A Riverside woman who bombarded the former executive director of Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue with phone calls and threatening voicemails — the first coming just months after the deadliest antisemitic attack on U.S. soil — has been sentenced to almost three years in prison, according to court documents.
Melanie Harris, 59, hurled antisemitic slurs, vowed violence, including beheadings, and used “vile and inflammatory language,” according to a Miami-based FBI agent.
Harris, who pleaded guilty in March, was sentenced by a Miami judge to 32 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for intentionally transmitting a threatening communication in interstate commerce. The Federal Bureau of Prisons will determine where Harris will serve her sentence.
A call and email to the attorney representing Harris were not returned.
Markenzy Lapointe, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, said Harris’ ”antisemitic threats terrorized a Jewish family.”
“Her hate-filled telephone calls and voicemails were abhorrent,” Lapointe said in a statement. “No one should live in fear of threats, harassment and hate-fueled violence.”
The calls began in February 2019, according to court documents — just months after Robert Bowers shot and killed 11 worshipers at the Pittsburgh synagogue on Oct. 27, 2018. Bowers, who has since been convicted and sentenced to death, espoused white supremacist views and ranted about his hatred of Jews online prior to the shooting.
Harris cloaked her identity using the *67 feature, which blocks caller identification, and left voicemails laden “with antisemitic and harassing language,” according to court documents.
She initially placed three calls in a span of three minutes, first to Tree of Life and then twice calling a person identified in court documents as Victim No. 1, the former executive director of Tree of Life who was then living in the Pittsburgh area.
Between February 2019 and March 2022, Harris called Victim No. 1 an additional 53 times, according to court records. An analysis presented in court demonstrated that Harris attempted 190 calls between October 2022 and February 2023, including 129 in November. Many of those calls, however, were unanswered or immediately hung up on, according to court documents.
All calls to Victim No. 1 were made from Harris’ Riverside home, authorities said.
Harris left 15 voicemails for Victim No. 1 on Oct. 3, 2022, including four threatening and antisemitic messages. In one, court documents say, Harris twice threatened to decapitate Victim No. 1’s stepchild, whom she referred to using an antisemitic slur, according to court documents.
That same day, Harris made three additional calls to Victim No. 1, all advocating similar violence against him and his family, according to court documents.
On Nov. 22, Harris threatened in another voicemail to stab Victim No. 1, according to court documents. There was an additional call and threat on Dec. 6.
In voicemails left at Tree of Life, she gloated about the shooting of Jewish grandmas, using a slur, according to court documents. Harris also lobbed antisemitic slurs at the adult child and stepchild of Victim No. 1 and his wife, court documents say.
Neither the victims nor Harris knew each other, court documents and prosecutors said. Harris was not believed to have any ties to Tree of Life.
Victim No. 1 and his wife eventually left Pennsylvania and moved to Broward County, Fla. Victim No. 1, however, did not change his cell number, wishing to keep ties with the Pittsburgh community, according to court documents.
Authorities say Harris also made references to Anne Frank’s death at the hands of the Nazis, and Jews being sent back to Auschwitz. In one call played in court, Harris repeatedly screamed, “Sieg Heil, [Jew] killers,” using a slur, before hanging up, according to court documents.
She was arrested on March 4, 2023.
“The nature of her threats of violence towards the victims and their faith were clearly meant to evoke a climate of fear and intimidation,” Jeffrey B. Veltri, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Miami field office, said in a statement. “Such conduct cannot be tolerated.”
Eilon Presman was about 100 feet from the UCLA Palestinian solidarity encampment when he heard the screams: “Zionist! Zionist!”
The 20-year-old junior, who is Israeli, realized the activists were pointing at him.
“Human chain!” they cried.
A line of protesters linked arms and marched toward him, Presman said, blocking him from accessing the heart of UCLA’s campus. Other activists, he said, unfurled kaffiyeh scarves to block his view of the camp.
“Every step back that I took, they took a step forward,” Presman said. “I was just forced to walk away.”
Pro-Palestinian activists demonstrate in UCLA’s Bruin Plaza after arrests were made at the Westwood campus Monday.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
It’s been a week since police swarmed the UCLA campus and tore down the pro-Palestinian camp, arresting more than 200 people. But the legacy of the encampment remains an issue of much debate, particularly among Jewish students, who make up nearly 8% of the university’s 32,000 undergraduates.
In the days leading up to April 30 — when pro-Israel counterprotesters attacked the camp with fists, bats and chemical spray, and police took hours to stop the violence — frustration had swelled among many Jews: Viralvideos showed activists restricting the passage of students they targeted as Zionists.
Some Jewish students said they felt intimidated as protesters scrawled graffiti — “Death 2 Zionism” and “Baby Killers” — on campus buildings and blocked access with wooden pallets, plywood, metal barricades and human walls.
The pro-Palestinian student movement includes various strains of activism, including calls for a cease-fire in Gaza, support for Hamas and demands that universities divest from firms doing business with Israel. But on campuses across the country, no word has become more charged than “Zionist.”
A pro-Israel activist peels a pro-Palestinian sticker off a sign on May 2 as a protest encampment was dispersed.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
In its most basic definition, a Zionist is somebody who believes that the Jewish people have a right to statehood in their ancestral homeland as a place of refuge from centuries of persecution — in other words, that Israel, established as a Jewish state in the wake of the Holocaust, has a right to exist.
Using that definition, the Anti-Defamation League considers anti-Zionism a form of antisemitism. But protesters — including many Jews — draw a sharp distinction, arguing that it is Zionism that fuels Israel’s right-wing government and the assault on Gaza that they say amounts to genocide against Palestinians.
Some of the Jewish students who took part in the encampment played a role in excluding Zionists.
Members of Jewish Voice for Peace at UCLA, a small but rapidly growing group on campus, argue they had a moral responsibility to pressure university officials to divest from Israel.
UCLA facilities employees clean up and dismantle the pro-Palestinian encampment on campus May 2.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
The camp and its checkpoints, they said, were not hostile to Jews. Restricting fellow students from entering was just a pragmatic move to protect protesters inside from physical, verbal or emotional abuse.
“We are committed to keeping each other safe,” said Agnes Lin, 22, a fourth-year art and art history student and member of Jewish Voice for Peace. Anyone who agreed to the UC Divest Coalition’s demands and community guidelines, she said, was welcome.
“What is not welcome is Zionism,” she added. “Or anyone who actively adheres to a very violent, genocidal political ideology that is actively endangering people in Gaza right now.”
In practice, students who supported the existence of Israel were kept out — even if they opposed Israel’s right-wing government and its bombardment of Gaza.
Senior Adam Thaw, 21, said activists blocked him and others from accessing a public walkway to Powell Library.
After telling him they were not letting anyone through, a male activist eyed his Star of David necklace: “If you’re here to espouse that this is antisemitism, then you can leave.”
Senior Adam Thaw is on UCLA’s student board of Hillel, the largest Jewish campus organization in the world.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
“Who are you to tell me where I can and cannot go?” said Thaw, who is on UCLA’s student board of Hillel, the largest Jewish campus organization in the world.
As complaints from Jewish students mounted, UCLA declared the encampment “unlawful.” In an April 30 statement, Chancellor Gene Block said most activists had been peaceful, but the tactics of some were “shocking and shameful.”
“Students on their way to class,” he said, “have been physically blocked from accessing parts of the campus.”
::
The campus was dark and hushed when Sabrina Ellis joined dozens of activists at 4 a.m. to set up the encampment on the lawn of Dickson Court.
After pitching tents and erecting barricades of wooden pallets and sheets of plywood, Ellis, a 21-year-old international student from Brazil, took shifts guarding the entrance.
Ellis didn’t call it a checkpoint. The goal was to exclude and physically block “agitators” — anyone who might be violent, record students or disagree with the cause.
“Our top priority isn’t people’s freedom of movement,” Ellis said. “It is keeping people in our encampments physically and emotionally safe.”
The longtime member of Jewish Voice for Peace — who wore a large Star of David over her T-shirt and a kaffiyeh wrapped around her shoulders — said the camp “was not profiling based on religion.”
But as activists blocked Zionist students from public campus space, they faced charges that they engaged in viewpoint discrimination.
Sabrina Ellis, a junior and a member of Jewish Voice for Peace at UCLA, was part of the pro-Palestinian encampment from the beginning.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Before allowing anyone in, Ellis said, a protester read the demands of the encampment, which included calling for UC and UCLA to divest all funds from companies “complicit in the Israeli occupation,” boycott all connections with Israeli universities, sever ties with the Los Angeles Police Department and demand a permanent cease-fire.
Then, activists ran through their safety guidelines: Ask before taking a photo or video; wear a mask to limit the spread of COVID; do not post identifying information or photos; and no engagement with counterprotesters.
If students didn’t agree, “we would just kindly tell them that they’re not allowed to come in,” Ellis said.
Some Jewish students were shaken by the experience, arriving at Hillel upset and even crying.
“They were genuinely going about their day and couldn’t get access as protesters asked them, ‘Are you a Zionist?’ or looked at their necklace,” said Daniel Gold, executive director of Hillel at UCLA.
::
For pro-Palestinian activists who are Jewish, the camp was a peaceful space to promote justice, a welcoming interfaith community with therapist-led processing circles and candlelit prayer services.
Blue tarps and blankets were put down in the middle of the lawn for Islamic prayers and a Passover Seder and a Shabbat service.
On the first evening, about 100 activists, many Jewish, sat in a circle to pray, sing, drink grape juice and eat matzo ball soup, matzo crackers and watermelon.
“It was really beautiful,” said Lin, the art major. “We were trying to hold these spaces to show that Judaism goes beyond Zionism.”
An encampment of pro-Palestinian demonstrators at UCLA’s Dickson Plaza on April 29.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Other Jewish students were more wary as they navigated the camp.
Presman, who moved to the U.S. when he was 12 and identifies as a Zionist, was alarmed when he scanned the quad on the first day. He saw signs saying “Israelis are native 2 HELL,” he said, and banners and graffiti showing inverted red triangles, a symbol used in Hamas propaganda videos to indicate a military target.
“Do people know what that means?” he wondered.
Tucking his Star of David under his T-shirt, Presman said, he entered and approached activists, introducing himself as an Israeli citizen.
“Maybe we can find common ground,” he said, asking, “one human being to the other?”
Some students put their hands up, he said, blocking him as they walked away. Others treated the conversation as a joke. One protester, he said, told him that everything Hamas did was justified.
Presman said he had one good conversation: An activist who identified as anti-Zionist admitted not being 100% educated on what Zionism was, but agreed that Israel should exist. They came to the conclusion the activist was a Zionist.
Pro-Palestinian encampment participants reinforce the camp barriers at UCLA on May 1.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
But most of Presman’s exchanges, he said, ended negatively when activists realized he was defending Zionism. He said he was called a “dirty Jew” and “white colonizer.”
Other students — even those who did not fully support the encampment — said they did not experience such slurs.
Rachel Burnett, a senior who described herself as a non-Zionist Jew, disagreed with the call for divestment and academic boycotts, especially of UCLA’s Nazarian Center, an educational center for the study of Israeli history, politics and culture.
Entering the camp after a classmate vouched for her, Burnett was disturbed by anti-Israeli signs and graffiti that named Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson for the military wing of Hamas. But she also bonded with protesters, including a woman in a hijab.
“Of course, some protesters deny Oct. 7 or condone violence as long as it can be put under the guise of decolonial resistance, which is obviously horrific,” Burnett said. “But that’s not the case of many students inside the encampment.”
Rachel Burnett, a senior who described herself as a non-Zionist Jew, disagreed with the call for divestment and academic boycotts, especially of UCLA’s Nazarian Center, an educational center for the study of Israeli history, politics and culture.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Burnett contrasted what she saw as a peaceful, friendly mood inside the camp with the pro-Israel counterprotests where people held up benign slogans, such as “Bring the Hostages Home,” but engaged in hostile behavior.
As counterprotesters converged for a Sunday rally, she said, a pro-Israel activist spat on her and told she should have been slaughtered in the kibbutzim on Oct. 7.
Just as some pro-Palestinian activists demonized all Zionists as evil and pro-genocide — ignoring the wide range of viewpoints within the Zionist community — Burnett thought some pro-Israel counterprotesters were dehumanizing student activists in the encampment and spreading a “mass hysteria narrative.”
As the encampment expanded — and organizers set up entrance points near Royce Hall and Powell Library — some Jewish students took videos that swiftly went viral.
“It’s time to go,” a protester wearing a yellow safety vest and kaffiyeh told a student in one video as he guarded an entrance near Powell Library. “You don’t have a wristband.”
Federal law enforcement is on alert for any potential threats to the U.S. Jewish community ahead of the start of the Passover holiday, FBI Director Christopher Wray told a group of nationwide security officials Wednesday.“We at the bureau remain particularly concerned that lone actors could target large gatherings, high profile events, or symbolic or religious locations for violence – particularly a concern, of course, as we look to the start of Passover on Monday evening,” Wray said.Speaking at an event hosted by the Secure Community Network, a Jewish community nonprofit safety and training organization, Wray said threats to the U.S. Jewish community had already been elevated before Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, but the number of FBI hate crime cases tripled in the wake of the incident.“Between Oct. 7 and Jan. 30 of this year, we opened over three times more anti-Jewish hate crime investigations than in the four months before Oct. 7,” said Wray, who noted raw statistics about investigations represent “very real threats to your institutions, to your houses of worship, to your schools and university organizations, and to the individuals in your communities simply for being who you are.”An Anti-Defamation League audit released Tuesday showed there was a dramatic upward trend of incidents after the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Between Oct. 7 and Dec. 31, there were 5,204 incidents, CNN reported earlier this week.The Jewish civil rights advocacy group tracked 8,873 antisemitic incidents in the United States in 2023 – the highest number of incidents reported since the organization began tracking data in 1979.In addition to homegrown violence and a surge in hoax threatsagainst Jewish facilities, Wray warned that the FBI was also observing a range of threats from abroad.“We’ve seen – since Oct. 7 – a rogues’ gallery of foreign terrorist organizations call for attacks against the United States and our allies,” said Wray, including calls by global terrorist groups “to target Jewish communities both in the United States and Europe.”In addressing Jewish community security officials, Wray also called out state-sponsored threats.“After the last few days, in particular, the threat posed by Iran itself is very real,” he said.Wray added that after Iran’s missile and drone attack on Israel last week in retaliation for a suspected Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic complex in Syria, “we are urging all of our partners here and around the world to stay vigilant” against any “potential threats that may emerge from Iran or its proxies both overseas and even here in the homeland.”CNN’s Jack Forrest and Nicole Chavez contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON —
Federal law enforcement is on alert for any potential threats to the U.S. Jewish community ahead of the start of the Passover holiday, FBI Director Christopher Wray told a group of nationwide security officials Wednesday.
“We at the bureau remain particularly concerned that lone actors could target large gatherings, high profile events, or symbolic or religious locations for violence – particularly a concern, of course, as we look to the start of Passover on Monday evening,” Wray said.
Speaking at an event hosted by the Secure Community Network, a Jewish community nonprofit safety and training organization, Wray said threats to the U.S. Jewish community had already been elevated before Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, but the number of FBI hate crime cases tripled in the wake of the incident.
“Between Oct. 7 and Jan. 30 of this year, we opened over three times more anti-Jewish hate crime investigations than in the four months before Oct. 7,” said Wray, who noted raw statistics about investigations represent “very real threats to your institutions, to your houses of worship, to your schools and university organizations, and to the individuals in your communities simply for being who you are.”
An Anti-Defamation League audit released Tuesday showed there was a dramatic upward trend of incidents after the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Between Oct. 7 and Dec. 31, there were 5,204 incidents, CNN reported earlier this week.
The Jewish civil rights advocacy group tracked 8,873 antisemitic incidents in the United States in 2023 – the highest number of incidents reported since the organization began tracking data in 1979.
In addition to homegrown violence and a surge in hoax threatsagainst Jewish facilities, Wray warned that the FBI was also observing a range of threats from abroad.
“We’ve seen – since Oct. 7 – a rogues’ gallery of foreign terrorist organizations call for attacks against the United States and our allies,” said Wray, including calls by global terrorist groups “to target Jewish communities both in the United States and Europe.”
In addressing Jewish community security officials, Wray also called out state-sponsored threats.
“After the last few days, in particular, the threat posed by Iran itself is very real,” he said.
Wray added that after Iran’s missile and drone attack on Israel last week in retaliation for a suspected Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic complex in Syria, “we are urging all of our partners here and around the world to stay vigilant” against any “potential threats that may emerge from Iran or its proxies both overseas and even here in the homeland.”
CNN’s Jack Forrest and Nicole Chavez contributed to this report.
Prominent Jewish leaders are free to continue calling Louis Farrakhan — leader of the Black nationalist organization the Nation of Islam — antisemitic, according to a New York court.
The Nation of Islam had sued the Anti-Defamation League and Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center for $4.8 billion, claiming the Jewish organizations had violated the Nation of Islam’s 1st Amendment rights by calling Farrakhan’s frequent unflattering comments about Jews “antisemitic.”
In recent years, Farrakhan has publicly likened Jews to termites, accused the “synagogue of Satan” of wrapping its tentacles around the U.S. government, and argued that the “pedophilia and sexual perversion” in Hollywood could be traced to “Jewish influence.”
In dismissing the case, Manhattan federal court Judge Denise Cote held that the claims of antisemitism were based on direct quotes by Farrakhan and that there was no evidence that being called antisemitic had harmed the Nation of Islam.
“We are grateful that the United States judicial system recognized and validated our First Amendment right to confront and speak out against anti-Semitism,” said the Wiesenthal Center’s Rabbi Abraham Cooper in a statement Monday. He called the lawsuit a “not-so-veiled attempt to silence” Jewish voices.
In a video address posted on the Nation of Islam’s website in the fall, Farrakhan argued that everything he had said about Jews “is absolutely the truth” and that the “vile” claims of antisemitism had cost him and other members of his organization jobs in the media and other business opportunities.
“And with their influence over the media,” Farrakhan added, “these false charges have been spread throughout the Earth.”
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WLS) — A man in Fort Wayne, Indiana, was arrested Tuesday for allegedly threatening to kill Jews and pro-Israel government officials.
Prosecutors and police say that Jeffrey Stevens told law enforcement officers that he had posted threats to the CIA website and in Facebook direct messages to the Fort Wayne Police department, targeting officials who expressed support for Israel after the October 7 attacks by Hamas.
“I am going to shoot every pro-Israel US government official in the head, and there is nothing you can do about it because you are the pathetic CIA,” Stevens said in a Nov. 17 post, according to ABC News. “I am going to kill all of you.”
Charging documents also include a message sent to FWPD in which he allegedly wrote, “I am going to kill every Jew in ft. Wayne, and there is nothing you can do about it, because you are stupid n*****s.”
According to his arrest affidavit, Stevens attempted to explain the posts away to police by saying he has a “drinking problem.”
In December, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco told ABC News the FBI has seen more than 1,800 reported threats and tips that were related to the Israel-Hamas war, and more than 100 criminal investigations had been opened as a result.
Stevens has not yet entered a plea in his case, and did not have an attorney listed for him as of Tuesday afternoon. The government asked he be kept in custody pending trial citing danger to the community and a flight risk.
Jewish activist groups organized a rally that shut down the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue on Wednesday, a move of civil disobedience as they advocated for a cease-fire in Gaza.
Protesters gather at De Longpre Park in Los Angeles on Wednesday before marching to Hollywood.
(Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)
Hundreds attended the protest, most of them wearing black. The Los Angeles Police Department said at about 5:30 p.m. that traffic was closed around the demonstration, with protesters sitting in the intersection.
Hollywood Boulevard was shut down between Orange Drive and Las Palmas Avenue, while Highland Avenue was closed from Franklin Place to Sunset Boulevard.
The rally was co-organized by the groups IfNotNow and Jewish Voices for Peace, both of which are urging a ceasefire in Gaza. Participants at the event were holding signs reading, “Jews say no to genocide,” and chanting, “Rain or shine, Free Palestine!” amid Wednesday’s rainstorm.
The event began in De Longpre Park in Los Angeles at 2:30 p.m., with participants gathering before marching to the intersection in the heart of Hollywood.
By 7:50 p.m., the protesters had cleared the intersection, and traffic had resumed. No arrests were made as a result of the event.
“The Demonstration was peaceful and participants have cleared the scene,” LAPD posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Thank you for your patience.”
Somber protesters in black gather Wednesday at De Longpre Park. Jewish activist groups organized the rally demanding a cease-fire in Gaza.
(Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)
Although the Hollywood protest proceeded without incident, a similar protest advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza that was happening concurrently outside the Democratic National Headquarters in Washington, D.C., did not. The Washington rally erupted into violence Wednesday night, with Capitol police tussling with and arresting participants. Members of both IfNotNow and Jewish Voices for Peace were reported to be among those in attendance.
The March for Israel brought more than 100,000 people to the nation’s capital in a show of solidarity for Israel and to call attention to the hostages that are still being held by Hamas. According to the New York Times, a host of U.S. lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, attended the march.
While the event was peaceful and garnered support from legislators of both major political parties, videos shared on social media show counter-protesters heckling rallygoers.
In the 31-second video, shared to X, formerly Twitter, by TENET Media, a counter-protester yells at children shortly after the march ends. In the profanity-laced clip, the protester taunts the kids, saying they’re “not the real Jews.”
“Counter protester walks around after the Americans March For Israel event concluded and yells at children ‘Sorry kids, you’re not the real Jews,’” TENET Media posted.
Thousands of people attend the March for Israel on the National Mall on November 14, 2023 in Washington, DC. The March for Israel was organized to free Israeli hostages and to counter rising incidents of antisemitism. Video shared on social media after the event shows an anti-Israel protester heckling kids. Roy Rochlin/WireImage/Getty
Newsweek reached out via email and social media on Tuesday to the march’s organizers for comment.
The video, the authenticity of which Newsweek was unable to independently verify, was first posted to X just after 3:40 p.m. EST. Newsweek reached out via TENET Media’s website for comment and additional information about the incident.
The March for Israel, organized by the Jewish Federations of North America, comes as tensions between supporters of Israel and supporters of Palestinians continue to brew in the U.S. as the Israel-Hamas war wages on.
Hamas launched a surprise attack on October 7, which was the deadliest Palestinian militant attack on Israel in history. Israel subsequently launched its heaviest-ever airstrikes on Gaza. According to Israeli officials, 1,400 people in Israel have been killed and at least 240 hostages have been taken back to Gaza as of Tuesday, the Associated Press reported, while more than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to officials from the health ministry in Gaza, the AP said.
Since the bloodshed began last month, people have taken to protesting the U.S.’s response to the unrest, provoking strong reactions and heated debate.
The violence in the Middle East has ignited widespread pro-Palestinian protests across the globe, which in some cases have spilled over into expressions of support for Hamas’ actions and overt antisemitic threats.
Samantha Woll, the Detroit synagogue leader who was killed on Saturday, was known as a “bridge builder” between Muslims and Jewish communities, according to her loved ones and local advocacy groups.
Woll, 40, the board president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue (IADS) since 2022, was found stabbed to death Saturday morning outside her home in Detroit’s Lafayette Park neighborhood, according to the Detroit Police Department and Michigan State Police (MSP).
“The Michigan State Police is on the ground and working with the Detroit Police Department as they continue to investigate the tragic death of Samantha Woll,” MSP Col. James F. Grady II said in a statement.
A motive for Woll’s slaying had not been determined at the time of publication. DPD Chief James E. White cautioned against drawing conclusions while urging people to be patient as the investigation continues, according to a statement by the department Saturday night.
The Detroit synagogue board president, 40-year-old Samantha Woll, was found stabbed to death on October 21 outside of her home, according to local authorities. Courtesy of Jewish Community Relations Council
Newsweek reached out via email and Facebook on Saturday to the DPD and the IADS for comment.
Woll was lauded for her professional accomplishments in the feature article “36 Under 36” by The Detroit Jewish News in 2017. The outlet noted that she had been “instrumental” in founding the Muslim-Jewish Forum of Detroit, which fosters positive relationships between those communities.
The “36 Under 36” feature said that the forum Woll co-founded has helped to “build and deepen” relationships that did not previously exist between the young Jewish and Muslim people in the area.
“By extending her hand and creating space for connection between Muslims and Jews, she has exemplified the values of healing the world,” The Detroit Jewish News wrote.
Newsweek reached out via Facebook to the Muslim-Jewish Forum of Detroit for comment.
Sam Dubin, a spokesperson for the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), told Newsweek on Saturday night that the advocacy group is “absolutely heartbroken” over Woll’s death and harkened her as “an incredible leader.”
Dubin said Woll, who was a JCRC member, was a “passionate Muslim-Jewish bridge builder.”
“We are grieving for her family and our community,” Dubin said. “She will forever be remembered as a ray of sunlight to all who knew her.”
Woll has led efforts to unite the two communities for years, including a 2015 event she hosted at Wayne State University to bring together “unconventional allies,” Woll told Detroit public radio station WDET. The public event was planned by the Greater Detroit Muslim Jewish Solidarity Counciland included artwork and essays from Muslim and Jewish high school students who participated in a program called “We Refuse to Be Enemies.”
During her role as board president of the IADS, a century-old institution that is the only free-standing synagogue in downtown Detroit, Woll recently led the renovation of the renovation of the historic building on Griswold Street.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, praised Woll’s efforts on the renovation and said that he was “devastated” by the loss of “one of Detroit’s great young leaders.”
“Just weeks ago, I shared a day of joy with Sam at the dedication of the newly renovated Downtown Synagogue,” he wrote. “It was a project she successfully led with great pride and enthusiasm.”
In a subsequent post, the mayor added: “Sam’s loss has left a huge hole in the Detroit community. This entire city joins with her family and friends in mourning her tragic death.”
Woll was also the co-chair of the American Jewish Committee’s ACCESS Detroit Young Leadership Program and a board member of the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan.
In addition to being active in the Jewish community, Woll also had political connections. She previously worked for U.S. Representative Elissa Slotkin and on the campaigns of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and State Representative Stephanie Chang, all Democrats.
Chang said in a Facebook post that Woll was a “beautiful friend.”
“Sam Woll was an endlessly positive, brilliant, creative, supportive, beautiful friend with a big heart and wonderful smile,” Chang said in the post, adding that Woll was “passionate about social justice, Detroit, her faith, and bringing people together.”
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Hey, remember when Donald Trump took to social media in October to unload on Jews, telling them to be more like evangelicals and start showing him some gratitude before it was “too late”? And how, just over a month later, he had dinner with one guy who’d been in the news for threatening to go “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE” and another who’d denied that the Holocaust had occurred? At the time, people were like, Wow, this is very antisemitic and extremely disturbing, because it was indeed both of those things. But the good news is that Trump has spent the last 10 months quietly reflecting on the inappropriateness of his words and actions, which have effectively given antisemites the greenlight to go after Jews. And he’s changed.
Just f–king with you, of course. Instead, on Sunday, Trump rang in Rosh Hashanah—i.e., the start of the Jewish High Holy Days—by attacking Jews. Specifically by posting on Truth Social: “Just a quick reminder for liberal Jews who voted to destroy America & Israel because you believed false narratives! Let’s hope you learned from your mistake & make better choices moving forward! Happy New Year!”
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Yes, nothing says Have a great holiday and I’m NOT a total bigot like treating a religious minority like they’re a monolith, telling them they’re idiots whose naivete led to the destruction of two countries, and speaking to them like small children who need to be told to “make better choices.” Oh, and why not toss in a good antisemitic trope about dual loyalty as the icing on the cake?
Of course, no one who has been paying literally any attention whatsoever over the past several years should be surprised by any of this, as Trump’s…let’s just call it “take” on the Jews has been well established for some time now. As a reminder, this is a guy who:
And no, the fact that Trump has Jewish grandchildren, as his allies like toremind people, doesn’t absolve him of any of this!
Over the weekend, former US president and current de facto leader of the the Republican Party Donald Trump logged onto the social media network he founded to unload on Jews, warning them that they’d better start showing him some gratitude “before it is too late.” Is that completely insane? Yes. Is it nevertheless exactly what he did? Also yes. Writing on Truth Social, Trump informed his followers: “No President has done more for Israel than I have. Somewhat surprisingly, however, our wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of this than the people of the Jewish faith, especially those living in the U.S. Those living in Israel, though, are a different story — Highest approval rating in the World, could easily be P.M.! U.S. Jews have to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel — Before it is too late!”
There is so, so much to unpack here, starting with the classic antisemitic dual-loyalty trope, which holds that American Jews who neither live in Israel nor are of Israeli descent should care more about what is going on there than in their own country. Because Trump thinks this, he cannot wrap his mind around the idea that Jewish people in the US aren’t falling all over themselves to support him, even when his 2016 election coincided with an uptick in antisemitism that he not only did nothing to stop but outright emboldened. Then there’s the pitting of apparently ungrateful Jewish people against the “wonderful“ and “appreciative” evangelical Christians. Trump’s post conveniently fails to include the uncomfortable fact that a number of evangelical Christians are singularly focused on Israel because they believe it will be the site of the Rapture, wherein Jews who have not converted to Christianity will go to hell. And last but certainly not least, there’s the disturbing threat that “US Jews have to get their act together…before it is too late.” What will happen after it’s too late? Trump doesn’t say.
Obviously, all of this is completely horrifying, not only because Trump has indicated he plans to run for a second term but because he presently retains an iron grip on the Republican Party, which doesn’t appear concerned in the slightest about his unambiguous attack on an entire ethnoreligious group—and one with an especially long history of being attacked by world leaders at that.
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Equally disturbing is the fact that Trump’s attack on Jews is not at all surprising, given that his record of antisemitic commentary, which did not let up during his time in office, could fill several volumes of books. For anyone who missed it, that commentary includes:
Tweeting Hillary Clinton’s face next to a Star of David and the words “Most Corrupt Candidate Ever”
Closing his 2016 campaign with an ad that included the images of three Jewish people—George Soros,Janet Yellen, and Lloyd Blankfein—while warning that a secretive “global power structure” is to blame for economic policies that have “robbed our working class“ and “stripped our country of its wealth”
Waiting to condemn the neo-Nazi violence in Charlottesville, Virginia and then saying there were “very fine people on both sides” of a white supremacist rally in which marchers carried Nazi signs and chanted things like “Jews will not replace us”
Oh, and in case the above examples are not overt enough for you, there’s also the time that—according to a book about Trump by Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Bender—the then US president told his chief of staff: “Hitler did a lot of good things.” And, after refusing to be disabused of this notion, had to be told: “You cannot ever say anything supportive of Adolf Hitler. You just can’t.” In 1990, Vanity Fair reported that Trump kept a copy of Hitler’s speeches next to his bed.
Jonathan Greenblatt, head of the Anti-Defamation League, called Trump‘s Truth Social rant “insulting and disgusting.“ On Twitter, the Jewish Democratic Council of America wrote: “His threat to Jewish Americans and his continued use of the antisemitic dual loyalty trope fuels hatred against Jews. We will not be threatened by Donald Trump and Jewish Americans will reject GOP bigotry this November.”
Responding to the weekend attack, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierresaid: “Donald Trump’s comments were antisemitic, as you all know, and insulting, both to Jews and our Israeli allies. Let’s be clear: For years now, Donald Trump has aligned with extremist and antisemitic figures. And it should be called out.”
Oh, and in case it needed to be said, having a Jewish daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren does not absolve Trump of any of this.
The American Muslim & Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council (AMMWEC) says the Beth Israel Synagogue Attack Is a Wake-Up Call for Addressing Antisemitism and Extremism.
Press Release –
Jan 20, 2022
WASHINGTON, January 20, 2022 (Newswire.com)
– AMMWEC President & Co-Founder Anila Ali issued the following statement on the Colleyville synagogue attack:
“We are relieved that the crisis at the synagogue ended with all hostages safe, and we are devastated that once again a Jewish house of worship has been attacked. Jews everywhere deserve to live in safety – and Muslim community leaders must step up to help ensure these attacks stop.
“We appreciate Jewish community leaders who have urged that the synagogue attack should not spark a counter-reaction of Islamophobia. The answer to hate is never hate.
“At the same time, silence is complicity – and we cannot stay silent about a climate of antisemitism tolerated by some Muslim leaders. Just as the Tree of Life Synagogue attack forced American society to confront far-right antisemitism, the Congregation Beth Israel attack requires an honest reckoning with demonization promoted by Islamist extremists.”
“We sadly do not need to look far for examples. Just weeks ago, Zahra Billoo, a leader of CAIR, used a speech at a Muslim community event to attack mainstream American Jews, saying:”
“We need to pay attention to the Zionist synagogues. We need to pay attention to the Hillel chapters on our campuses just because they’re your friend today doesn’t mean that they have your back when it comes to human rights. So, oppose the vehement fascists, but oppose the polite Zionists too. They are not your friends… I’m not going to sugarcoat that they are your enemies. There are organizations and infrastructures out there that are working to harm you. Make no mistake of it: they would sell you down the line if they could. And they very often do behind your back. I mean the Zionist organizations. I mean the foreign policy organizations who say they’re not Zionists but want a two-state solution.”
Ali added:
“Labeling mainstream Jews as ‘enemies’ exacerbates inter-communal strife and creates the conditions for violence. Muslim leaders must insist upon zero tolerance for antisemitism otherwise, we betray our moral and religious duties. The Jewish people are wonderful allies of Muslims. Shalom and Salaam!”
The American Muslim & Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council (AMMWEC) is a non-profit women’s rights organization empowering Muslim women to confront bigotry in all its forms, celebrate our faith’s beautiful heritage, and build strong bonds with fellow Americans of all backgrounds. As maternal pillars of the community, AMMWEC’s leaders uphold Islam’s core values of tolerance and personal responsibility.
PRESS INQUIRIES:
ANILA ALI
ANILA@AMMWEC.ORG
CELL: (202) 600-5186
Source: American Muslim & Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council (AMMWEC)
