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Mosque Arsonist Shared Pro-Israel Propaganda

islamic_center_of_fort_pierce_fire

via. Electronic Intifada

The man accused of setting fire to the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce in Florida a week ago is an ardent supporter of Israel who labeled all forms of Islam as “radical.”

Joseph Michael Schreiber, a 32-year-old messianic Jew, was arrested at his home in St. Lucie, Florida, on Wednesday and charged with arson and a hate crime. Police say he confessed after his arrest.

His attack is part of a spate of anti-Muslim hate crimes since the start of the current US election season.

The mosque he set ablaze has been regularly attended by the father of Orlando nightclub gunman Omar Mateen and the crime was committed on 11 September, which marked the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

The attack was also the night before the Islamic center was due to hold a community celebration for Eid al-Adha.

Extensive damage

An affidavit by the St. Lucie County Police Department describes Schreiber as “a habitual felony offender,” meaning that if convicted he could face up to life in prison due to Florida’s mandatory sentencing laws.

The affidavit also notes that Schreiber’s Facebook page was littered with “anti-Islamic postings,” “posts related to pro-Israel propaganda” and “negative propaganda related to Muslims.”

Police estimate damage to the Islamic center in excess of $100,000. As of Friday, the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce reported it had received more than $30,000 in donations from well-wishers to help it repair the extensive damage.

A hate crime enhancement was added to the charges after police discovered the social media posts.

Media outlets were quick to publicize Schreiber’s anti-Muslim postings, but few mentioned his promotion of pro-Israel propaganda or his admiration for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, two great champions of the anti-Muslim far right.

Schreiber’s postings showed he turned to Islamophobic hate sites, official Israeli sources and Israel lobby groups for information.

According to Schreiber’s Facebook page, he is also a fan of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, IDF Women, the Israeli American Council of Florida and the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America.

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    • Thanks JSB! Unfortunately I find the article flawed in regard to the mass shooting statistics. The PBS article he linked to contains a dead link where it ought to link to shootingtracker dot com (it says, “No input file specified”). Even after finding the correct page, it fails to resolve an important point. The fears of Americans are spurred on by the fact that, while extremist “Muslim” attacks account for a comparatively small number of incidents and victims overall, attacks by those perpetrators tend to result in a larger number of fatalities per occurrence compared to the vast majority of incidents. The superior firepower and marksmanship tragically displayed by the takfiri Kharijite scum is itself an element which provokes the fears of my countrymen, and I find myself unhappily unable to propose any considerations which might address that specific factor in order to help allay those fears. Don’t get me wrong, I believe it’s a good piece overall, but that small bit gets caught in my teeth.

    • mindy1

      There is good supporting of Israel, and then there is this :/ one can support the Jewish state without being an ass.

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