Nearly 10 years after the devastation on 9/11, Whitestoners are faced with the reality that the next terrorist could be the nice guys living next door.
On May 11, two Whitestone residents — Ahmed Ferhani, who moved to America from Algeria, and Mohamed Mamdouh, an American citizen from Morocco — were arrested in Manhattan and charged with planning to bomb several possible locations.
The news of the arrests is chilling. At a hearing last week, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Margaret Gandy charged that “the defendants were arrested at the conclusion of an investigation that revealed that they intended to bomb synagogues because of their hatred of Jews.”
That such mindless hatred continues to exist is not surprising. What is disturbing is the fact that the young men allegedly plotting this destruction appeared normal in so many ways. Ferhani arrived in America 15 years ago and is a permanent resident of the United States. He worked as a sales associate at Saks Fifth Avenue and held an associate degree from Borough of Manhattan Community College.
The men spoke with undercover police officers about their desire to blow up synagogues and other locations, but their purchases were limited to a grenade and handguns.
In a statement released after the arrests, City Councilman Dan Halloran said, “These arrests are a chilling reminder that evil lurks even in a quiet, sleepy neighborhood like Whitestone. The potential for ‘home-grown’ terrorists in our backyard is especially frightening, and a reminder that nearly a decade after Sept. 11, there are still terrorists in our midst who yearn for our destruction.”
The two men, in a conversation seven months ago with an NYPD undercover agent, allegedly said, “We will blow up a synagogue in Manhattan and take out the whole building.” They were also planning to destroy a church.
Tremendous credit goes to the NYPD, which learned of the terrorist plot and made the arrests. The people of this city are once again in their debt. In building the case against these men, the undercover officers no doubt risked their lives. Because of their courage, the accused terrorists were stopped before innocent lives were lost.
