Nation of Yahweh Spokeswoman Judith Israel Interview (May 21, 1986)

JUDITH ISRAEL, SPOKE FOR YAHWEH

FIRE-BOMB VICTIMS SAY ATTACKERS ERRED
DELRAY BEACH -- It had to be a mistake.
May 21, 1986)
That's what neighborhood people were saying a day after a fire-bomb attack damaged six houses and injured five people on the first block of Southwest 14th Avenue.

"It don't make any sense, these people are mostly old folks who never bothered anybody," said the son of one elderly victim. Like most residents questioned on Wednesday, he is afraid of future attacks, and asked that his name not be used.

Nine-month-old Marva Hendrix and her 12-year-old sister, Shandell, remained hospitalized in stable condition on Wednesday, suffering from burns. Their house was gutted by a fire bomb. The rest of the Hendrix family is staying with friends.

Police Capt. Rick Lincoln said five detectives are working 18-hour shifts trying to solve the case. While Lincoln would not discuss possible suspects or motives, many people in this black community say they are convinced the bombings were the work of the Hebrew Israelites, a black supremacist religious sect.

Commonly known as Yahwehs, sect members have been visiting Delray Beach's black communities for five years, spreading their faith door-to-door. Until Tuesday, most residents considered them harmless.

Many now believe the Yahwehs organized the pre-dawn bombing raid to gain revenge. They say that on Sunday, a group of white-robed sect members were attacked and beaten by youths carrying boards.

"I can understand why they would want to get revenge," said a woman who lives on 14th Avenue. "But they got the wrong people."

The people who attacked the Yahwehs, witnessess said, hang out in another neighborhood, on the 100 block of 14th Avenue. While only a block away, the difference between the two is startling, witnesses said.

"There's always trouble on that block," said a man whose family lives in one of the fire-bombed houses. "Teen-agers are always hanging around in cars, cussing people out, drinking beer and playing music all night. You go over there you can get killed. People don't care."

In fact, the fight between the neighborhood youths and the Yahwehs occurred on the 100 block. That makes it all the more difficult for the fire bomb victims to understand how they became targets.

"I don't know why they came after us," said Alphonso Bonaby, whose living room was gutted by flames after a fire bomb crashed through a window. "We tried to help the Yahwehs when they got beat up."

Bonaby and his family of seven were scrubbing grime off the living room walls of their house on Wednesday, trying to make it livable. In the meantime, they are staying in a motel, courtesy of the Red Cross.

Judith Israel, a Yahweh spokeswoman, confirmed that a group of sect members were attacked on Sunday. But she denies any involvement by Yahweh supporters in the fire bombings. Any revenge, she said, will be left up to God.

Israel said the recent violence will not deter members of the sect's Temple of Love from bringing the word of Yahweh to Delray Beach.

Neighborhood residents, even those who haven't formed opinions about the fire bombing, say that would be a mistake.

"I hope they don't come back," said one woman. "Everybody around here is scared. They think the Yahwehs did it. There could be a war."

Others agreed that, guilty or innocent, the Yahwehs would be wise to stay away from Delray Beach.

"I fear for their lives," one man said. "People are angry, and if they come back there won't be any court of law. It could be a death warrant for anybody dressed in white."