SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Members of Valley of the Sun J, a Jewish Community Center in Scottsdale, are still shocked over a pair of violent incidents against the Jewish-Israeli community in America over the last few weeks.
“I’m not even Jewish, but here I work, and I worry about being a target, so,” said Steve Hoys, a Scottsdale resident.
Almost two weeks ago, a gunman opened fire at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington D.C. Two Israeli embassy staffers were killed.
On Sunday, there was another attack in Boulder, Colorado, on a crowd calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. One of the victims was a Holocaust survivor.
“When I lived in Portland, I worked out at the Jewish Community Center up there and someone shot out the back window of my car, just as an act of violence,” said Hoys.
“I think we’ve really seen the normalization of the incitement of violence against Jews,” said Sarah Kader, the deputy director for the Anti-Defamation League Desert Region.
The ADL office for the desert southwest tells ABC15 their 2024 audit just came out, showing that while there was a slight decrease in overall incidents in the region, there was an increase in violent cases.
“We saw an increase in assaults and vandalism and a decrease in harassment,” said Kader.
That is pushing places like the Chabad of Scottsdale to post security at their entrances. The rabbi there told ABC15 off-camera they have had a guard for about two years now, but the recent violence is the worst he has seen in the U.S. He says his people are not afraid.
“Nobody gets to dictate where I work out or who I’m friends with,” said Hoys.
“Thankfully, it hasn’t occurred here in Arizona, but that doesn’t mean it can’t or it won’t, and we all need to be vigilant and we need the non-Jewish community to be speaking out and standing with us,” said Kader.
