called<\/a> into 16 institutions across the Northeast and South on Jan. 9, and hundreds of people were evacuated. All the alerts were false.<\/p>\nIn many cases Wednesday the callers were live, Goldenberg said, as opposed to the previous threat, when calls were recorded.<\/p>\n
Operations at the\u00a0Gordon JCC in Nashville returned to normal approximately an hour after a receptionist\u00a0received a call stating that there was a bomb in the building, said Mark Freedman, executive director at the Jewish Federation of Nashville and Middle Tennessee. The was delivered in\u00a0a woman\u2019s voice, but it was unclear whether the call\u00a0was live or recorded, he told JTA.<\/p>\n
Freedman said the community, which was targeted in last week\u2019s series of threats, would not be intimidated by the incidents, which he termed \u201ctelephone terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c[T]hese people, whoever they are, that are making these threats are trying to intimidate, create anxiety and fear, and we are going to do what we have to do to ensure the safety and security of our valued members and constituents, but we are not going to give in to what they are trying to create, which is to drive us away from our valued institutions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Freedman\u00a0added: \u201cClearly it\u2019s a pattern of intimidation, and it\u2019s likely to continue in the current atmosphere that we have in this country, where hate groups feel that they can come after good-standing members of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
This round of bomb threats is the latest incident in a recent wave of increased anti-Semitism in the U.S. The Anti-Defamation League documented rising anti-Semitic abuse on Twitter last year, as well as a spike in hate crimes following the presidential election. Elise Jarvis, associate director for communal security at the ADL, said she anticipates more incidents like this in the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese things often come in cycles,\u201d she told JTA Wednesday. \u201cAll these things, when you bring them together, it paints an intense picture.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jarvis said institutions need more training in how to deal with bomb threats, including which questions to ask the caller \u2014 where the bomb is, for example \u2014 and how to handle other threats like suspicious mail. If staff are aware of security procedures, she said, being prepared doesn\u2019t have to be costly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to be providing a lot more training, specifically on how to respond to bomb threats,\u201d Jarvis said. \u201cThe longer you can keep someone on the phone, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Secure Community Networks held a conference call later the same week with top FBI and Homeland Security officials for over a thousand callers from Jewish groups across the country.<\/p>\n
![\"Albany_JCC\"](\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Albany_JCC.jpg\")