Americans Among Dead In India Chaos

Virginia Father, Teenage Daughter And A Brooklyn-Based Rabbi Each Victims Of Violence

(CBS/AP)  Private groups said Friday three U.S. citizens, including a Brooklyn-based rabbi together with his Israeli wife, were killed in militant attacks in Mumbai and the U.S. State Department said more Americans were "at risk."

The Chabad-Lubavitch movement has confirmed that a New York rabbi and his wife are among the dead in the India terrorist attack. A spokesman says Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka, have been killed in Mumbai. They ran the movement's local headquarters, which was one of 10 sites attacked.

The couple's toddler son, Moshe Holtzberg, was taken out of the center by an employee, and is now with his grandparents.

Earlier, a Virginia community that promotes a form of meditation said a father and his teenage daughter from the group were among those killed in an attack on the cafe at the Oberoi hotel. A spokeswoman from that group identified them as 58-year-old Alan Scherr and his daughter 13-year-old daughter Naomi.

A team of FBI agents was ordered to fly to India to investigate the militants who killed three Americans and injured at least two others during a wave of assaults that ripped through a commercial center of Mumbai.

American officials were working out the final details Friday with Indian diplomats for the departure of the FBI team, U.S. authorities said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operation. A second group of investigators was on alert to join them if necessary, the officials said.

The investigators aim to learn more about the origins of the militants who carried out the lethal strikes on luxury hotels, a train station and an Orthodox Jewish center where a New York rabbi and his wife were among five hostages slain. An American and his teenage daughter traveling with a Virginia-based spiritual group were also among the 150 people killed during the coordinated attacks.

American lives remained in peril in Mumbai on Friday, the State Department said.

Warning that "Americans are still at risk on the ground," Gordon Duguid, a State Department spokesman, confirmed the deaths of two Americans in Mumbai, but would not comment further on the victims.

U.S. officials were checking with Indian authorities and hospitals to learn more about the extent of casualties.

The State Department urged Americans not to travel to the stricken city, at least through the weekend.

A Chabad-Lubavitch spokesman, Rabbi Zalman Schmotkin, identified the slain couple as Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka. The couple, who had dual U.S. and Israeli citizenship, ran the movement's Mumbai headquarters, which was one of 10 sites attacked. The couple's toddler son, Moshe Holtzberg, survived the assault and was taken out of the center by an employee, and is now with his grandparents.

A spokeswoman for a meditation group in Virginia said two Americans traveling with the organization in Mumbai were killed. A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity verified that account.

Bobbie Garvey, the spokeswoman for the Synchronicity Foundation, based in Faber, Va., identified the two slain members as Alan Scherr, 58, and his 13-year-old daughter, Naomi.

The meditation group said in a statement that four other members of the 25-person group - two Americans and two Canadians - who were staying at the Oberoi Hotel were wounded by gunfire, and were believed in stable condition.

Garvey said Scherr is a Maryland native and a former college professor.

According to the foundation's Web site: "Alan committed most of his adult life to meditation, spirituality and conscious living. He was a passionate Vedic astrologer and meditation teacher who inspired many people to begin a journey of self awareness and meditation. He was committed to making a positive difference in the world and devoted himself to the community he lived in."

Of Naomi, the 13-year-old, the site says: "Naomi was a bright and lively young woman who loved spending time with people and living life to the fullest."

State Department spokesman Robert McInturff said Thursday he could not identify those injured in Mumbai, but The Associated Press learned the name of one victim: Andi Varagona of Nashville, Tenn. She called her mother from a hospital Thursday and said she had been shot in the arm and leg while eating dinner at the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel.

She said another Tennessee woman traveling with her was also injured, according to the mother, Celeste Varagona, but the woman's identity was not immediately available.

McInturff said U.S. officials have activated a phone tree to contact American citizens who registered with the U.S. consulate in Mumbai.

A South Asia specialist said Friday that the terror "group itself is probably drawing from, in large numbers, Indian operatives, but it probably enjoys a fairly healthy support of Pakistan."

"The big picture is that there's probably going to be more of this, not less of this, to come," Christine Fair of the RAND Corp. said Friday. "I don't think this is the most lethal attack that terrorists have perpetrated, but it is certainly the most expansive, in its scope and its scale and its perplexity."

Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S., Husain Haqqani, said in a statement that his country is "confronting the menace of terrorism with great vigor." Haqqani insisted "it is unfair to blame Pakistan or Pakistanis for these acts of terrorism even before an investigation is undertaken."

A U.S. counterterrorism official also cautioned that it was premature "to reach any hard-and-fast conclusions on who may be responsible for the attacks." But the official, who spoke on intelligence matters on condition of anonymity, added that "some of what we're seeing is reminiscent of past terrorist operations undertaken by groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed."

The two groups mentioned by the official are Pakistani militants who have fought Indian troops in Kashmir and are reported to be linked to al Qaeda.

President-elect Barack Obama spoke Thursday by telephone with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and received several intelligence briefings. Duguid said that Rice has called Obama twice since the attacks on Mumbai began.

President Bush expressed condolences to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a phone call from the Camp David, Md., presidential retreat, where he remained Friday.

In a statement, Mr. Bush said: "My Administration has been working with the Indian government and the international community as Indian authorities work to ensure the safety of those still under threat. We will continue to cooperate against these extremists who offer nothing but violence and hopelessness."

The State Department set up a call center for Americans concerned about family members who may be in Mumbai. The number is 1-888-407-4747.

[linfinster]

How disgusting! Makes me want to go vigilante and carry my own gun and if I see some rogue gunman, blow his (or her) head off!

[christohamil]

I feel the same way as linfinster. I wish I could go face to face with one of them.

Christopher Hamilton
a href="http://gasovercigarettes.blogspot.com" The Right Opinion, for the Right Wing /a

[voltaire777]

When will the so-called "faithful" stop enabling terrorists? This is what happens when rational people are too afraid to stand up and call religion what it is: a dangerous tool primarily used to control people, and to get them to do things against their own interest, such as flying planes into buildings or voting republican.

[marcosis78]

bingo

[benissimo-2009]

Seeing an innocent American family killed over a book just really pisses me off.

[jumkey]

You mean the Bible? Because there have been boatloads of Americans killed because of he Bible.

I''s appalling.

[libsh8theusa]

Just goes to show you.. It doesn''t pay to leave the US.. Or to go to Chicago..

[darnedsocks]

THOSE MUSLIMS ARE ANIMALS! ISLAM TEACHES VIOLENCE AND SHOULD BE BANNED THROUGHOUT THE GLOBE! ISLAM IS EVIL AND OF THE DEVIL! IT IS NOT OF GOD.

[darnedsocks]

THE PAKISTANIS SHOULD MAKE ISLAM ILLEGAL AND PROMOTE ANOTHER MORE "FORGIVING" BELIEF SYSTEM.

[firehose12]

Islam again ?

Gee what a surprise !

SOB''s

[downsteamjim]

jumkey: You can almost hear the pride in your voice that an innocent 13 year old girls was killed by Muslims.

[firehose12]

Hitler did one thing right... he burned every biblE he could get his hands on. Pathetic religious freaks.

Posted by Benissimo at 12:09 PM : Nov 28, 2008

Its not your faith, it is your actions.

Dont hate someone who believes in a religion. Then you are nothing but a bigot.

At least place the blame squarely on actions commited.

Islam does seem to be the front runner of late I admit.

[djberson]

Another fine disply by the religion of peace

[spinproof]

Islamic extremist are out of control and moderate Muslims better step in and intervene because when the other shoe drops mob violence won''t distinguish between good Muslim or bad Muslim unfortunately. Islam should start Policing its own before the World steps in and does it for them!

[truthislife1]

You mean the Bible? Because there have been boatloads of Americans killed because of the Bible.

I''''s appalling.

Posted by jumkey

You''re right. There will be a lot more too. They killed the first apostles because the saw Jesus after He was risen. Christians are also being killed in the Sudan and China. Christians are not doing the murdering, they are being murdered for their faith. It will continue to get worse. You cannot get people to die for a lie. You can get people to die for a cause, whether or not it''s the truth.

[ghomes1]

How about those Muslims (about 5000) who were killed in the Genocide that was committed in the northern state of Gujarat in India by the hands of Extremist Hindu Terrorist?

How about the those Muslims being killed in the Gaza Strip by the oppressive Zionist Jewish terrorist?

It''s funny how the worlds'' superpowers always claim to be the victims, while those being oppressed are always the terrorist and never vice-versa....

I''m against all forms of terrorism including this one in my parent''s native town of Mumbai, I''m also against the terrorism that is committed by U.S troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and the terrorism committed by the Israelis

[downsteamjim]

ghomes: Tell us about the trainload of Hindus, Muslims burned alive or any of the recent terror acts by Muslims in India.

[wardoglrs]

The jew is by far the most dangerous not muslims

[excoachken]

May they rest in Peace.

[djberson]

You know why Muslims are more dangerous than Jews or any other group on earth? Go read the newspaper or turn on your radio

[djberson]

I don''t know about that, it seems westerners and Jews were specifically attacked. The muslim scum terrorists could have chosen anyone to attack yet they went to a Jewish center specifically. Why should the press not report that Jews were targeted when the muslim scum clearly went to a Jewish center to kill? They certainly said that Americans and Brits were targeted, so I dont know who you feel should have been mentioned other than who were. Do you feel that innocent Muslims were killed? That too would be a tragedy, but I do not believe that Muslims were targeted or killed.

[pensacola98]

Many of you posting comments here are giving the impression that you believe the criminal behavior is religiously motivated and crediting Muslim faith for this.

Let me ask a question to those who follow such beliefs, "Is it safe to assume the Oklahoma City bombing, the Columbine Massacres were Christian motivated acts of violence, since those committing the violence were Christians?"

There is a difference between a Muslim and a criminal, just like there is a difference between a Christian and a criminal.

Let''s be careful and mindful not to let the rhetoric become offensive. There are many innocent Muslims and Jews who condemn these criminal acts of violence.

Defend a civil minded person and seek the similarities we have with others. That should include Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Christians....

[whitewolf60]

I have to agree with Spinproof back on page two.... islam BETTER start reigning in the fanatics before someone else does!

[willihandjiv]

Can''t believe Muslums are all freaked out about a little teeny weeny spit of land: Israel, a few miles wide, with no oil, where the Jews came from to begin with. I love and support the Jewish people and always will!

[littlejudy2]

Calm down people! Read the headline. This article is about Americans killed in the attacks, that''s why the article is focused on the Scherrs and the Holtzbergs -- not because the Holtzbergs are Jewish or because they mean any disrespect to the other people killed in the attacks.

CBS is an American media company. Just like the BBC has an article about Briton killed in attacks (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7752768.stm) and the Canadian Press has an article about Canadians caught in the cross-fire: http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5inolfIKp7EKPFR37MoO6Edii3fnQ ...

Readers are interested to know if any of their countrymen are affected when there is a disaster in a foreign country.

[truthislife1]

Can''''t believe Muslums are all freaked out about a little teeny weeny spit of land: Israel, a few miles wide, with no oil, where the Jews came from to begin with. I love and support the Jewish people and always will!

Posted by willihandjiv

Glad you support them. It''s called Bible prophesy. Israel has always been a point of violence which is talked about in the Bible. Does this mean God is evil, or is He telling us things in advance that He already knows? Seems like He knows everything, His prophecies keep coming true, can''t stop them.

[oblomov1]

Jews do NOT promote brain washing children in military training camps, teaching them how to blow themselves up and cause maximum deaths of Jews and other non Muslims! The Jews don''t hijack planes, nor kill athletes at the Olympics, or blow themselves up in German restaurants or clubs in Bali. There is NOT one single Jew that has destroyed a church. There is NOT a single Jew that protests by killing people.The Jews don''t traffic slaves, nor have leaders calling for Jihad and death to all the Infidels. Jews have won 129 nobel prizes, muslims have won 7. World Muslim population is 1,200,000,000 (20 %); World Jewish population is 14,000,000 (0.2%)."If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel" -Benjamin Netanyahu

[hatesthecolt]

There is NOT one single Jew that has destroyed a church. There is NOT a single Jew that protests by killing people.The Jews don''''t traffic slaves, nor have leaders calling for Jihad and death to all the Infidels. Jews have won 129 nobel prizes, muslims have won 7. World Muslim population is 1,200,000,000 (20 %); World Jewish population is 14,000,000 (0.2%)."If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence.

Posted by oblomov1

Surely you don''t believe indiscriminate Israeli airstrikes have never destroyed a mosques or killed arab innocents?

And if you want to see more nobel prizes for Arabs maybe you could stop bulldozing their schools.

[firehose12]

Surely you don''''t believe indiscriminate Israeli airstrikes have never destroyed a mosques or killed arab innocents?

And if you want to see more nobel prizes for Arabs maybe you could stop bulldozing their schools.
Posted by hatesthecolt at 05:05 PM : Nov 28, 2008

Numbnuts-

Clearly The strikes from Israel are always instigated from Jew haters. Israel has no choice but to defend itself. Remember, Israel has the ability to take out all of its neighbors today, if desired, including Iran.

Dont ever forget it either.

[babooph]

If the attackers were after US citizens,this was no surgical strike-combining the total Palistinian lands,instead of the Garrimandered mess that is there now,& a democratic vote,would bring the old Islamic control to the area ,with all the same people living there-with all the nutsy bitterness of today ,it may not work though.

[hatesthecolt]

firehose, calling me names does not change the fact that you have bought into the propaganda!

[obamanow]

where are you from, wardogLRS ?

[mljohns00]

In a statement, Mr. Bush said: "....We will continue to cooperate against these extremists who offer nothing but violence and hopelessness."

This is what George Bush never had the intelligence to recognize. People do these things BECAUSE they have nothing but violence and hopelessness left. They aren''t "bad people". They are people left with no other alternative.

[erich_1-2009]

Islam = Terrorism
September 1972 - Munich
18 April 1983 - U.S. Embassy Beirut, Lebanon
26 February 1993 - World Trade Center, New York City
13 March 1993 - 1993 Bombay bombings. Mumbai, India
24 December 1994 - Air France Flight
June 1996 - Khobar Towers bombing
14 February 1998 Coimbatore bombings Tamil Nadu, India
7 August 1998 -United States embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya
12 October 2000 - USS Cole bombing
11 September 2001 - September 11, 2001
13 December 2001 - Suicide attack on India''s parliament
3 March 2002 - Suicide attack on a Passover Seder in a Hotel in Netanya, Israel.
9 March 2002 - Cafi suicide bombing in Jerusalem
7 May 2002 - Bombing in al-Arbaa, Algeria.
24 September 2002 - Ahmedabad, India.
12 October 2002 - Bali nightclub.
16 May 2004 - Casablanca Attacks
11 March 2004 - Madrid, Spain.
3 September 2004 The Beslan school hostage crisis.
2 November 2004 - Ritual murder of Theo van Gogh
4 February 2005 - Christian community in Demsa, Nigeria.
7 July 2005 - Multiple bombings in London Underground.
23 July 2005 - Sharm el-Sheikh, an Egyptian resort city.
29 October 2005 - 29 October 2005 Delhi bombings.
9 November 2005 - 2005 Amman bombings.
7 March 2006 - 2006 Varanasi bombings.
11 July 2006. Mumbai train bombings
26 July 2008. Ahmedabad, India.
26 November 2008. Mumbai, India.

[hatesthecolt]

WarDogLRS, I am not willing to go quite that far, but I will say that one of the most despicable people I ever met was a Jewish zealot named Sol Sheibein.

[downsteamjim]

Certainly innocents have been killed in U.S. and Israeli conter strikes. Muslim militants love to have children around there terror hideouts. A dead Muslim child means good publicity for the terrorists.

[firehose12]

In a statement, Mr. Bush said: "....We will continue to cooperate against these extremists who offer nothing but violence and hopelessness."

This is what George Bush never had the intelligence to recognize. People do these things BECAUSE they have nothing but violence and hopelessness left. They aren''''t "bad people". They are people left with no other alternative.

Posted by mljohns00 at 05:32 PM : Nov 28, 2008

Wrong !

That my boy. is a big ol'' Muslim smokescreen of an excuse.

It all about Islam hating anyone who doesnt believe. Its a cult of a cult.

The 911 Arab terrorists all had a good life and were educated.

This is hate and all about the continued teaching of hatred.

Islam = HATE if you are different then them.

It will never change, so we will just keep bonking them in the head.

Israel will be in action soon enough - count on it.

[downsteamjim]

erich_1: You left out Islamic terror in Thailand, Philippines, and Indonesia. I realize that listing all murders of innocents by Muslims would have you posting all day.

[firehose12]

firehose, calling me names does not change the fact that you have bought into the propaganda!

Posted by hatesthecolt at 05:14 PM : Nov 28, 2008

The truth will set you free.....

Clearly The strikes from Israel are always instigated from Jew haters. Israel has no choice but to defend itself. Remember, Israel has the ability to take out all of its neighbors today, if desired, including Iran.

Dont ever forget it either.

[erich_1-2009]

erich_1: You left out Islamic terror in Thailand, Philippines, and Indonesia. I realize that listing all murders of innocents by Muslims would have you posting all day.

Posted by downsteamjim at 05:40 PM : Nov 28, 2008

Very True...but I am only allowed 1500 characters so I did the best I could.

Point of course - Islam = Terrorism & there has never been a Religion like it!

[alamal-2009]

Listen to you people. You reward senseless killings with MORE senseless killings! Is that what we''''ve become? Yes, Christians, Muslims, Jews, all faiths, all nationalities are guilty of murder!
Why then should we promote more?
You all should look into the mirror and ask yourselves if that will truly solve anything. Do you not see that violence, no not once, in past history, has achieved peace? Why should it now?

[antizion]

It is the orthodox Jews that are opposed to zionism and truly live into the ideals of the Jewish religion. They are the good guys and a thorn in the side of the Israeli government.

Ironic that they would be killed isn''t it? One must look deeper into who was really behind this.

The Israeli Mossad was caught red handed a few years ago getting out of a car with a dead Muslim in it and then blowing up in front of a synagogue in Packistan.

An old trick called the false flag terror attack that they invented - turning an enemy against another enemy.

[oblomov1]

Muslims fire hundreds of missiles at innocent Israelis forcing them into shelters. Muslims throw acid in the faces of young women because they want to become educated; they brutalized and murdered a British woman volunteer and they cut off people''s heads. There are 85 times as many Muslims as there are Jews, yet Jews have earned 18 times as many Nobel prizes as Muslims.Polio vaccine was discovered by Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin, both Jews. Blue jeans, was invented by Levi Straus, a Jew. The Statue of Liberty, has inscribed:"Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free%u2026%u201D written by Emma Lazarus, a Jew. The Theory of Relativity was discovered by Albert Einstein, a Jew. The American movie industry was started by Russian Jews, Louis B. Mayer and Sam Goldwyn (MGM). Many movie stars were jews.Don''t watch movies by Steven Speilberg, or Harry Potter movies, Daniel Radcliffe and Jason Isaacs (Malfoy) are Jews. Julius Rosenwald, put Sears on the national map, and funded the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. Extremist Muslims live on hate, brutality and kill Jews in any country they find them. Jews started the NAACP for the benefit of blacks; its first few presidents were white Jews.Extremist Islam is a plague upon world society, which may ultimately kill millions of people. Jews contribute to world civilization, way beyond their numbers, while extremist Muslims murder, destroy, and bring the advancement of civilization to a screaming halt.

[smclimans]

These Islamic terrorists are lower than dogs


and I apologize to any dogs that I may have offended

[smclimans]

These Islamic terrorists are lower than dogs


and I apologize to any dogs that I may have offended

[hatesthecolt]

oblomov1, go sell that to someone who can''t read. There are numerous citations all over the web to Israeli atrocities. For example:

RESOLUTION ON PALESTINE IMPLEMENTING ICTU POLICY ON PALESTINE

This ICTU Biennial Conference is outraged at the continued human rights abuses being suffered by the Palestinian people. We particularly note the following:

the continued occupation and destruction of Palestinian lands and Palestinian homes in breach of the Geneva Convention and numerous United Nations resolutions

the continuation of mass arrests, of torture and of extra-judicial killings the horrific assaults on the population of Gaza ? the frequent killings of civilians including on a mass scale as at Beit Hanun, or the family of Houda Galia wiped out as they sat on the beach; the enclosure of the people of Gaza with razor wire and electrified fences, where they are subjected to frequent invasion and constant surveillance ? including the sinister unmanned drones targeting for bombing raids, or the over-flights of ear-shattering jet fighters.

the deliberate and illegal destruction of civilian infra-structure including electricity and water supplies.

There''s more but it would be oh so inconvenient to your world view to think anything Jewish is not perfect.

the imposition of collective punishment, banned under international law, including the bulldozing of houses, the uprooting of ancient olive groves and destruction of industrial units

[oblomov1]

hatesthecolt:Arabs and Muslims have started every war with Israel that I know about, since its creation, some of which were sneak, cowardly attacks. Israel never started a single war with an Arab nation. It has only acted in self-defense. Israel has no reason to go into Gaza except to stop bomb-making factories or suicide bombers. Israel has no designs on Gaza. Israel has asked only one thing of the Arabs and Muslims which border it since its creation: "Leave us alone in peace." How many school buses and civilian buses were blown up with Israeli women and children on them? The Muslims have gigantic amounts of land and 85 times as many people as Israel, which wants merely to live in peace in its very tiny country. As far as Jewish accomplishments versus those of the Muslims are concerned, that is fact - I don''t have to make it up. Now, tell us about the contributions of Muslims to the world community and its advancement. I am anxious to know what they are.

[swingset4u]

ACCORDING TO BARRACK SADDAM HUSSEIN OSAMA the kind of terrorists who attacked India are fake terrorists, they dont exist and according to BARRACK HUSSEIN OSAMA the war on terror is just a BUSHs war, its a Bushs invention, the terrorists and their victims are actors hired by Bush.

Posted by BagdadsHere6


OMG! Please shut up!

[swingset4u]

shut-up? I am not speaking , I am typing jerk.

Posted by BagdadsHere6

Oh I''m sorry, you''re right.. You are typing... How do you do it with one finger in your a$$?

[swingset4u]

And you''re right, you are a typing jerk...