The alleged views of Omar Alkattoul, who was charged with threatening synagogues in New Jersey, were recently exposed in a complaint related to the incident.
By United with Israel Staff
A man named Omar Alkattoul was arrested on Thursday and charged with threatening synagogues in New Jersey, announced U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger at the end of the week.
Alkattoul was charged with “transmitting a threat in interstate and foreign commerce,” according to the criminal complaint.
That complaint recounted a number of the suspect’s statements, which were discovered in a document on his iPhone that law enforcement reviewed pursuant to a consensual search, including Alkattoul’s alleged admission, “I did target a synagogue for a really good reason according to myself and a lot of Muslims who have a brain.”
Alkattoul stated in the document, “This attack was just to remind the Jews that as long as 1 Muslim remains in this world they will never live a pleasant life until the Muslims in Palestine, Syria, West Africa, and South Asia are living a pleasant life.”
According to the complaint, “Other sections of the Document contained the following titles: ‘Why hatred towards Jews is a good thing even if they’re not Zionists’; ‘The right-wing ideology of the Jews’; ‘The term “anti-Semitic” and it’s true meaning’; and ‘The ‘Holocaust.’”
In a section titled “The ‘good’ Jews,” Alkattoul stated, “Good Jews do not exist unless if they convert to Islam. … I hate Jews based on their actions and their religion that justifies the actions they do.”
In another section of the document Alkattoul refers to a list of notorious arch-terrorsists responsible for the murders of thousands of innocent people as “heroes and lions,” including “Osama Bin Laden, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and Abu Bakr,” among others.
In the announcement that Alkattoul had been charged, Sellinger stated, “No one should be targeted for violence or with acts of hate because of how they worship. According to the complaint, this defendant used social media to send a manifesto containing a threat to attack a synagogue based on his hatred of Jews. Along with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners, we acted swiftly to respond to the alleged threat.”
Alkattoul told the authorities “he was angry with Jewish people because he’d been bullied in the past,” reported JNS.org.
“Upon receipt of threat information against an unspecified New Jersey area synagogue, the FBI notified community leaders and our law enforcement partners. We identified the source of the threat who no longer poses a danger to the community,” said a statement from the FBI’s Newark Field Office.
“While this specific threat may be mitigated, we know this remains a tense time for our Jewish communities who are facing a wave of anti-Semitic activity. We will not be indifferent. We will remain vigilant. We will take any and every threat with the utmost seriousness and we will stand up and stand shoulder to shoulder with our Jewish congregations,” said New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy in a statement.
Murphy added, “This threat violated one of the most fundamental tenets of our nation— the right to worship according to the dictates of our consciences and our sacred and holy traditions. We will always endeavor to ensure that every New Jerseyan of every faith may continue to live, study, and worship without fear for their safety.”