Tuesday’s attack at a kosher supermarket in Jersey City, New Jersey is, as of Wednesday, officially being treated as an anti-Semitic hate crime, after investigators ruled out original claims that the shooting attack on the Jewish store was random.
The shooters, who opened fire on a kosher supermarket Tuesday afternoon, killed four people, including three Jews and a police officer, in the attack and subsequent shootout.
Two attackers, David Anderson and Francine Graham, were killed by police but a third suspect is reportedly still at large.
Anderson had in the past been affiliated with Black Hebrew Israelites who believe themselves to be the true Children of Israel.
It’s undeniable that violent anti-Semitic attacks have been on the rise in the United States. It’s gotten so bad that it’s being reported in the general US media. Not counting the Zionism-related fights on college campuses, there have been almost weekly stories of anti-Jewish attacks in New York (the largest US Jewish community).
In Tuesday’s case, this isn’t just a hate crime but also a triple murder. Do our people really have a future in the United States or is this place no different from pretty much any other foreign land we’ve wandered through? How many years do we really think we have left here? What would a wise exit strategy look like? What policies should we adopt for safety and deterrence in the meantime?
US Jews should discuss these questions and organize somehow. Otherwise it’s just monotonous posts on screens, a few families in tears, and the standard “don’t rock the boat” advice from the Jewish establishment leadership.
While the Jewish left and right may disagree over what constitutes anti-Semitism in the US or what groups it primarily stems from, both have felt a steep upsurge in often violent anti-Semitism over the past few years. Such an historic moment demands from us national consciousness and solidarity.
