence against the homegrown, who view Jews and Israelis in the United States as legitimate American Jewish targets of violence based on very disparate types of ideologies. community only The groups include white extremists, Neo-Nazis, Palestinian terrorist grows. groups, Al-Qaida and its varied offshoots and progeny, Iranian supported agents, as well as lone actors who are inspired