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For the fourth time in seven weeks, Jewish Community Centers across the country have been the target of bomb threats.
The latest wave of terrorizing phone calls temporarily closed 11 JCCs Monday, the JCC Association of North America said. The other threats were called in on Jan. 9, 18 and 31.
A total of 69 bomb threats have been called into 54 JCCs in 27 states and one Canadian province in the first two months of 2017.
The Sidney Albert Albany JCC was the mark of two hoax threats on Jan. 18 and 31.
“While we are relieved that all such threats have proven to be hoaxes…, we are concerned about the anti-Semitism behind these threats and the repetition of threats intended to interfere with day-to-day life,” David Posner, the director of strategic performance at the national association who advises local JCCs on security policies and practices, said Tuesday in a news release.
Although the pattern suggests the new threats will also be hoaxes, community centers must treat them as real until proven otherwise — forcing JCCs to suspend normal operation for hours while police sweep their campuses with bomb-sniffing dogs.
“We can’t let people who want to create fear rule our lives,” the Albany JCC’s Executive Director, Adam Chaskin, said after the first threat by a live caller.
Staff members, visitors and more than 200 children from the nursery school were evacuated immediately, he said.
The Albany JCC serves thousands of families and the Whitehall Road facility houses a senior center, gym and nursery school.
Dozens of parents arrived to pick up young children off site after receiving news of the threats. On Jan. 31, a 2-year-old boy innocently caught snowflakes on his tongue as his shaken parents heralded him to the car.
“We’re distressed,” his father, who asked not to be identified, said. “It’s a sudden change in environment.”
Posner said JCCs across the country are operating again with heightened security and the national organization is working with FBI investigators.
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