After the synagogue was taken hostage: “We will continue to look for motives”

The Texas hostage-taker probably wanted to free an imprisoned Islamist with his act in a synagogue. He was killed during the successful liberation operation – but many questions remain unanswered.

The day after the hostage-taking in a synagogue in Texas, the horror is great – and many questions are still unanswered. Ellen Smith of Colleyville, along with many other parishioners, had been watching the Shabbat celebration live on Facebook on Saturday morning until the page was taken down.

“It will surely happen again”

She watched as the hostage-taker took hold of the rabbi and three other people, apparently threatening and apologizing. Speaking on CNN, she said: “The shocking part is that it’s hit my community now. But it doesn’t surprise me that it’s hit a Jewish community. It’s terrible. But the number of anti-Semitic incidents is increasing, we Jews have always been persecuted – and it almost feels hopeless because it’s bound to happen again.”

The hostage-taker had the rabbi and two other community members in his power for a good ten hours. He had released another hostage during the afternoon. More than 200 police officers were involved in the operation – including a specialist negotiation team from the FBI that had been specially flown in.

Without her communication with the hostage-taker, things could have turned out badly, Dallas FBI chief Matthew DeSarno said at a late-night press conference.

Forces kill hostage-takers

At around 9 p.m., the emergency services stormed the synagogue and freed the hostages unharmed. The hostage-taker died. How exactly, the police did not want to reveal. Reporters at the scene had reported an explosion and several shots. The authorities have not said anything about the man’s identity either – only that they know it.

The investigators are currently assuming that the man acted alone and that there is therefore no acute increased danger for other Jewish institutions in the USA. The investigations are global; the FBI offices in Tel Aviv and London are also involved, according to FBI agent DeSarno. “After our contacts with the suspect, we believe he was focused on a specific issue and that it had nothing to do specifically with the Jewish community. But we will continue to look for motives.”

The hostage-taker probably wanted to free an Islamist

US media reported that the kidnapper wanted to free the convicted terrorist Aafia Siddiqui. The Pakistani is in a maximum security prison in Fort Worth, just 20 kilometers from the synagogue. She studied in the US, and in 2010 she was sentenced to 86 years in prison for attempted murder by US security forces.

Siddiqui, nicknamed “Lady Kaida”, is considered a martyr with special cult status among Islamists, according to Juliette Kayyem, former Secretary of Homeland Security and now a CNN contributor: “It has to do with her gender: She is one of the few women who not only are terrorists, but they were also arrested. And that’s how she became a martyr.”

As early as 2012, IS fighters are said to have tried to free Siddiqui by taking US journalist James Foley hostage in Syria and eventually beheading him. Siddiqui’s lawyer said on Saturday evening that her client had nothing to do with the hostage-taking in the synagogue and strongly condemned the act.

Political instrumentalization of fact

In a nightly statement, US President Joe Biden thanked for the successful liberation campaign and stated that he would continue to fight against anti-Semitism and extremism.

The Republicans are already trying to use the incident politically. Before the hostages were freed, Senator Lindsay Graham, a Trump aide, told Fox News, “Didn’t I say there’s a perfect storm brewing here? The rise of terrorism because the Taliban are back in power in Afghanistan. Al “Kaida does whatever it wants, ISIS is fine too. And our borders are broken. It’s only a matter of time before some terrorists come out here and kill Americans.”