Age Old Hatred Of Jews Showed Up in Jackson, Mississippi In Burning Oldest Synagogue Down

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                      

This photo shows damage to the Beth Israel Congregation synagogue library from a fire that occurred hours earlier on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Jackson, Mississippi. Credit: Courtesy of Beth Israel Congregation.  This makes me sick.  Just recently I had to move into Assisted Living and had to give up some precious books of mine for the sake of needing more room.  I had them deposited in our synagogue.  Beth Israel probably also held some very special Jewish books now up in flames.                                   

Mississippi's oldest and Jackson's only synagogue was the object of an arson attack.  "A suspect was in custody and charged with arson and accused of setting the Saturday morning fire. It’s not the first time the Beth Israel house of worship has been attacked." 

                                           

          Beth Israel Synagogue in Portland, Oregon, also Reformed.  
 

Investigators have not yet determined a motive for the fire, which remains under investigation, but it comes amid a wave of antisemitic attacks in recent years.

I certainly would call this a hate crime.  Any time a synagogue is purposely set on fire, it's on purpose, especially when the culprit is caught on camera in action setting the fire.  What's to question, hem and haw about?  

The synagogue was burnt down to ashes in areas.  Do you think the congregation is happy about it?  Do you think, G-d forbid, that the congregants did it?                        

      Beth Israel Congregation in Portland, Oregon, founded in 1858.  

The Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Mississippi, founded in 1860, is the largest and only Jewish synagogue in the city. It is a Reform Jewish congregation that has played a significant role in both the local community and the American Civil Rights Movement.  

• Founding and Early Years: The congregation was organized in 1860 by Jewish immigrants, primarily of German background. In 1867, they built the first synagogue in Mississippi, a modest wood-frame schoolhouse that also served as a place of worship. After this building was destroyed by fire in 1874, a new brick structure was erected on the same site in 1875.
• Civil Rights Era and Bombings: During the 1960s, Beth Israel became known for its advocacy for civil rights and integration. This stance made the synagogue and its rabbi, Perry Nussbaum, targets of white supremacists. In September 1967, the Ku Klux Klan bombed the temple, causing extensive damage. Two months later, Rabbi Nussbaum's home was also bombed, though he and his wife were unharmed. These events galvanized some in the white community to realize that resistance to integration had gone too far.
• Recent Events: The synagogue, currently located at 5315 Old Canton Road, was recently damaged by an arson fire on January 10, 2026. Authorities arrested a suspect, and the incident is being investigated as a potential hate crime/domestic terrorism, adding to fears about rising antisemitism. 
• The congregation has received an outpouring of support from other faith communities in Jackson, with several churches offering their spaces for worship while the synagogue assesses the damage and plans to rebuild. The community remains committed to its mission of Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) and looks forward to continuing its long history in Jackson. 
• As of a 2021 report from the Institute of Southern Jewish Life (ISJL), Beth Israel Congregation, the city's only synagogue, had approximately 170 member households.
• The overall Jewish population in the state of Mississippi was estimated to be around 2,910 in 2024, with Jackson having the largest community. 
The Jewish population in Jackson and the rest of Mississippi has been steadily declining for decades as younger generations often leave for college and do not return to take over family businesses in the area.            
The Synagogue's security camera caught the person splashing a liquid inside before it caught fire.  The predawn fire Saturday reduced the Beth Israel Congregation’s library and administrative offices to charred ruins and left smoke damage throughout the building. The destruction occurred in the same part of the building that was damaged when Ku Klux Klan members bombed the temple in 1967 because of the rabbi’s outspoken support of civil rights. 

Local and federal law enforcement made an arrest Saturday night after the suspect was found at a Jackson hospital with burns that were not life-threatening, said Charles Felton, a chief investigator with the Jackson Fire Department.

The fire was reported shortly after 3 a.m. Saturday, and firefighters extinguished it before sunrise. No congregants or firefighters were injured.

Resource:

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/us/mississippi-synagogue-arson-attack-suspect.html

https://mississippitoday.org/2026/01/11/mississippi-synagogue-fire-security-video-liquid/

Hamas Terrorists Now Arsonists in Israel Attacks Besides Rockets, Mortars and Missiles

Nadene Goldfoot
                                                  

Fires in forests and brush, wherever they come from are dangerous business to any community.  People have to move out of their homes to escape these flames that move quickly.  They are likely to occur in the summertime most of all.  California and Oregon have been fighting such fires lately.  So has Israel, and theirs is 100% caused by Palestinian arson.  
                                                    

Palestinians load kites and balloons with flammable material in order to fly toward Israel, at the Israel-Gaza border in al-Bureij, central Gaza Strip, on June 14, 2018. (AFP Photo/ Mahmud Hams)

It's become one of the norms used by Hamas terrorists living in Gaza to attack  Israel.  They have been sending up balloons carrying fire-starting mechanisms that land in the farms and brush, which in turn bring out the man-power to stop the fires.  It's a destruction of future food and land.
                                              

Palestinian protesters watch as tear gas canisters fired by Israeli forces comes through black smoke of burning tires during a demonstration along the border fence east of Gaza City on September 14, 2018. (AFP PHOTO / SAID KHATIB)

As of today, August 14, 2020, Israel has had to hit Hamas sites after 100 arson balloons started fires in Israel.  Hamas again threatened Israel with “consequences”after claiming that two Gazan civilians were slightly hurt in the IDF’s fifth strike in a week. Combat helicopters and tanks Friday night struck Hamas’s naval compound, underground infrastructure and observation posts, after another day of arson and incendiary balloon attacks on Israeli farms and brush land – 100 in a week.

“The State of Israel won’t accept any violation of its sovereignty or harm to residents of the south,” Gantz wrote on Twitter. “If the terror organizations still don’t understand, whoever tests Israel will be hit hard.”

At least three brush fires were ignited in southern Israel on Thursday by balloons carrying incendiary devices that were launched from the Gaza Strip, the fire department said, sparking concern over a possible return of the phenomenon."

                                                

"Nearly 8,000 acres of land has been lost to Palestinian arson terrorism.  That was back in 2018.  Now, more land has to be added to that total.  "The number of incendiary kites and balloons being sent by Palestinians over the Gaza border and causing fires in Israel had fallen, enabling the Israel Nature and Parks Authority to begin assessing the ecological and financial damage to Israeli parks and nature reserves.
Authorities had also worked on a plan to minimize the damage if the arson terrorism campaign resumed.
                                                     

Palestinians setting fire to Israeli wheat fields with kites carrying fire

The four-month arson terrorism campaign, part of the campaign of border violence orchestrated by the Hamas terrorist group that rules the Gaza Strip, has resulted in appalling damage: Some 32,000 dunams (7,900 acres) of Israeli fields, parks and other lands had been reduced to ash in 2018.

                                               

The 2018 report found that 12,086 dunams (2,987 acres) of national parks and nature reserves, 9,873 dunams (2,440 acres) of JNF-owned land, 4,237 dunams (1,047 acres) of agricultural fields and 6,085 dunams (1,504 acres) of open land have been burned. Since the arson terrorism began, 14% of all nature reserves in the region bordering the Gaza Strip have been lost to fire.

The worst-hit areas are the Be'eri Crater Nature Reserve, 78% of which has been burned, and the Kurkar Niram Nature Reserve, 77% of which has been burned. Fifty percent of the Karmiya Nature Reserve, 30% of the Reches Gvaram Reserve, 27% of Nahal Grar Park, and 21% of the Besor Nature Reserve have also been lost to the fires.                 

File: Israeli firefighters extinguish a fire in a wheat field caused by kites flown by Palestinian protesters, near the border with the Gaza Strip, May 30, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The parks authority is concerned that invasive plant species could replace local plants and cause more damage. Workers are taking care to root out invasive species, and next spring, after the winter rains, the authorities plan to inspect the damaged areas for any changes to the plant life.

The fires have annihilated wildlife as well as flora. The bee-eater birds indigenous to the Besor Reserve are gone, their nests having been lost, and Be'eri's wild turtle population has suffered a critical blow".                                          

By December 19, 2019, Israel announced that they had a light blade laser that might finally answer Gaa's burning kites and fire balloons.  "The “light blade” system is world’s first with the ability to knock down kites and balloons, the Israeli police say." It can also take down armed drones – a threat coming mainly from Iranian-sponsored militias in the north.

Called “Light Blade,” it is a laser system that looks much like a miniature Iron Dome, the anti-missile defense system that protects Israel from short-range rocket attack. It tracks the suspicious airborne object, locks onto it, and blasts it with a unique laser beam. If it is a balloon loaded with flammable material, it will explode. If it is a drone, its motor will be burned out and it will crash.  “The system provides an almost complete response to the threat of balloons and kites and provides an effective and safe solution to the drone threat,” Shabtai told the network.

Arson balloons flown from the Gaza Strip have caused millions of dollars of ecological damage in the south, burning thousands of acres of cropland and forests."

Update: 2/16/2020:   Two IDF Gaza strikes happened when Hamas added rocket fire to balloons.  An israeli man was injured.

Update 8/17/2020: United with Israel:  The IDF hit Hamas posts in the Gaza Strip in response to rockets and a wave of airborne arson attacks.

By TPS

IDF tanks on Sunday night shelled Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in response to dozens of arson balloon attacks on southern Israel earlier in the day.

The IDF stated that it hit Hamas observation posts in the strip.

This was the sixth IDF strike in the Strip in recent days that was carried out in response to the arson balloon attacks.
 

Resource:

https://www.debka.com/mivzak/idf-hits-hamas-sites-after-100-arson-balloons-start-fires-in-israel     /

https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/california-fire-map/        https://www.israelhayom.com/2018/09/12/nearly-8000-acres-of-land-lost-to-palestinian-arson-terrorism-report-finds/

https://www.timesofisrael.com/more-than-7000-acres-scorched-in-gaza-arson-attacks-authorities-say/

https://worldisraelnews.com/israels-light-blade-laser-may-finally-answer-gazas-burning-kites-and-fire-balloons/

https://www.timesofisrael.com/blazing-kites-from-gaza-set-fire-to-israeli-wheat-fields/

https://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinian-fire-kites-spark-huge-blaze-in-israeli-fields-along-gaza-border/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-strikes-hamas-site-in-gaza-after-arson-balloons-spark-fires-in-south/