Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 06 February 2024

These updates are shared to help raise the situational awareness of Faith-Based organizations to best defend against and mitigate the impacts from all-hazards threats including physical security, cybersecurity, and natural disasters.

Hamilton Jewish community spent $200K on security but members still afraid, says federation president

A Jewish group in Hamilton, Canada is asking police to provide protection services at no cost to the group, after spending over $200,000 to have off-duty police guard schools and synagogues since Oct. 7. The services have been required because of the fear community members have for their safety since the most recent conflict between Israel and Hamas began. The cost to pay for additional support is unsustainable, said Jason Waxman, president of the Hamilton Jewish Federation (HJF).

Javid Mirza, president of the Muslim Association of Hamilton (MAH), said police have increased patrols at the Mountain Mosque as well but the association will turn to community members if they need additional support. As CBC Hamilton recently reported, Hamilton police logged 26 hate crimes and incidents between Oct. 7, 2023 and Jan. 12, with 21 targeting the Jewish community and five targeting the Muslim community. Those include bomb threats, graffiti and threats. That number, over a three month period, is already half as many antisemitic occurrences and the same number of anti-Muslim occurrences as in all of 2022, when comparing police data. 

Analyst Comments:

Waxman said that the HJF raised almost $600,000 since Oct. 7 from within the community for other security measures including fencing, cameras, concrete fixtures to prevent car ramming, and bullet-proof vests for volunteer security. He told CBC Hamilton that although hiring private security would likely be cheaper than hiring off-duty police, security guards are not armed.

Organizations that are considering security enhancements to their facilities are encouraged to review the Physical Security Performance Goals for Faith-Based Communities which were developed by the FB-ISAO and CISA. For those who are not already involved in FB-ISAO’s Slack workspace, that is an excellent forum for sharing security best practices.

CAIR Calls for Hate Crime Charge in Stabbing Attack on Young Muslims After Pro-Palestine Protest

The Austin office, Dallas office and national headquarters of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, called on state and federal law enforcement authorities to file hate crime charges against Bert James Baker, the man accused of attacking a group of young Muslims after a pro-Palestinian protest, stabbing and seriously injuring a 23-year-old Palestinian-American.

Analyst Comments:

CAIR and local community leaders plan to hold a press conference about the incident today, Feb. 6 at 11:00 A.M. local time outside of City Hall in Austin, Texas. Three of the victims are Palestinian-Americans, including the 23 year-old who was stabbed. CAIR recently released new civil rights data showing that it has received 3,578 complaints during the last three months of 2023 amid an ongoing wave of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hate.

Spotting and Reporting Investment Scams Targeting Older Investors

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Alert to help identify if an older investor has been a victim of investment fraud, and to explain how to report it to appropriate authorities.

Analyst Comments:

It is important to spread awareness of these types of scams in order to protect aging members of our communities. According to the alert, indicators include:

• Guaranteed returns or promises of high returns with little or no risk;
• Repeated investments or repeated requests from the same person(s) for investments or money;
• High pressure sales tactics;
• The investor has little or no understanding of what he or she invested in;
• No paperwork or written details of the investment;
• Unusual or unexplained account withdrawals, wire transfers or other drastic investment changes; and
• Salespersons who are not properly licensed (you can check using the search tool at Investor.gov).