Jewish and Palestinian places of worship in the state are concerned the war will lead to anti-semitic and islamophobic attacks here at home and while New Jersey's top law enforcement officials say there are no credible threats at this time security is being tightened around mosques and synagogues just in case Ted Goldberg reports I would never have in a million years thought growing up that this would be what being a Jew in America was like the war between Israel and Hamas has led some Jews in New Jersey to worry that anti-Semitism could rear its ugly head it's it's those payoff conversations you start to have with yourself am I wearing my keepa out in public Michelle Malin is the executive director for temple near to meet in Bloomfield a synagogue that was attacked by a man with a Molotov cocktail in January thanks to security measures no damage was done currently attorney general Matt plen says there are no direct threats to houses of worship in the state but synagogues like near to me are installing cameras hiring armed security and keeping police around we had a huge Interfaith rally with our partners there was an ending and I think now what we're seeing is um is sustained fear when you see someone for the first time the question isn't so much how are you but how are you holding up Lucy fishbine is the senior caner at Temple Benet jesan in Short Hills the feeling that Jews are under threat um you know when that gets Amplified it comes perhaps so loud that even if you know on a rational level that um your kids are safe it doesn't change the fact that it feels scary to be Jewish in the world right now Temple Benet jesin is also no stranger to anti-Semitism last month during Roshes Shana services for the Jewish New Year someone called the police and threatened the synagogue Services had to be held outside here in the parking lot until police could figure out that the threat was baseless coming together in community is in fact an act of sacred Defiance that what people who are um seeking to exterminate us or or snuff out that experience of Jewish communal joy that the best way we can stand up to that is to continue to engage in Jewish life religious community centers are also on high alert The JCC and Edison upgraded its cameras eight months ago and you need a key fob to enter the building we're going to go about our business we provide programs and services for thousands of people and we're going to do that we will adjust our level of security and enhance it to make sure that everybody feels safe law enforcement have been very supportive uh they came to our community and said look we are here for you Omar Muhammed leads the alalas center a mosque and Islamic Center in Bridgewater they have enough protection but also people say why do we have this he says the Muslim Community is also on edge reminding him of the injustices faced by American Muslims after 911 it took a while for this community to feel you know their back to normal uh and uh and now sudden and then this happened mohammed's concern is people getting in trouble for posting pro- Palestinian content on social media people have been suspended that is not America that's an American Palestinians throughout the global Western diaspora are being arrested for protesting the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza they are losing their jobs earlier this week the Palestinian Community spoke in Clifton about the hardships they faced since the war started on October 7th our Community has become a Target across the country a target of hate Injustice and of exclusion we reached out to the leaders of several other New Jersey mosques for comment but we didn't hear back even if there aren't any active threats to mosques or synagogues that's cold comfort for people worried about anti-Semitism or islamophobia for NJ Spotlight News I'm Ted Goldberg