An FBI warning that Al Qaeda might attack Jewish targets with gasoline trucks ignited widespread concern in Los Angeles and fueled heightened security in Jewish communities nationwide this week.
The topic was terrorism. \”How underprepared are we in the U.S.?\” \”Very.\” That exchange, between an emergency care physician at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Dr. Jonathan Halevy, director of Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, was part of an ongoing effort in Los Angeles to change the answer.
Israelis attending the meeting later were quoted as backing the plan — as long as it is completed quickly.
A surge in violence this week cost more than two dozen Israelis their lives — and put Prime Minister Ariel Sharon\’s political life increasingly at peril.
After Aug. 10, 1999, when a white supremacist went on
a shooting spree at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills, Abraham J. Heschel Day School quickly beefed up security at its Northridge campus, installing a high-tech video scanner in the school parking lot and posting an armed guard at an entrance kiosk.
But the events of Sept. 11 have raised the bar yet higher in terms of campus security. Heschel director Shirley Levine has now hired an additional guard. And on all school-owned buses, the Heschel name has been replaced with cryptic initials \”AJH.\”
\”It is sad,\” says Joan Marks, principal of Heschel\’s elementary school. \”It just makes me sick.\”
Los Angeles\’ five Jewish members in the House of Representatives hold a number of important committee and subcommittee leadership roles integral to guiding the war on terror. The Jewish Journal went to the source to find out what Americans can expect, as security challenges at home and abroad add stress to our daily lives and our political relationship with Israel.
Israel\’s civilian and military authorities swung into full alert after the magnitude of the terror attacks against the United States became apparent.
In light of Tuesday\’s terrorist attacks, synagogues and other Jewish organizations scrambled to evaluate security precautions.
Many Jewish students are opting not to study abroad in Israel this year due to the tense security situation.
Another gut-wrenching week. With the murder of American Shoshana Greenbaum by a Palestinian suicide bomber, the violence in Israel turned even more tragic, if that is possible, and even more personal.
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