Fight against antisemitism, hatred begins with respect
One of the cruelest tragedies of a bitterly divided nation is that our sanctuaries have become targets.
The latest assault came against the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, a Dallasfort Worth suburb.
The four hostages survived, and the gunman is dead after being shot by the FBI.
Rabbi Charlie Cytron-walker said afterward that security courses for the congregation helped prevent a deadly tragedy — a sad commentary on the vulnerability of what is supposed to be a safe harbor. It’s a vulnerability especially pronounced for the Jewish community amid rising antisemitism.
“I am grateful for my family. I am grateful for the CBI Community, the Jewish Community, the Human Community. I am grateful we made it out. I am grateful to be alive,” the rabbi posted on his Facebook page.
It was a burst of joy and gratitude that seemed unlikely on Saturday morning, when the siege began. Cytron-walker was leading the Sabbath prayers, his back toward the congregation. Then he heard a click.
“As it turned out, it was his gun,” the rabbi said. The siege ended 10 hours later, with the hostages alive and the suspect dead after a standoff with law enforcement.
FBI officials identified the hostage taker as Malik Faisal Akram, 44, a British national. The Associated Press reported that the suspect could be heard on a Facebook livestream of the service demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist convicted for attempting to kill U.S. Army officers in Afghanistan.
She was convicted in 2010 and is being held in federal prison in Fort Worth.
Whatever the motive, the hostage takeover was the latest in a long string of assaults on our places of worship. Sanctuaries, for many, are no longer sanctuaries. They are magnets for hate and hostility.
Jews are the most targeted religious group in the U.S., with antisemitic attacks at an all-time high, according to the Anti-defamation League. We live at a startling moment in which record numbers of antisemitic incidents are being reported.
And let’s never forget how a man armed with an Ar-15-style assault rifle killed 11 congregants of a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018. It was one of the deadliest rampages against Jews law enforcement officials had ever seen.
Here in San Antonio, we have seen recent displays of antisemitism. Antisemitism must be universally condemned; otherwise, like all manifestations of hatred, it festers and grows, gaining traction.
Jewish worshipers, however, are not alone. Black Christians also have been targeted, including a Bible study group at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., where a gunman killed nine parishioners in 2015. Four years later, the Council on American Islamic Relations, or CAIR, reported more than 500 incidents of bias or harassment against Muslim Americans, some of them at mosques.
There is no rationale for the hate, which is what makes it so unfathomable and difficult to stop. The best antidote is to teach in our homes love, religious harmony and respect for one another.
Aggressive prosecution of hateful acts is also imperative. So is widespread condemnation, along with the goodwill that envelops the victims and their families in their aftermath.
One day, may love and the spirit of community trample hatred. Why not today?