PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Sunday marks the one-year anniversary of the Colleyville Synagogue hostage crisis. The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia is now displaying two artifacts from that crisis, which saw every hostage survive.
On Jan. 15, 2022, Malik Faisal Akram, pretending to be homeless, showed up at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, near Dallas and Fort Worth.
“The rabbi welcomed him in, gave him tea and offered a safe haven,” said Josh Perelman, chief curator and director of exhibitions and interpretation at the museum. “He took four members of the synagogue community hostage and held them for 11 hours.”
One person was released after six hours. The other three, though handcuffed, escaped.
Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker threw a chair at Akram, distracting him to free the other hostages. The FBI hostage rescue team came into the synagogue, and Akram was killed.
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“In our collection is the teacup that Rabbi Charlie offered the visitor when he arrived at the synagogue and the chair that Rabbi Charlie threw at that visitor once he had become an attacker and enabled all of the hostages to escape,” said Perelman.
“Interestingly, we had to wait for the FBI to clear the artifacts, but now they are on view at the museum every day, reminding us of the challenges we face in our society, and also reminding us of everyday heroes.”
Anti-Defamation League Regional Director Andrew Goretsky points to the significance of the hostage taker’s motivations.
“This particular assailant believed a specific antisemitic trope of Jewish power of government, which is a false belief,” said Goretsky.
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The anniversary of this hostage situation comes as the ADL released a new survey on antisemitic attitudes in America, showing the highest belief in conspiracy theories in three decades.
“Our survey found that 20% of Americans believe in six or more antisemitic conspiracy theories demonstrating extensive antisemitic prejudice, and putting them in our category of being deeply infected with antisemitic hatred,” he said. The same survey said that 85% in the U.S. believe at least one anti-Jewish trope, compared to 61% in 2019.
“We see how this can escalate, and that [hostage crisis] was a clear example of that.”
A more violent escalation of such hatred came in 2018 in Pittsburgh, when 11 people were shot and killed at the Tree of Life Synagogue. Robert Bowers, the accused gunman, faces trial in July. He allegedly made several references to killing Jews.
“It's a reminder of the tremendous rise in antisemitism, bigotry, and hate in our society,” Perelman added, “and the violence that is creating.”