'This is not acceptable:' Attack at Temple Israel synagogue denounced by community leaders

FOX 2 - Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard and assorted religious leaders gathered Thursday to denounce the targeted attack on Temple Israel one week ago.

What they're saying:

"The community has come together to stand against hate however it rears it's ugly head," Bouchard said.

Ayman Mohamad Ghazali attacked the synagogue crashing his truck into the house of worship armed with a rifle on March 12. He eventually killed himself during a shoot-out with armed guards.

A security guard, Danny Phillips, was injured by the man's vehicle but everyone else was evacuated safely, including young children at daycare.

Rabbi Josh Bennett with Temple Israel thanked the response of his staff, security team and police. But he also echoed Bouchard's statement on the rise in antisemitism.

"We cannot mistake this moment of survival for true safety, because what happened last week at Temple Israel is not random," Bennett said. "It was not spontaneous, and it did not occur in a vacuum. This was the product of hatred that, as the sheriff said, has been allowed to grow in classrooms, in public discourse online until it became violence.

"This is not a statistic. These are our children. This is our congregation. This is our community."

Bouchard was flanked by various religious leaders in a show of unity against antisemitism. He said in his opinion, the hate has been normalized.

"You see kids at colleges being yelled at, bullied, and sometimes assaulted just because they are Jewish," he said. We need to stand up and say this is not acceptable."

The sheriff said that between 2020 and 2024 there was a 344% increase in targeted incidents against members of the Jewish community.

And of the reported targeted incidents due to religion, 70 percent were against Jewish people.

"Any hateful act against any religion is unacceptable," he added.

Bouchard shared an offensive internet meme of himself with a Jewish star on his forehead, which led to the arrest of a Wisconsin man.

"This person felt empowered and emboldened enough to put this picture of me up to try to threaten and intimidate me, which, of course, you didn't do, because I signed up for this," he said. "If this person is emboldened and empowered enough or feel safe enough to to do this for me, what does he do to a kid? What does he do to a Jewish family walking down the street? And that's because of the normalization of this."

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Imam Steve Mustapha Elturk Islamic Organization of North America spoke about condemning the incident, as well.

"In today's political climate, we are witnessing a disturbing surge in hate speech and hate crimes," he said. "As people of conscience, we must not lose hope or surrender to despair. Now more than ever, we are called to remain focused on unity, not division on love, not hate. We must be the light that pushes back against the darkness."

The imam added that the Koran teaches that all places "where God's name is remembered, deserves protection."

Rabbi Bennett spoke about the restoration phase of repairs underway at the synagogue, which suffered massive amounts of fire, smoke and water damage.

Earlier this week Vice President JD Vance visited a plant in Auburn Hills and spoke about the Temple Israel incident.

"All of us need to keep these folks in our prayers," he said. "Because when something happens to any member of our American family, and in this particular incident to Jewish members of our American family, it is something we all have to stand up and say it's disgusting, it's unacceptable and we're not going to tolerate it in the United States anymore."

What you can do:

A fundraising campaign is in the beginning stages for the repairs at THIS LINK.

Bennett said that Phillips is recuperating at home and doing well.