{"id":56728,"date":"2017-04-05T11:34:32","date_gmt":"2017-04-05T16:34:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=56728"},"modified":"2017-04-05T11:47:27","modified_gmt":"2017-04-05T16:47:27","slug":"false-flags","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/false-flags\/","title":{"rendered":"Commentary: When the Bomb Threat Comes From Your Own"},"content":{"rendered":"

For many anxiety-filled weeks, Jewish institutions \u2013 schools, synagogues, and JCCs in particular \u2013 underwent heightened levels of attacks. The vandalism was disheartening enough but what really had people on edge were the bomb threats. Even without the presence of an actual bomb, the tension caused by such a call is overwhelming, to say nothing of the disruption to the affected institutions\u2019 work. With or without a bomb, it\u2019s an act of terror and it reached the point that Jewish institutions weren\u2019t wondering if<\/i> they would receive such a threat, they were wondering when<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then came the insult to injury as some suggested that the bomb threats were actually a \u201cfalse flag\u201d perpetrated either to garner sympathy for the Jewish community or to embarrass the political right. While false flag attacks certainly do occur, the conspiracy-theorist cry of \u201cFalse flag!\u201d is far more common than the real thing. For example, there are those who sincerely believe that 9\/11 was carried out by the US government (or by Israel), framing al-Qaeda for the act, despite the fact that al-Qaeda actually claimed credit for it. (bin Laden admitted being behind 9\/11 in an October, 2004 television appearance.)<\/span><\/p>\n

When journalist Juan Thompson was arrested for making some of those bomb threats in an attempt to frame his ex-girlfriend, it was certainly an act of misdirection (and a plot worthy of Scooby Doo<\/i>) but it was hardly a brilliantly-conceived political maneuver. But Thompson didn\u2019t make all of those calls.<\/span><\/p>\n

And then Israeli authorities arrested a 19-year-old Jewish male with dual Israeli-American citizenship for making bomb threats against schools and JCCs in the US, New Zealand and Australia, as well as for calling in bomb threats to two Delta flights at JFK in 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n

At this point, the Jewish community let out a collective sigh of exasperation and, in unison, recited a line from Seinfeld: \u201cThat\u2019s not going to be good for anybody.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n