400 Percent Increase In Anti-Semitic Incidents, Including 1 In OKC

An Oklahoma City temple was the latest target of a swatting incident, as conflict continues in Israel and Gaza. Monday morning, Temple B'nai Israel received an email claiming there were bombs placed inside, but after a thorough investigation, police found nothing.

Related Article: All Clear Given After Threat Sent To Jewish Temple In Oklahoma City

“Right now with the environment, everybody was being extra safe,” said Mark Ephraim, president of Temple B'nai Israel.

The temple canceled classes and temporarily shut its doors while police searched the entire building this morning. Oklahoma City police implemented their K9 unit and drones to sweep the inside and outside of the temple and found no trace of any bombs. “The temple received an email, (somebody) claimed to have left bombs at the temple,” said Ephraim. “Over an abundance of caution, we call the Oklahoma City Police Department.”

Ephraim said police responded very quickly, and were on the scene searching for about an hour and a half.

While it ended up being a hoax, it still caught the attention of local jewish organizations who wanted to do what they could to help. “My initial reaction was crisis management. What steps do I need to take? How can I help Temple B'nai Israel,” said Rachel Johnson, the executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Oklahoma City.

Johnson says over the last two months, there has been a dramatic increase of antisemitism nationwide, and worldwide. “Anytime there is conflict in Israel, anti-semitism does rise elsewhere. It's a trend we’ve always seen so again we were prepared,” said Johnson.

The Anti-defamation League, an international Jewish organization, says they’ve seen an almost 400% increase in antisemitic incidents since last year. ADL recorded a total of 312 antisemitic incidents between Oct. 7-23 of this year, 190 of which were directly linked to the war in Israel and Gaza.

https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/adl-records-dramatic-increase-us-antisemitic-incidents-following-oct-7 

“But the Jewish people have always been targeted for decades, hundreds of years,” said Johnson.

Johnson says she tries to remember not to let the fear win. “I heard someone once say, and it resonated with me, that there are more good people in this world than bad. it's just the bad people sometimes have a louder voice than the good. Always remember that there are more good people, we just have to band together and let our light shine through the dark times,” said Johnson. 

“You just kind of control what you can control and move on and that's what we're doing,” said Ephraim. 

Police say these emails can be difficult to trace because they can come from anybody, anywhere, but they are working to investigate.