South Florida Repulsed By Terror Attack In Jerusalem
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- After Palestinian terrorists slaughtered four rabbis and wounded six other people at a Jerusalem synagogue Tuesday, South Florida reacted with revulsion, fear and loathing.
At the Israeli consulate in downtown Miami, security was extremely heavy. Marked police units were parked in front of the building. There was a bomb sniffing dog. Before a CBS4 news crew was permitted to enter, they first had to text copies of their drivers licenses to consulate security.
Rabbi Menachem Nissel is from the area where the attacked happened and was close friends with the four rabbi's killed.
"First denial, then tears," he told CBS4's Cynthia Demos. "Seeing pics of blood and prayer shawls. I'm still in a state of denial."
Nissel is visiting South Florida, but his wife was back home in Har Nof in Jerusalem - an ultra orthodox community made up primarily of Americans. Their home is just a two minute walk away from the synagogue that was under attack.
"I could hear sirens on the phone and my wife is in a state of panic," said Nissel.
Click here to watch Cynthia Demos' report.
"This was a heinous terrorist attack," said Consul General Mazal Saidiyan. He vowed that retribution would be broad.
"If we just use punishment against the terrorists themselves, instead of the entire organization that supplies them, we won't be able to stop him, because he doesn't care," Saidiyan said. "From his perspective, he's going to heaven."
Saidiyan said the militant group Hamas and the Palestinian Liberation Organization have used "lies and myths in order to whip up a frenzy" among Palestinians in Jerusalem, including false claims that Israel intends to seize land sacred to the Palestinians.
At Talmudic University on Miami Beach, rabbinical student Daniel Bahn remembered Rabbi Moshe Twersky, one of three Americans murdered in the attack. Bahn studied under Twersky in Jerusalem for two years.
"He guided me. He taught me how to learn," Bahn said. "He was really one of the most exceptional people I knew, very humble very self-effacing, very studious."
At the Holocaust Memorial on Miami Beach, Linda Strauch said the attack in Jerusalem leaves her with a feeling of helplessness.
"I think it's without rationale and I don't know how to control that," Strauch said.
Demos spoke with the head of the Jewish Federation who said, "When a crime like this happens, certainly out of hatred, we feel more vulnerable."
Rabbi Akiva Zweig at Talmudic University said he worries for his daughter, son-in-law and grandchild who live in Israel, adding that he's concerned for others, also.
"I also worry about America. When people start doing crazy things, if that becomes acceptable, it becomes acceptable everywhere," Zweig said.
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