What Does a Reform Temple in Suburban Detroit Have To Do With Israeli Airstrikes in Lebanon?

Consider what I wrote the following concerning the thwarted terrorist attack against Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan:

As of this writing, the now deceased assailant has not been identified. Whether the source of inspiration for the attack was white supremacy or Islamic fundamentalism, there is an anti-Semitic rot in this country which has escalated into violence.

The assailant has been since been identified as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a Lebanese born restaurant manager who came to this country in 2010, became a U.S. citizen a decade ago and resided in Dearborn Heights, a suburb about 20 miles west of Detroit.

However, instead of treating the attack as motivated by Islamic fundamentalism, we are being to headlines such as these from the Detroit News and The Guardian.

Temple Israel synagogue shooter's family recently killed in an air strike

Suspect in Michigan synagogue attack had lost family in Israeli airstrike in Lebanon

These headlines are most peculiar. It's as if they are justifying the killer's actions or, at the very minimum, rationalizing them.

Now, I'm not doubting the facts of the case. In other words, I am not doubting that Ghazali's brothers and a niece and nephew were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon.

Yet let me put it this way.

Let us suppose the brother of an American soldier killed in Afghanistan, Iraq, or for that matter Iran, were to see fit to avenge the death of his brother by attacking a mosque in the same manner in which Ghazali attacked Temple Israel. Somehow, I doubt either the Detroit News or The Guardian would treat us to these headlines:

Mosque shooter's brother was soldier killed by IED in Iraq

Suspect in Michigan mosque attack had lost brother in IED attack against U.S. military convoy

If such a horrible thing had come to pass, the Detroit News, The Guardian and a myriad of other media outlets would feature headlines feature words like Islamophobia and phrases like hate crime and white supremacy.

And not entirely without justification. After all, what would a mosque in suburban Detroit have to do with an IED attack in Iraq which killed an American soldier? 

The same holds true concerning yesterday's events. What does a synagogue in suburban Detroit have to do with Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon which killed civilians?

It is a question I must ask because of a lifetime of being lectured along the lines of "criticizing or condemning Israel isn't anti-Semitic". If that is the case, then why are people attending a day program at synagogue 6,000 miles away responsible for Israel's military actions?

In the case of yesterday's terrorist attack, one has to consider the very strong likelihood that Ghazali possessed a lifelong, violent hatred of Jews and a willingness to act out on that hate. Yes, I have no doubt that Ghazali was upset and in grief over multiple family members being killed by an Israeli airstrike. Yet I'm sure Ghazali had other relatives in this country who were equally upset by what happened but will manage to go through life without planning to carry out violence against a local synagogue.

Only a week elapsed between the time Ghazali's relatives were killed and Ghazali rammed his vehicle inside Temple Israel. Scarcely 48 hours before the attack, Ghazali bought $2,000 worth of explosives at a fireworks store. How did this purchase not raise a red flag?

While Ghazali did not have a previous criminal record, in light of his actions yesterday, one must wonder what his online activity was like or his interactions with his closest of friends. Perhaps this information will come to light in the not-too-distant future. Or perhaps we will never know.

Whatever the case, while no one is born a terrorist, one does not become this radicalized in just 7 days. I simply cannot fathom anyone doing what he tried to do to Temple Israel without a deep-seated and longstanding hatred of Jews.