On the evening of Wednesday, May 21, a young couple was shot to death outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.
Nearly everyone quickly and rightly condemned this tragedy. Yet it’s critical to understand the nature of the attack and what it says about anti-Jewish racism.
Too often, attacks on Jews are contextualized in a way that inadvertently blames them for their own deaths. Some initial news reports noted that the murder of the couple came at a time of increased tension in Gaza, as if the ongoing war should provide a helpful backdrop. Stories that led with the fact that they worked for the Israeli Embassy suggested that they may have had it coming.
This phenomenon occurs after every attack on a Jewish community when the attacker does not fit the profile of a classic racist, and when Jews don’t fit the mold of helpless victim. After a white man murdered 11 elderly Jews in their synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018, the response was unequivocal: Racism and antisemitism are an intolerable stain on our country.
Elias Rodriguez, charged with first-degree murder in the shooting of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, is as vile and racist as the Pittsburgh shooter. As Rodriguez was being apprehended by police, he shouted the now familiar chant, “free, free Palestine.” This phrase, as well as “globalize the intifada” and “from the river to the sea” are not mere pleas for freedom, but rather calls for violence. We’ve been culturally conditioned to interpret these chants as political speech, but in fact they call for the destruction of Israel, which — no matter how the chanters may justify it — results sooner or later in the destruction of Jewish life.
Yet Rodriguez will likely go down as a deranged actor of political violence who, at some point, simply lost his way. An activist group he associated with, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which celebrated the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel and has melded ideologically with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, has quietly backed away and disavowed him. Self-described socialist groups that have adopted PFLP rhetoric are widespread in Washington state. They were involved in the campus encampments and behind the attacks on University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce’s home. These groups extol violence against Israel but never take responsibility when their supporters kill Jews.
My first thought when I heard about the murder of this young, vibrant couple was, “That could have been me.” After how many Jewish community events in downtown Seattle have I stepped out onto the sidewalk and into the night?
Then it hit me: It has happened here. It happened in 2006 when Naveed Haq was “angry about Israel” and managed to enter the Jewish Federation building and shoot six women, killing one. “It could have been me” is not an expression about the randomness of the universe. When Jews are attacked, it’s not usually because we’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. It actually could be us. We are fully aware of this everywhere we go, and while we are devastated over these deaths, we are not surprised.
This is why Jewish institutions the world over have locked doors, gate codes, guards, security screenings, metal detectors, bag checks, panic buttons, emergency phones, “stop the bleed” workshops, security plans, bulletproof glass, two-way mirrors and the police and FBI on speed-dial.
These protections may mitigate the effects of hate. But to counter the effects of hate, we need to understand what hate is.
Rodriguez set out to attack Jews. It does not matter if he was motivated by the Klan or Hamas. It does not matter if he lost his way. The effect is the same. The only difference is how the story is framed — and how we respond.
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