1 year later, JCC shootings spark increase in activism

LOS ANGELES — August 10, 1999. It was a day that will never be forgotten. One man was killed. Five people — including three children — were badly injured. Six innocent human beings became targets of a gutless killer’s hatred, and when that happened, an entire community was shaken to its core.

What a long, strange trip it’s been since the shooting at the North Valley Jewish Community Center and the murder of mail carrier Joseph Ileto on a Tuesday morning one year ago.

For weeks, even months, people spoke of little else. Rallies were held, security companies consulted, parents prayed for their own and other’s children. Congregations hosted speakers on hate crimes and Angelenos crossed religious and racial boundaries to mobilize for peace.

Hate-crime legislation was drafted — then languished in committee — while in May, hundreds of thousands of moms marched in Washington for gun control in the hope that they could keep weapons out of the hands of gunmen intent on wreaking mayhem in their cities and towns.

For many of the key figures closest to the events of last August, the decision has been to focus on the future.

Some, like North Valley JCC receptionist Isabelle Shalometh, who was wounded in the shooting, declined to be interviewed. Others, like Michele Schipper, the JCC’s director, can speak about the incident in a professional capacity but are reluctant to share their personal feelings.

“What I can say is, we’re still here, I’m still here. I’m still a part of this place and doing the kind of work I really love,” she said. “It was certainly a tragic incident but we’ve continued to move forward. That’s what we’re all about.”

Schipper said enrollment at the JCC’s camp actually increased by 10 percent this summer.

“About 90 percent of the camp staff returned, which is amazing when you think of the options out there for college and high school students,” she said. “But they wanted to maintain the continuity they had when they were campers here.”

Schipper confirmed that two of the three wounded children, Joshua Stepakoff and James Zidell, returned to camp this year. Counselor Mindy Finkelstein, who was shot in the leg by alleged gunman Buford Furrow and will testify against him at his upcoming trial, is “around but chose not to return as a counselor,” the director said.

As for Shalometh, she will retire this month after more than 25 years with the Jewish Community Centers. “Isabelle was such a trooper,” Schipper said. “She came to visit several times before her wounds had even healed and then was back at her post. She had just been a tower of strength for the families.”

Meanwhile, the case against Furrow, 38, is still slowly winding its way through the legal system. The decision to seek the death penalty, approved by U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, brought into play numerous legal moves by the prosecution and defense, which automatically delayed the beginning of the trial. Originally set to start on Nov. 14, the trial date was postponed to Feb. 6.

A white supremacist and member of the Aryan Nations, Furrow turned himself in to the FBI office in Las Vegas the day after the shooting rampage and allegedly told agents that his attack on the Jewish center was “a wake-up call to Americans to kill Jews.”

Marking the one-year anniversary of the incident, the North Valley JCC will hold a private ceremony tomorrow to thank the people who supported the center in the aftermath of the shooting.

Some community relationships, sadly, did not last. Rabbi Steven Tucker of Temple Ramat Zion in Northridge acknowledges that a much hoped-for alliance between the Jewish Community Center and local synagogues faded away in the months following the incident.

The sudden interest in security issues also proved less intense as the day of the shooting receded, said Aaron Levinson, director of the San Fernando Valley office of the Anti-Defamation League.

“We had security seminars within a week of the shooting that were standing room only, but a couple of months later the ADL planned one with a top-notch security company and had to cancel it for lack of interest,” Levinson said. “We need to remind people to maintain a moderate level of alertness, even on days when nothing dramatic happens.”

A few changes, however, have endured. Security at all area JCCs and many other institutions remain in force. Local synagogues have seen a rise in their security costs; nearly all San Fernando Valley synagogues now employ at least one security guard.

“There’s an awareness now that there are marginal people who potentially could be a threat to Jews and Jewish institutions,” said John Fishel, president of the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles. “Although I would say this was an isolated incident, we need to recognize these issues must stay on the communal agenda.”

Another positive outcome of last year’s incident has been a stronger relationship between Jewish institutions and local law enforcement. In addition, a new activism has taken hold in the community. Parents of children attending JCC camps took the fear of that terrible day and turned it into a powerful force for change, lobbying legislators for stronger gun laws and anti-hate crime legislation.

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) continues to call on fellow representatives for passage of H.R. 1082, the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 1999, which would broaden existing hate-crimes legislation to include attacks made on the basis of religion, gender and sexual orientation. Current legislation deals only with attacks designed to prevent victims from exercising their federal constitutional rights.

“I debated Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark.) on this law. His argument is a crime is a ‘crime is a crime’ and should be treated as such,” Sherman said. “What he failed to note is the greater harm you commit, the greater the penalty — and state of mind is as important in determining the penalty as the act itself. Hate crimes involve an additional layer of harm, because the victims are not just the person but society as a whole. We had parents afraid to send their children to Jewish day camps as a result of what Furrow did.”

Sherman is one of the organizers of the Unity Over Hate rally to be held Sunday in Woodland Hills. The featured speaker will be state Attorney General Bill Lockyer, with possible appearances by major figures in the Democratic Party who will be visiting Los Angeles for the Democratic National Convention.

Sherman came up with the idea after a meeting earlier this year in Washington with Eleanor Kadish, mother of the boy most severely injured in the JCC attack.

“We hope to make this rally part of the healing process for the community and for individuals, ” he said. “I think it’s important for people like the Kadishes and the Iletos to see that we care and that we are trying to build a society where this never happens again.”

Kadish, however, continues to wonder whether her children are safe. This year, she did not enroll Benjamin in the JCC camp.

“I relive [the shooting] every single day,” she said. “I can’t put sunscreen on my child without seeing the scars on his body… But I feel blessed that I have my son.”

JTA correspondent Tom Tugend contributed to this report.

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