The Palestinian Community Center in New Jersey said it was targeted by a man who made over two dozen phone calls attacking staff and threatening the facility.
The calls began shortly after Memorial Day weekend, with the caller addressing staff at the center as “terrorists,” according to Abire Sabbagh, the center’s community engagement coordinator.
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“(He was) saying that he’s going to give us a taste of our own medicine,” Sabbagh said.
“You’re a terrorist,” the caller said in one of the calls, according to recordings obtained by NBC New York. “You guys blow up buildings and stuff, I don’t know. Are you going to come over to my house and behead me?”
The caller also said he was nearby and threatened to bomb the facility, according to NorthJersey.com.
The calls followed a period of conflict between Israel and militants in Gaza, during which thousands of rockets were fired and hundreds of lives were lost. Since a ceasefire was announced in the region on May 21, the violence in Gaza has calmed.
The community center in New Jersey opened in 2014 and resides in Clifton, home to one of the largest concentrations of Palestinian-Americans in the country.
The prosecutor’s office in Passaic County, which houses Clifton, is investigating the calls as a hate crime, and a complaint was filed with the FBI.
“We will not tolerate any time of hate crime, any type (of) threat or intimidation. Every community, every ethnic group should feel safe in their community where they live,” Passaic County Sheriff Richard Berdnik said.
As of Thursday evening, no arrests have been made in connection to the calls.
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The Washington Examiner reached out to the Palestinian American Community Center and the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office.
