Imagine this scenario: You’re thirteen years old. You’re going into a familiar building, about to enter your security code. And suddenly, a man jumps out, holds a gun to your head, and threatens to kill you if you don’t let him in.
The gunman who forced his way into the offices of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle on Friday afternoon put a gun to the head of a 13-year-old girl to gain entry to the building, police said this afternoon.
[…] The man then presumably drove to the federation building, where he hid behind a plant in the lobby for a short time. Kerlikowske said he waited for someone to come in to gain access into the office. When the 13-year-old girl walked up, he put a gun to her head and forced her to take him inside.
“She could not have kept him out,” Kerlikowske said. “She was a hostage.” The man carried two semi-automatic handguns and extra ammunition into the federation’s offices, the chief said.
“Once inside he immediately started firing at people.”
This was a planned, premeditated assault on Jews.
Witnesses say the gunman shot one receptionist, then ordered her to dial 911. He then took the phone from her.
“He told the police that it was a hostage situation and he wanted us to get our weapons out of Israel,” said one woman who works in the building and heard the account from the wounded co-worker.
There’s more:
When Haq got on the phone with 911 operators, he identified himself by name and said, “This is a hostage situation and I wanted these Jews to get out,” according to a statement of probable cause. He later added, “These are Jews and I’m tired of getting pushed around and our people getting pushed around by the situation in the Middle East.”
Pam Waechter, killed for the crime of being Jewish:
Martens, a long-time family friend of Waechter, said she was raised protestant in Minneapolis. Waechter converted to Judaism after marrying her ex-husband about 40 years ago, he said.
“That was one of the turning points in her life,” he said.
Martens described Waechter as a woman with a big heart.
“Pam had a heroic life of helping others,” he said. “She was always involved in community service.”
It’s Pam’s sense of humor that Martens remembers now.
“She had this great droll wit,” he said. “She was just a lovely, beautiful woman.”
So what exactly is the Jewish Federation?
“It is the Jewish version of the United Way,” said Rabbi Daniel Weiner of Temple De Hirsch Sinai in Seattle.
But it has the word “Jewish” in its title, and therefore, it became a target of an angry Muslim terrorist. Because terrorists do to Jews what they claim everyone else does to Muslims: The make us one, monolithic group responsible for everything the others do.
Yes, the Seattle community is gathering together to stand against terror like this.
And yet, another woman is dead. Her crime?
Existing.
You know, the arrest of Gibson and the murderous rampage in Seattle, seem to have one thing in common.
The supervisory officers of the LA county sheriff’s department seem to have done everything possible to suppress the record of Gibson’s tirade, and make it appear like a routine DUI arrest. It looks as though the arresting Deputy was the only person who told the full truth.
In the Seattle case, even the FBI was falling all over itself (prior to the completion of its investigation) to assert that this was definitely not a terrorist act.
Let’s try to create a common motto for both agencies. My suggestion would be, “Don’t make waves.”
The jackass is lucky that he didn’t get the crap beaten out of him. Jerk!
Double Yawp!
It absolutely WAS a terrorist act whether the authorities deem it one or not !! It was terror for those who endured it !
I had a moment of absolute panic when I first read about this, since my niece in Seattle works for a Jewish organization. Fortunately for us, at least, the first paragraph of the story I read mentioned the location and she works in another building.
But as Meryl points out, someone else was killed for being Jewish. I am curious to see whether or not the media downplays the Muslim connection and, as often, portrays this as sort of a natural tragedy, like a tornado.
Don’t look for any kind of justice from Seattle. They’re firmly on Hezbollah’s and Hamas’s side (and al Qaeda’s, though they’ll never admit it in public). All you have to do is read the letters to the editor sections in the Times and P-I to understand this. I left that rat-hole years ago and never looked back, and I’d suggest that any Jew living there get out while they can.