Police outside a JCC that received a bomb threat. Photo: Michael Lieberman via Twitter.

JNS.org – At least 21 Jewish community centers (JCCs) and Jewish day schools received bomb threats Monday, in what has become a common method of targeting the American Jewish community in recent months.

The JCC Association of North America said that 13 of the institutions were JCCs and eight were Jewish day schools, located in Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia.

“All affected institutions have been declared clear and have returned to regular operations,” the JCC Association said.

David Posner, the director of strategic performance at the JCC Association, said that leaders must speak out and condemn the bomb threats.

“Antisemitism of this nature should not and must not be allowed to endure in our communities. The Justice Department, Homeland Security, the FBI, and the White House, alongside Congress and local officials, must speak out — and speak out forcefully — against this scourge of antisemitism impacting communities across the country,” he said.

The White House yesterday condemned both the latest round of bomb threats and the recent toppling of headstones at a Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia.

“The president continues to be deeply disappointed and concerned by the reports of further vandalism at Jewish cemeteries,” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said. “The cowardly destruction in Philadelphia this weekend comes on top of similar accounts from Missouri and threats made to Jewish community centers around the country.”

“The president continues to condemn these and any other form of antisemitic and hateful acts in the strongest terms,” he continued, adding that “no one in America should feel afraid to follow the religion of their choosing freely and openly.”

Since the beginning of the year, there have been five waves of JCC bomb threats, totaling 90 incidents at 73 locations in 30 states and one Canadian province, the JCC Association said.