Two US Senators are calling for Congress to invest $20 million in security for Jewish and other faith-based community centres, following recent terror threats.
Jewish community centres (JCCs) across the US have enhanced their security after bomb threats have spike against the faith community.
Two Senators are now calling for assistance for these JCCs, and other vulnerable faith groups, putting forward a bill that would grant $20 million to improve their security, RNS reports.
The funds would come through the Department of Homeland Security's grant programme, known as the Faith-Based Community Center Protection Act.
'This legislation would help ensure that community centers like the JCC's have the added protection they need and can focus on serving the community, while the FBI and our Justice Department track down those responsible,' Democrat Senator Martin Heinrich said in a statement. Heinrich co-filed the bill with Republican Senator Dean Heller on Monday.
Over 100 bomb threats have been reported at Jewish communities across the US since Jan 9. Most of these (77) were made to JCCs in various states across the country. The JCC association reported 21 bomb threats against day schools and JCCs on Monday.
So far no explosives have been found. Investigations by the FBI and Homeland Security are ongoing.
The funds are for community centres, not houses of worship such as synagogues, mosques or churches, though attacks on such buildings have also increased. At a Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia, 100 headstones were toppled, Police said on Sunday, following the vandalism of a Jewish cemetery in St Louis the week before.
Some Jewish groups have said the rise in violence and terror threats is a sign that anti-semitic groups have been empowered by the election of President Trump. Trump rose to power with the support of some prominent white supremacists, though he disavowed them.
On Monday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer addressed the rise in attacks, saying they contradicted America's founding principles.
'The president continues to condemn these and any other forms of anti-Semitic and hateful acts in the strongest terms,' he told reporters.
Additional reporting by Reuters
