Security is high around the world Friday after Palestinian and Hamas leaders called for a Day of Rage and jihad.
France banned Palestinian demonstrations today while Australia has apologized for allowing a Palestinian rally that called the world to “gas the Jews,” a reference to the nazi gas chambers that killed millions during the Holocaust.
On Friday morning, a Jewish employee of the Israeli Embassy in China was stabbed to death. Another stabbing took place in France.
Jewish schools, community centers and synagogues from California to London and Aukland closed for the day while American authorities increased security measures in major cities and at the U.S. Capitol.
Pro-Hamas protests are planned on U.S. college campuses for a third day. In New York and Boston, similar protests yesterday showed signs in support of Gaza and with some calling Israel the terrorists. This a week after thousands of Palestinian terrorists representing Hamas, flooded into southern Israel from Gaza. Gaza citizens elected Hamas as their goverment in 2005.
NEW: The scene at Columbia University in New York City where the school has been overrun by pro-Palestine protesters.
Just a few days ago, Hamas terrorists murdered innocent Israeli men, women and children.
In response to the barbaric attacks, college campuses have been overrun… pic.twitter.com/X7Y1WroMPn
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 12, 2023
The death toll in Israel now stands at 1,300 with about 1,250 of those being civilians. They included nursing home residents, entire families, and 260 young people at a peace concert. The most gruesome evidence of the attack were the discovery of forty dead babies, some found shot or beheaded in their cribs or burned alive.
Protesters at U.S. colleges on Thursday refused to ackolwdge the deaths, rape of women and beheadings as propaganda and fake news. Some Jewish students in Washington State confronted the protesters, below:
“How are you allowing this? They want us dead!”
Jewish students confront the University of Washington after student organizations held a pro-Hamas rally on campus. #HamasIsISIS pic.twitter.com/YPwikBEFD6
— Hananya Naftali (@HananyaNaftali) October 13, 2023
More than 150 hostages are thought to be held in Gaza, including Americans.Gaza residents posted videos to social media of jewish women being raped, children being attacked with sticks and Holocaust survivors paraded through the streets to the jeers of Palestinian residents.
The alarming call for a day of rage after all of this has led to law enforcement agencies around the world to bolster security to the highest levels seen in a decade. On Thursday, U.S. House and Senate security officials said security at the U.S. Capitol complex would be stepped up over the next few days, according to Axios. House Sergeant-at-Arms William McFarland reportedly cited the “day of rage” as the reason for the tightening.
For his part, President Joe Biden has been praised for his public support of Israel and repeating that Gaza’s government Hamas is a terrorist organization.
He met with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Thursday to discuss support for Jewish communities that may be at risk as a result of the terror attacks. He repeated the observation that Saturday’s death toll of Jews was the highest single-day loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust.
In addition, DHS convened a call with nearly 4,000 law enforcement officials while directing additional resources to 2,000 departments around the country.
“One of the things we made clear with our state and local partners … was just how volatile and unpredictable the threat environment might be,” stated a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official. “The ways in which the conflict overseas or the conflict in Israel could escalate or expand beyond its current phase and the ways in which that might create additional homeland security challenges for us here.”
–Dwight Widaman | Metro Voice
