The web is presently awash with information about Ruba Awni Almaghtheh, with many people keen to learn more about her and her recent news, which is making headlines on the internet. This article will provide detailed information about Almaghtheh and the incident that has brought her into the spotlight.
A Palestinian woman by the name of Ruba Awni Almaghtheh, aged 34, deliberately drove her car into a building, wrongly believing it to be a Jewish institution. Almaghtheh’s actions were reportedly motivated by her reactions to the Israel-Hamas War coverage that began on October 7, following an incursion by the Palestinian militant group into southern Israel. She admitted to the authorities that her actions were deliberate.
The building that Almaghtheh crashed into in Indianapolis, in fact, belonged to the Black Hebrew Israelites, a group that has been accused of promoting an antisemitic doctrine. Misinterpretation could have led to this mistake, as the building had “Hebrew Israelites” written on its front, as reported by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Indianapolis (JCRCI).
In addition, the star of David on the building might have misled Almaghtheh into thinking it was an Israeli establishment. The building, which houses the Israelite School of Universal and Practical Knowledge, was fortunately empty at the time of the incident. This group has been labelled as “extreme and antisemitic” by the Defamation League. Almaghtheh purportedly told an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer that she perceived the building as an “Israel school.” She also confessed to driving into the building intentionally.
Almaghtheh was promptly arrested and charged with criminal recklessness following the incident. According to FBI data, hate crimes against Jewish individuals or institutions are alarmingly prevalent in the United States, with a record 1,124 incidents reported in 2022, the highest since 1993. FBI Director Christopher Wray has noted these “historic levels” of antisemitism, stating in a meeting with the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on October 31 that “terrorists across the spectrum target the Jewish community.”
