SWC Calls on FBI to Investigate Riots Targeting Pro-Israel Supporters

November 27, 2023

LOS ANGELES – The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is calling on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to investigate the growing number of riots targeting pro-Israel supporters.
 
This comes in the wake of a riot targeting a Jewish New York City teacher at Hillcrest High School in Queens who had to hide in an office while students stormed the school because she was pro-Israel. In Los Angeles, the home of the President of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), was targeted on Thanksgiving Day with protestors and smoke bombs.
 
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action at the SWC, issued the following statement:

“The threatening acts that took place in New York and California go beyond protests and target personal and professional space of Jewish citizens. Such actions go beyond bullying but threatening targeting historically associated with Stalinist Russia and Mao’s China. American Jews – proud supporters of our ally Israel – find themselves subject to purges on campuses and now smoke bombs thrown at their homes. The FBI must start investigating such attacks as acts of domestic terrorism.”

Rabbi Cooper indicated that the SWC will be submitting a formal request to the FBI this week.

For further information contact the Center’s Communications department at pressinquiries@wiesenthal.com, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed. Media can also contact James Lambert, Vice President at Rubenstein Public Relations, at jlambert@rubensteinpr.com or at 1-212-805-3024.
 
 
About the Simon Wiesenthal Center  
 
The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).

###