World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder warned that the attack Thursday at a synagogue and Jewish kindergarten just outside of Detroit, Michigan, was not an isolated incident but part of a broader wave of “acts of terror aimed squarely at Western and Judeo-Christian values.”
Lauder issued the warning in a statement reacting to the Detroit-area attack.
“If leaders don’t act quickly, democracy and society as we know it are at risk of total collapse,” Lauder warned.
The renowned Jewish leader and billionaire philanthropist noted that the synagogue attack came after Islamic State-inspired suspects threw explosive devices at a protest outside the New York City mayor’s residence over the weekend.
It also followed the targeting of three Canadian synagogues with gunfire in recent days, as well as the detonation of a bomb this past weekend outside a synagogue in Liège, Belgium.
“These are not random events,” stated Lauder. “They are acts of terror aimed squarely at Western and Judeo-Christian values. The rise of antisemitic acts targeting Jews is part of the same war on those values.”
“That no lives were lost in these attacks is nothing short of miraculous,” he continued. “But miracles and complacency will not keep our communities safe. Bondi Beach showed how deadly such attacks can be.”
Earlier today, an attacker armed with a rifle was killed after ramming his car into a synagogue and Jewish day school in West Bloomfield Township near Detroit. The facility houses an early childhood center and kindergarten with 140 students.
There were no reports of injuries other than the fatality of the attacker.
Jennifer Runyan, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office, said the agency considers the incident a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.”
The incident is the latest in a series of attacks targeting Jewish institutions in North America and Europe in recent days, heightening concerns among Jewish leaders that the violence could escalate into broader asymmetric attacks against Jewish and Western targets.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jklein@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
