As I am sure most of you know, there was a rather dramatic hostage situation at a synagogue in Texas this weekend.

When the reports were initially given, the FBI stated that it did not believe the attack was “specifically related to the Jewish community.”

Of course, as more information became available, some people did not believe that to be the case.

Jewish leaders are now livid that the FBI was being politically correct when they were, in fact, being targeted.

Bad Guess

As the day unfolded, it was reported that the hostage-taker was a supporter of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist who was sentenced to 86 years in prison in 2010.

After the situation was resolved, an FBI agent stated that “the Texas synagogue hostage taker’s demands were specifically focused on issues not connected to the Jewish community.”

Kenneth Marcus, the founder and chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and former assistant U.S. secretary of education for civil rights, was among those in disbelief at the statement made by the FBI, saying flat-out, “the FBI got it wrong.”

In his eyes, this was blatant anti-Semitism.

He stated, “Failure of the FBI to understand this is something of a pattern with law enforcement in the United States and frankly in Europe.

“It seems that time after time, we see law enforcement officials fail to understand when an antisemitic incident occurs, even when it’s entirely obvious, and sometimes the results of that are tragic.

“This time, fortunately, they have not been.

“If the law enforcement community doesn’t understand what’s going on, they’re not going to be able to address the fallout from this.

“This was not a mere slip-up. It is symptomatic of a widespread failure with law enforcement to understand the problems of antisemitism and anti-Zionism.”

Roz Rothstein, co-founder and CEO of StandWithUs, agreed, stating, “Trying to separate Jews from the idea that JEWS were targeted on their holy day at their house of worship, is a mistake and it is insulting and disappointing.

“It is also dangerous to downplay an attack against Jewish people as being something else at a time of rising anti-Jewish bigotry that we should all be paying attention to.

“It makes no sense to try and separate Saturday’s hostage crisis from the people who suffered and who were the most impacted: Jews, their Jewish families and the Jewish world.”

The FBI was clearly listening, issuing a statement late Sunday that read, “All of us at the FBI are relieved the hostage situation in Colleyville, Texas, was resolved without physical injury to those taken hostage.

“We never lose sight of the threat extremists pose to the Jewish community and to other religious, racial, and ethnic groups.

“We have had a close and enduring relationship with the Jewish community for many years.

“We continue to work tirelessly with the Secure Community Network, the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Federation, and others to protect members of the Jewish community from all potential threats.”

The statement continued, “This is a terrorism-related matter, in which the Jewish community was targeted, and is being investigated by the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

“Preventing acts of terrorism and violence is the number one priority of the FBI.”

That is a pretty big “oops” on the part of the FBI with the initial statement.

It also comes at a time when the FBI simply cannot afford more negative headlines.

Rothstein added, “The man looked for a synagogue near the airport, had the rabbi contact another rabbi in New York that he felt could move the meter on the release of Aafia Siddiqui, there were antisemitic slurs during his rant as well as by Siddiqui during her trial.

“There must be no question that he targeted Jews.”

Did the FBI really screw this up with its initial statement?

Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.

Source: Fox News