16-year-old Aryeh Schupak, killed in a bombing attack at the entrance of Jerusalem, November 23, 2022.

Nov. 23, 2022

The Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas (JCRC), released the following statement:

“We stand in solidarity with the people of Israel who were targeted in cowardly terror bombings earlier today at two crowded Jerusalem bus stations. Though no terror group has claimed responsibility, Hamas, the terror organization which rules Gaza with an iron fist, praised these attacks. According to Israeli officials, these attacks appear to be the work of a sophisticated and coordinated terror cell and not a lone individual.

“A 16-year-old yeshiva student and Israeli Canadian citizen, Aryeh Schupak, was killed and 22 people were hurt in the two attacks, including one listed as critical and another three in serious-moderate condition. Media reports indicate that the devices were packed with nails to maximize casualties among the innocent civilians.

“As we stated just a few weeks ago ‘the people of Israel, including in our partnership communities of Rehovot and Sovev Kinneret, are our family. Their futures are inextricably linked to our own.’ Accordingly, these attacks are deeply personal for us. Though separated by an ocean and several time zones, we share their terror and grief, and draw hope from their resilience.

“We also take comfort in the solidarity expressed by Ariel Delouya, Consul General of Canada in Minneapolis, who in a message to the JCRC conveyed that ‘Canada strongly condemns the heinous terrorist attack in Jerusalem that claimed the life of a young Canadian and injured many others. Our hearts are with the victims’ family, friends, Jewish communities and those affected by this tragic attack. We stand with the people of Israel.’

“Much closer to Minnesota many of us also woke to the news of yet another mass shooting in the United States with the murder late last night of six people at a Chesapeake, Virginia Walmart at the hands of a shift manager. This was the third recent high-profile mass shooting in America following the killing of three students, Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr., and D’Sean Perry, at the University of Virginia last week and five people, Derrick Rump, Daniel Aston, Kelly Loving, Raymond Green Vance and Ashley Paugh, at a gay club in Colorado Springs, Colorado on Saturday.

“Whether simply waiting for a bus in Jerusalem, working the overnight shift to earn a living in Chesapeake, returning from a class trip in Charlottesville, or celebrating community with friends and family in Colorado Springs all people deserve the most basic of human rights to just go about their lives without the fear and threat of violence.

“May all of their memories be for a blessing, and we wish a speedy and full recovery for all those who have been injured in body and soul.”

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As the public affairs voice of the Jewish community, the JCRC fights antisemitism and prejudice, advocates for Israel, provides Holocaust education, promotes tolerance and social justice, and builds bridges across the Jewish and broader communities