Representatives of the Brooklyn Jewish community reacted with “grief and outrage” to the suspicious three-alarm blaze in the Brooklyn Heights section early yesterday morning that killed a 75-year-old woman and injured several other persons. The woman was identified today as Mae Holmes.
An anonymous telephone caller claiming to speak for the Jewish Defense League told local news media here yesterday that the JDL was responsible for the fire. The caller claimed the JDL “discovered” that the building housed the “secret headquarters” of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Another caller later told local news media he was a representative of the “Lohame Herut Israel,” or Freedom Fighters for Israel and claimed they were responsible.
The blaze started on the ground floor of the building at 160 Atlantic Avenue at Clinton Street in the Tripoli restaurant, an Arab-owned establishment specializing in Middle Eastern cuisine. It spread through the five-story structure to the apartment upstairs killing the victim on the fourth floor. The FBI terrorist task force is investigating the fire.
HOPE MUTUAL RESPECT WILL CONTINUE
The statement issued today by Brooklyn Jewish representatives said: “Jews of Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill and Park Slope have long cherished the peaceful co-existence of the Arab Jewish communities in this neighborhood… We have lived in a spirit of peace and mutual respect, which we hope will continue.” The statement was signed by representatives of the Kane Street Synagogue, Congregation Mount Sinai, the Brooklyn Heights Synagogue, the Park Slope Jewish Center and the Garfield Temple.
One signator of the statement, Rabbi David Glazer of the Brooklyn Heights Synagogue, said in a telephone interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the statement was released as on expression of “concern of neighbors toward each other.” He stressed that Jews in his area are “seeking a peaceful co-existence with their Arab neighbors.” He added: “We are not in Golan or in Negev.”
At the same time, the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of New York said in a statement released today that they were “appalled” by the “apparent act of arson” at the restaurant, adding that “our society has no place for terrorism of any kind.” They called for the swift prosecution to the full extent of the low the individuals or groups responsible for the act.
The JDL has denied emphatically that it was responsible for the fire. In a telephone interview with the JTA yesterday, JDL national chairman Meir Jolovitz said the fire “was not a JDL action nor was it “sanctioned by the JDL.” He said he knew nothing of the claim that the restaurant was a front for the headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization. No one could be reached at the offices of the JDL today.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
