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Gunfire at Synagogues and Bombings at Jewish Schools: We Must Not Retreat
FBI agents work on the site after the Michigan State Police reported an active shooting incident at the Temple Israel Synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan, US, March 12, 2026. Photo: Rebecca Cook via Reuters Connect
On the night of Purim, gunfire struck Temple Emanu-El in Toronto. Families had gathered to celebrate one of the most joyful nights in the Jewish calendar. Children wear costumes on Purim. The Megillah is read aloud. The story of survival is retold with laughter and noise. This year, the sound that reached the synagogue walls was different. Bullets struck the building. No one was injured, but the meaning of the moment was unmistakable.
The attack happened during a holiday that commemorates an ancient attempt to destroy the Jewish people. The story of Purim describes a decree calling for the extermination of Jews in the Persian empire. The ending is remembered as a victory of survival and courage. Jews have celebrated that memory for centuries. It reminds them that Jewish history has often required vigilance alongside celebration.
The gunfire in Toronto belongs to that same long narrative. It also reflects a reality that many Jewish communities are now confronting across North America and Europe. Synagogues are no longer viewed solely as places of prayer. They have become targets. Security guards stand outside buildings that once left their doors open. Cameras watch entrances that once welcomed anyone who wished to enter.
Recent attacks include the assault on a synagogue in Michigan — where security prevented the loss of so many innocents — and the bombing of a Jewish school in Amsterdam. And these are only a fraction of the attacks we are seeing.
These changes did not arrive overnight. They emerged slowly as incidents accumulated. Vandalism became more common. Threats increased. Demonstrations near Jewish institutions sometimes turned hostile. Communities adapted because they had to. Responsible leaders took steps to protect congregants and children. Security training replaced assumptions of safety.
In my work teaching personal safety and threat awareness to Jewish communities in New York, I see a pattern that security professionals understand well. Violence rarely appears without warning. It develops through signals that people either recognize or ignore. Communities that train themselves to observe early indicators of danger develop a very different mindset. The conversation moves from fear to preparation. Many families have begun discussing how to recognize early signs long before a situation becomes violent.
Adaptation has consequences beyond physical protection. When protective measures become routine, they shape expectations. A generation of Jewish children is growing up understanding that their synagogue may require guards and barriers. They see adults discussing security plans before holidays. They learn early that Jewish spaces can attract hostility.
Parents struggle with what that reality means for their children. Every family wants to raise confident and proud young people. At the same time parents carry a responsibility to protect them. Those responsibilities sometimes collide. A parent may quietly suggest removing a Star of David necklace before entering a crowded public place. Another may encourage a child to avoid drawing attention to Jewish identity outside familiar environments.
The intention behind those conversations is safety. The lesson that children absorb is more complicated. Identity becomes something that must be measured against risk. Visibility becomes a calculation.
Jewish communities have encountered this dilemma before. In many countries during the 20th century Jewish institutions tried to blend into their surroundings. Buildings were designed to appear anonymous from the outside. Public celebrations were kept small and quiet. These strategies were understandable responses to hostility. They also carried a hidden cost. A community that minimizes its own presence begins to internalize the idea that its existence is controversial.
The deeper question raised by the recent attacks is therefore larger than a few incidents. What does it mean for Jewish identity when celebration takes place under visible threat?
Purim is meant to be loud and joyful. Children shake noisemakers during the reading of the Megillah to drown out the name of Haman, the villain of the story. The holiday invites laughter and participation. When a synagogue is targeted during that celebration, the message being sent is meant to interrupt that spirit. Violence directed at Jewish institutions seeks to narrow the space in which Jewish life can exist comfortably in public.
From a security perspective, intimidation works only when it quietly reshapes behavior. That is why attacks on places of worship carry symbolic weight. They are meant to change how people gather, how they celebrate, and how visible they are willing to be.
The responsibility for confronting that intimidation does not fall on Jewish communities alone. Democratic societies depend on the ability of religious groups to gather freely. When a synagogue becomes a target, the principle being challenged is the freedom of a minority to live visibly and confidently within the broader society.
Political leaders often express support for Jewish communities after incidents occur. Words matter, yet words alone cannot shape the culture in which these incidents take place. A society communicates its values through consistency. Hatred directed at Jews must be treated with the same seriousness that any other form of bigotry receives. When condemnation becomes selective, trust erodes.
Jewish communities also face an internal decision about how they will respond. Fear can lead to retreat. Retreat may offer temporary comfort, yet it quietly reshapes identity over time.
Another response is possible. Communities can acknowledge danger without allowing it to define their future. Preparation and awareness can strengthen confidence rather than diminish it. Schools, synagogues, and community centers increasingly understand that training and preparedness save lives. In many cities, institutions now conduct active shooter training because the first minutes of a crisis often determine whether people escape safely.
Purim itself carries that lesson. The holiday remembers a time when Jews faced an existential threat and responded with courage and unity. The story has endured for centuries because it speaks to a recurring experience. Jewish life has often continued under pressure that might have erased weaker communities.
A community that continues to celebrate its traditions openly sends a message of its own. Jewish life will not be reduced to silence or caution. Holidays will still be celebrated. Synagogues will still gather families and children.
The story of Purim ends with survival. Each year Jews retell it as a reminder that history does not belong only to those who threaten violence. It also belongs to those who refuse to surrender their place in the world.
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Tsahi Shemesh is an Israeli-American IDF veteran and the founder of Krav Maga Experts in NYC. A father and educator, he writes about Jewish identity, resilience, moral courage, and the ethics of strength in a time of rising antisemitism.
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No Hate Crime Charges Yet Filed After 3 Suspects Arrested in Brutal California Assaults of Israeli-Americans
Screenshot from video circulated on social media showing three unknown attackers punch two Israeli-Americans in San Jose, California on March 8, 2026.
California prosecutors have charged three men with felonies and misdemeanors after an attack on two Israeli-Americans overhead speaking Hebrew outside a San Jose restaurant.
The district attorney of Santa Clara County released a statement on Monday, announcing that “Bruneil Henry Chamaki, 32, of Morgan Hill, along with Roma Akoyans, 20, and Ramon Akoyans, 18, of San Jose, self-surrendered today to the San Jose Police Department.”
Video which widely circulated online last week showed three alleged assailants punching Lior Zeevi, 47, and Daniel Levy, 48, leaving the men with injuries which required hospitalization. District Attorney Jeff Rosen said “we won’t tolerate pummeling a victim on the ground in front of a restaurant or anywhere, and we will hold the perpetrators fully accountable.”
Prosecutors have not yet filed hate crime charges against Chamaki—who works as a lawyer—and the Akoyans brothers noting in the release that “these charges do not reflect allegations of a hate crime at this time. However, this remains an active investigation. The DA’s Office is working closely with SJPD to review all new information. We encourage anyone with knowledge about this crime to contact the San Jose Police Department.”
According to the police report, before the assault outside Augustine restaurant on Santana Row began, one of the attackers yelled “f— Jews.” As the three men ran away toward the Valley Fair mall after the beating, a witness heard one of them say “don’t f— with Iran,” according to the police report. The witness told police that he thought the suspects were Persian because he was Persian too.
The arresting officers named the offenses in the police report as “simple assault” and “violate civil rights by force/threat of force.”
Chamaki worked as a lawyer for Murphy Austin Adams Schoenfeld LLP until January. The firm confirmed the separation and released a statement to Fox KTVU saying “the conduct described in the reports is deeply troubling. Murphy Austin condemns antisemitism, violence, and acts of hatred in any form.” The police report lists the Akoyans as living in San Jose and Roma as a student at West Valley College. The Santa Clara county court scheduled an arraignment for the three suspects on May 12.
The invocation of Iran during the assaults against Levy and Zeevi places the crime as another example of violence targeting Jewish individuals and institutions in response to the US-Israeli attacks against the leadership of the Islamic regime in Iran which resulted in the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Feb. 28.
On Saturday, two individuals detonated a bomb outside a Jewish school in Amsterdam, causing minor damage. An Islamist terror group claimed responsibility, as well as for recent strikes on synagogues in Rotterdam and Liege. On Monday, the Netherlands announced the arrest of four unnamed teenagers—aged 19, 18 and 17—suspected of involvement with the Rotterdam attacks. Dutch prosecutors said the crime sought to instill “serious fear in a population group, in this case the Jewish community.”
On Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces revealed that the brother of Ayman Mohamad Ghazali—the man who committed a terrorist attack on Thursday against the Temple Israel synagogue in Michign—served as a Hezbollah commander who died the previous week in an Israeli airstrike.
Ghazali had rammed his pickup truck through the building’s doors and drove through a hallway, the vehicle loaded with fireworks, before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound during a shootout with police, failing in his mission to murder Jews.
On March 1, Ndiaga Diagne, 53, allegedly fired rounds from an AR-15 rifle at people outside Buford’s bar in Austin, Texas, resulting in three deaths and 16 injuries. Investigators say that he wore a sweatshirt that proclaimed him as “Property of Allah” and that a t-shirt underneath featured an Iranian flag design. In addition, when searching Diagne’s home, they found an Iranian flag and photos of Iranian leaders.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force has labeled the mass shooting as a “potential act of terrorism” with Acting Special Agent in Charge Alex Doran warning that it was too early to name the motive in spite of the available evidence.
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Joe Kent, Trump official with white supremacist ties, resigns over Iran war and blames Israel
Joe Kent, director of the federal National Counterterrorism Center, resigned Tuesday in a letter to President Donald Trump that claimed Israeli officials had used lies to convince Trump to start the current United States-Israel war against Iran.
Some administration officials, notably Secretary of State Marco Rubio, had previously asserted that Israel compelled the U.S. to strike Iran; Rubio later tempered those claims. But Kent, a controversial figure who has repeatedly engaged with white supremacists and neo-Nazis, made more sweeping — and unproven — assertions in his letter, which Kent posted to social media, declaring the president of a victim of an Israeli “misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your America First platform and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran.”
He further claimed Israel had used similar lies “to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war” which he called “manufactured by Israel” without pointing to any evidence. Israeli officials expressed support for striking Sadaam Hussein at the time, but then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon also reportedly warned President George W. Bush not to occupy the country.
Kent’s departure may be a sign that the isolationist wing of the conservative movement — associated with antisemitic influencers like Candace Owens and Nick Fuentes — may be losing influence with the White House. Despite repeated fulminations against the war by isolationists inside and outside of the administration, Trump has shown little sign of recalibrating his approach to the Iran war and recently proposed a possible military incursion in Cuba.
The White House issued a scathing response to Kent’s claim in his resignation letter, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stating, “the absurd allegation that President Trump made this decision based on the influence of others, even foreign countries, is both insulting and laughable.”
It remains to be seen if Kent’s resignation will trigger a wave of departures from within the administration. Congressional Republicans have largely stayed aligned with the president. And Trump himself has moved between suggesting the conflict could end “very soon” and insisting that the United States has not yet achieved “ultimate victory.”
Tulsi Gabbard, who was Kent’s boss in her role as director of national intelligence, once sold campaign merchandise with the slogan “No War With Iran” but has reportedly remained largely silent during the current war while being sidelined within the administration.
Vice President JD Vance, closely aligned with the party’s isolationist wing, reportedly expressed private objections about the Iran war but appears to have been overruled and has yet to publicly voice that view in public.
Meanwhile, Rubio, a longtime foreign policy hawk, has emerged a key advisor to Trump, who has privately surveyed insider opinion about Rubio emerging as heir in 2028.
Kent’s nomination to lead a top counterterrorism agency was contentious from the start. A retired Green Beret and former CIA officer, Kent had twice run unsuccessfully for a House seat in Washington state. In his first bid, Kent was interviewed by a neo-Nazi YouTuber and also met with Fuentes, who has denied the Holocaust. Kent later disavowed Fuentes.
Amy Spitalnick, chief of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, cautioned liberal opponents of the Iran war not to welcome Kent as an ally. “He’s an extremist with deep ties ot Nazi sympathizers and Holocaust deniers who never should have been in this role in the first place,” Spitalnick said in a statement. “Of course, Kent’s own post announcing his resignation is riddled with antisemitic tropes under the guise of blaming Israel.”
Trump, who nominated Kent to his post in the administration and previously supported him, sought to cut bait in comments to reporters in the Oval Office Tuesday afternoon.
“I always thought he was weak on security — very weak on security,” Trump said. “It’s a good thing that he’s out.
The post Joe Kent, Trump official with white supremacist ties, resigns over Iran war and blames Israel appeared first on The Forward.
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Dueling letters from Jewish groups dispute prevalence of antisemitism at UCLA
More than 100 Jewish faculty and staff at the University of California, Los Angeles published a letter Monday disputing the Trump administration’s claim in a federal lawsuit against the university that the school has fostered a hostile climate for its Jewish employees.
Following an investigation launched just weeks after Trump’s inauguration, the U.S. Department of Justice filed the case last month, arguing that “UCLA failed to live up to its systemwide commitment to diversity and equal opportunity when it stood by as Jewish employees were subjected to harassment.”
But signatories to the letter dispute this characterization and say that the lawsuit mischaracterizes pro-Palestinian speech and activism as expressions of antisemitism that would justify a federal civil rights case.
“A ‘hostile work environment’ under Title VII is one where we are being harassed so severely or pervasively as to alter our conditions of employment,” the letter states. “It would be legally unprecedented for a court to rule that any category of faculty and staff faces such a hostile work environment primarily on the basis of student speech.”
The lawsuit and letter come on the heels of reporting by ProPublica, the Chronicle of Higher Education and the Los Angeles Times that described deep apprehension among career lawyers within the Department of Justice over the Trump administration’s investigations into the University of California system and its legal claims against UCLA.
Several government lawyers told the publications that the White House directed them to find evidence that UCLA and other campuses in the statewide system had allowed antisemitic discrimination to take place, rather than conducting open-ended investigations to determine whether any legal violations had occurred.
Not all Jewish faculty at UCLA have opposed the lawsuit, and the members of UCLA’s antisemitism task force — which had been critical of the school’s handling of antisemitism claims in its 2024 report — did not sign the open letter.
UCLA was the site of some of the most dramatic scenes and allegations during the Gaza solidarity encampment movement in the spring of 2024. Pro-Israel groups claimed that pro-Palestinian protesters had banned Jewish students from central areas on campus, pointing to bans on “Zionists” entering areas around the encampment. Some members of the local Jewish community subsequently attacked the encampment with pepper spray, fireworks and sticks in one of the most violent incidents of its kind.
The Jewish Faculty Resilience Group at UCLA told the Los Angeles Times that they were not opposed to claims made by the Trump administration: “The DOJ lawsuit reflects the experiences reported by Jewish faculty who described serious harassment, exclusion, and retaliation based on their Jewish identities,” the group said.
The lawsuit focuses on similar allegations as previous federal claims against the school, including that it allowed Jewish faculty and staff to be barred from certain areas of campus by student protesters.
The open letter was signed by 132 Jewish faculty and staff at the university. It is not clear how many faculty are represented by the resilience group, or how many total Jewish employees work at UCLA.
The post Dueling letters from Jewish groups dispute prevalence of antisemitism at UCLA appeared first on The Forward.