J Street is alarmed by reports that more than 28 Jewish Community Centers around the United States have received bomb threats today, just nine days after a similar spate of threats targeting 16 JCCs. We are relieved that these specific threats have, as of now, not been followed by actual acts of violence.

While the origin of these threats remain unknown, they take place at a time of rising incidents of anti-Semitic and xenophobic hatred across the United States. Their aim is to create an atmosphere of fear and hate and to intimidate American Jews and to make us feel vulnerable in the institutions that form the heart of our local communities. We must respond with vigilance and resolve, and fight back against hate with a renewed commitment to acting on our values of tolerance, diversity and equality.

We must stand united with other vulnerable communities in order to make clear together that we will not allow hate and bigotry to become the new normal in our country. We must urge our elected leaders to do the same.