Setting it straight: A story on page B1 Thursday about the Hillel House arson incorrectly identified three organizations at the University of California, Davis, as recognized Palestinian groups. The Muslim Student Association, Students for Justice in Palestine and the Arab Youth Association include members from a variety of backgrounds.By Terri Hardy, Bee Staff Writer
Local and federal authorities are investigating an arson attack at the Hillel House early Wednesday, as officials of the organization for Jewish students at UC Davis said they had warned police of trouble a day earlier.
Hillel officials questioned why police failed to act on the warnings Tuesday that the house, across the street from the campus, had been targeted.
Investigators determined that vandals torched an Israeli flag hanging from the northeast corner of the house, setting the roof on fire. A plate glass window in front of the house also was shattered. No one was injured.
Local police are investigating the arson as a hate crime; FBI and Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents are investigating it as a federal crime because Hillel House sometimes is used as a house of worship.
On Tuesday, Hillel officials alerted the city and campus police departments about possible trouble, but no action was taken, said Raphael Moore, Hillel board president.
"The response today was very good," Moore said Wednesday. "But obviously we wish there had been a better response yesterday. We had the names of students who were planning this. Theoretically, if the police or the FBI had those names they could have stopped this."
Moore said Hillel received a tip from Jewish students in another city who reported overhearing other students discussing plans to vandalize the Davis Hillel. They said Palestinian students, from Davis and elsewhere, planned the attack, Moore said.
Hillel officials turned over the names of the students to investigators. Police said they had not determined suspects in the case.
UC Davis has three recognized Palestinian groups: the Muslim Student Association, Students for Justice in Palestine and the Arab Youth Association. Calls made to 14 leaders of those student organizations were not returned.
Lt. Don Brooks, a spokesman for the Davis Police Department, said Hillel left a message about the potential attack on an officer's answering machine. It was not retrieved because the officer was ill.
UC Davis police said they received a call from Hillel Damron, the group's executive director, Tuesday afternoon. It said: "We may have some trouble with some Palestinian students." But Sgt. Joyce Souza didn't retrieve the call from her answering machine until 5 p.m., campus police said. "She decided to wait until the morning to call," said Paul Pfotenhauer, police spokesman.
Davis police were called to the Hillel House about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday after a neighbor was awakened by her dog and then ran outside to find that the tiny white house down the street was ablaze.
The fire was limited to a small portion of the roof. The house was unoccupied.
Vandals left no message at the scene, police said.
"I don't think the intent was to harm anybody. The intent was to make a political statement," Damron said.
But the burning of an Israeli flag and window smashing at the Hillel House stunned members of the Sacramento-area Jewish community, still shaken by three 1999 synagogue arsons.
"Any hate crime is reprehensible and intolerable," said Skip Rosenbloom, president of the Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region.
"It may be minor damage, but in the big scheme of things this is a big offense to the ATF and the FBI," said Randy Haight, a special agent with the ATF.
Haight and FBI agents did not officially declare the arson a hate crime, but termed it an arson at a place of worship, which is a federal offense. Davis police, however, classified the arson as a hate crime, using the lower state standard for such an offense.
The Hillel House, in the 300 block of A Street, is an off-campus meeting place for Jewish students from both UC Davis and California State University, Sacramento. Moore said the house sponsors roughly 500 events a year that range from free Tuesday lunches to forums on Israeli politics.
"This is a classic hate crime and we will not accept it in our community," said Ken Wagstaff, Davis mayor. "The values of Davis are about inclusion and welcoming everybody." Carol Wall, vice chancellor for student affairs, said in a written statement that the university will offer counseling to students in distress because of the arson.
"We are alarmed at the incidents that target groups in our community such as the fall incident involving violence against Asian students and the tensions related to the recent ASUCD election," Wall said.
Both the university and Hillel had previously planned anti-violence, unity events this month.
By late afternoon Wednesday, the police tape had been removed from around the Hillel House and a new Israeli flag was flying from the house.