Man Charged for Attacks on Orlando-Area Businesses, Utilities in Alleged Protest of Israel’s Actions in Gaza
U.S. authorities arrested and charged Hashem Younis Hashem Hnaihen, a Jordanian citizen living in Florida, for his alleged role in attacks on Orlando-area businesses and utilities he said supported Israel, according to court documents unsealed Thursday.
On several different occasions in June, a masked individual smashed windows at a pair of Starbucks and a McDonalds, leaving letters that said the suspect planned to “destroy or explode everything here in whole America. Especially the companies and factories that support the racist state of Israel.”
In the most serious attack, Hnaihen allegedly broke into a solar power generation facility in Wedgefield, Florida, before destroying dozens of solar panels and cutting wires—an attack that took hours to complete and caused an estimated $700,000 in damage. He also allegedly left letters at a propane gas distribution depot. No one was injured in any of the incidents.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged Hnaihen with four counts of threatening to use explosives and one count of destruction of an energy facility.
“We allege that the defendant threatened to carry out hate-fueled mass violence in our country, motivated in part by a desire to target businesses for their perceived support of Israel,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in a DOJ press release. “Such acts and threats of violence, whether they are targeting the places that Americans frequent every day or our country’s critical infrastructure, are extremely dangerous and will not be tolerated by the Justice Department.”
The New York Times reported “the charges come as law enforcement officials have voiced heightened concern about terrorist attacks by individuals or groups spurred by Israel’s war in Gaza.”
The Health Ministry in Gaza, which is run by Hamas-backed authorities, announced that the war had killed more than 40,000 people in Gaza. This comes as efforts intensify to prevent a wider war in the region as tensions between Iran and Israel escalate.
In addition to the human toll, the war is having a severe economic impact. As many as 60,000 Israeli business may close their doors in 2024. And the impact is not just localized. For example, Dubai-based shipping giant DP World reported profits fell by 60 percent in light of the Houthis in Yemen attacking shipping lanes in the Red Sea.
Protests against Israel—and fallout from the protests—continue to have ramifications throughout Europe and the United States. In the United Kingdom, authorities charged seven people for breaking into an Israeli defense firm in southwest England.
U.S. college campuses have revised rules on free speech in preparation for a return of students after summer break, and Columbia University President Minouche Shafik was the latest university president to resign over how campuses have handled protests. In addition, Jewish advocacy groups filed a federal complaint against Fulton County Schools in the Atlanta suburbs, saying the district “has fostered a hostile climate that has allowed antisemitism to thrive in its schools.”
