American Muslim Extremists: A Growing Threat to Jews

An increasing number of American Muslim extremists have been involved in terrorist plots and conspiracies in the U.S. in which Jews or Jewish institutions have been targeted or been considered for attack since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Many other American Muslim extremists arrested on a wide range of terror-related charges have expressed similar hatred of Jews and Israel.

The most recent example of this phenomenon is the American convert to Islam who shot two uniformed American soldiers - one of whom was killed - at a military recruiting center in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, who was arrested on June 1, 2009, had "political and religious motives," according to Little Rock police. He reportedly searched for information about Jewish institutions on the Internet and used the Google Maps application to investigate these institutions, as well as a Baptist church, a day-care center, a post office and military recruiting centers in several different cities. In an interview from prison the week following his arrest, Muhammad warned that “Muslims in this country and others elsewhere are going to attack [the U.S.] for doing those things they did,” which he alleges include desecrating the Qur’an and killing Muslims.

The deadly shooting in Arkansas came two weeks after four other Muslim converts, three American and one Haitian, allegedly plotted to attack synagogues in the Bronx and to shoot down airplanes at a military base in Newburgh, New York. The men began surveillance of several synagogues and a Jewish Community Center in the Bronx in April 2009. "These were people who were eager to bring death to Jews," Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Snyder said at a court hearing the day after the arrests.

The men reportedly converted to Islam while in prison, reminiscent of a similar plot to attack Jewish and military targets in Los Angeles in 2005. In fact, the Arkansas shooting and the Riverdale plot are the latest in a series of plots and conspiracies in the U.S. in which Jews or Jewish institutions have been targeted or been considered for attack since 9/11. Many other American Muslim extremists arrested on various terror-related charges have expressed similar hatred of Jews and Israel.

While foreign Muslim extremists motivated by hatred of Jews and Israel have targeted Jews in the U.S. for many years, an alarming number of post-9/11 plots and conspiracies have involved or been led by American Muslim extremists. Approximately 100 American Muslim extremists have been arrested on various terror-related charges since 9/11, ranging from bomb plots to providing material support to terrorists. More than half of them are U.S. born and about a third are converts to Islam.

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