Yemen mail bomb was addressed to gay Jewish congregation
”(The official) said, ‘I’ve got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that your congregation was not one (of the targets); the bad news is that Or Chadash was.”’
Michael Zedek, Rabbi for Emanuel Congregation which currently provides meeting space for Or Chadash, an LGBT Jewish congregation in Chicago, IL.
According to the Chicago Tribune, two mail bombs were recently intercepted in London and Dubai. Most reports say the packages originated in Yemen, a Middle Eastern nation located just south of Saudi Arabia.
The specific destinations have not been officially released, but it is reported that a source indicated one of the packages was meant for Or Chadash, possibly sent to the group’s old meeting place which is currently a Unitarian church. (Chicago Tribune)
The latest reports seem to think that the addresses (since they were out-of-date) were not important, because the bombs may have been meant to explode while on board the planes.
”We’re a very small congregation, and can’t believe our reputation reaches all the way to Yemen.”
Larry Edwards, the Rabbi for Or Chadash, a Jewish congregation which serves lesbian, gay, bi, and trans people in Chicago, IL. (NBC Chicago)
”It was unnerving, [but] we carried on as normal. We do always have security when we have congregational events, however last night Chicago police were in much, much higher visibility,” she said. “And we were on higher alert for people we don’t know or anyone who might be carrying backpacks, packages, that sort of thing.”
Lilli Kornblum, co-president of Or Chadash, speaking with CNN about the news that their gay Jewish congregation had been targeted by a terrorist bomb from Yemen. (CNN)
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