Well said -- but missing an important point. It is important to refute the characterization of this murder as antisemitism. From the very beginning this murder was characterized by the press and by the authorities and by many Jewish groups and by Israel as an antisemitic attack. IT WAN'T!
It was the murder of two low level Israeli diplomats at a conference of diplomats organized by the AJC. The nature of the event and the occupations of the victims and the slogan "Free Free Palestine" shouted by the murderer make it clear that this was an anti-Israel act -- NOT an antisemitic act.
The conflation of antisemitism with anti-Israelism and anti-Zionism harms our ability to fight antisemitism and strengthens the political and ideological agenda of those Israel advocacy organizations that want to weaponize the charge of antisemitism. The most numerous of such groups in the US are the Christian nationalists and Christian Zionists. And large portions of these groups have a long history of real antisemitism. And yet these groups are allied with Jewish Zionist groups in supporting Israel and the Israeli oppression of the Palestinian people and the Israel's genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and southern Lebanon.
Thank you for this Peter, as always, and Benjamin, I am making the same point - it is not antisemitism (AS) but a reaction to the horror of witnessing Israeli/IDF/Jewish/US violence against Palestinians and others. I have been expecting this, actually something bigger and was afraid it would happen. As a political intuitive, I predicted 9/11 - not aware of Al Qaeda but more could feel the asymmetrical dynamics would provoke a reaction against the US.
The distinction between AS and anti-Israel - or maybe Judeaphobia - or Zionophobia, fear and horror of abuse of Jewish power, is critical. If you don't have an accurate diagnosis you cannot design an effective treatment plan. As Peter has pointed out, there are studies correlating Israeli violence with acts against Jews which go down when Israel appears to be engaged in peace processes. The concept of "fighting AS" is illogical, but we can thing in terms of dramatically REDUCING Antisemitism by ending the war and the occupation and working for rights and self-determination in whatever form that takes.
The Tree of Life murders were not only because they were Jews, but specifically because they were helping refugees/immigrants. This couple was killed because of being incorrectly implicated in the genocide, as I think they were working to send aid Gaza.
Thank you, Peter. The media coverage of this remains horribly single-sided such, that I've struggled to process this all day long. The babies blown to pieces in Gaza lived precious lives cut short by Netanyahu's immoral campaign. Your words help me to breathe again before dusk. It's a struggle to live in this country every day. Legacy media are not capable of imagining Palistinian lives as precious and worth their time. Sadness
Life is indeed precious, and I mourn the loss of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim. I condemn this act of terrorism by a loony.
This incident should not deter the Palestinian cause. When a white individual commits a mass shooting, we often label him as mentally deranged; we should apply the same standards to Elias Rodriguez and treat him as we have with other mass murderers.
We must hold Biden accountable for the increase in anti-Semitism. Had he not vetoed the UN resolution for a cease-fire three times, we would not have witnessed the deaths of over 50,000 Palestinians, including around 15,000 children. Furthermore, he continued supplying bombs that killed the Palestinians. He has diverted over $150 billion from funds meant for veterans, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, and other child benefits; shame on him—and shame on us for sacrificing Americans. We did not protest enough.
Like everyone else, Biden will leave this world someday, but conscientious Americans will carry guilt for generations. I hope the Catholic Church will excommunicate him; he acted as an anti-Christ, contradicting Jesus' call to be a blessed peacemaker. We must consistently stand against any killings, regardless of where they occur.
We must commit to building cohesive societies in which every American feels secure, regardless of their religious, social, national, sexual, political, or ethnic affiliation.
Thank you Peter for a very strong moral statement about the murder of the two Israeli civilians, and the fact that every Palestinian who has been killed/murdered in Gaza also has a name. People should know that one of the two, Sarah Milgram, was an Israeli peace activist, who was a beloved activist in Tech2Peace, and her death is being mourned by the entire Israeli peace movement. This is a continuation of the terrible fact that many of the Israelis who lived in the border kibbutzim who were killed on October 7th like Vivian Silver of Women Wage Peace, Aviv Atzili and the parents of Maoz Inon were peace activists, along with some of the hostages who were killed like Oded Lifshutz and Chaim Peri. And I know that there were also Palestinian peace activists who were in dialogue with Israelis who have been killed as well in the course of the horrific war. It has to end.
I really must question the premise of describing occupiers who chose to live within shouting distance of a death camp's-then perhaps "merely" a concentration camp-barbed wire fence and flew no Palestinian flags as "peace" activists. "Peace", the occupiers' peace perhaps but arguably not justice activists.
As to the assassinations in DC, under historical perspective: The struggle wasn't about negotiating with Nazi officials to get more calories to Dachau's or Theresienstadt's inmates but about destroying the regime which set up the camps, including by targeting a complicit--but arguably percentage-wise more legitimately "civilian" than Jewish Zionist occupiers--populace.
You have a right to your opinion, but I can assure you that Prof. Rashid Khalidi is an example of one of many Palestinians who doesn't agree with you. Your approach will not help the Palestinians end the horror and get their legitimate rights. I'm currently reading Jonathan Kuttab's memoir "The Truth Shall Set You Free: The Story of a Palestinian Human Rights Lawyer Working for Peace & Justice in Palestine/Israel". I recommend that you read it as well.
Thank you for your response. Obviously, we each have a right to our opinions. I tend to follow the equally Palestinian PFLP regarding armed resistance. Your apparent advocacy of only unarmed resistance will not help Palestinians end the horror that is Zionism. My only recommendation is to read PFLP position statements.
Amen to all the above. Grateful for your voice of reason in this moment.
I live in Washington, DC and passed numerous sirens, police cars and ambulances on my way home last night. When I got home, instead of heading to bed, I turned on CNN.
My first thought when I saw the news was: that could be someone I deeply love. My second thought was: that could have been me, walking into the JCC last week with a friend for the Jewish Film Festival.
My heart breaks for that young couple, but I also refuse to let that pain and fear serve as justification for the ongoing ethnic cleansing and genocide of Palestinians that are no less human than all of us reading this. Multiple truths. Our collective safety is deeply intertwined.
Ethical and war do not have anything to do with each other. Violence of any sort is unethical. The “rules” concerning conducting wars are hopelessly immoral. To murder under the canopy of “war”does not make it anything but wrong.
Wow, you couldn’t have said it any better or with more depth, heart and nuance. I’m profoundly touched by your words, your sermon I should say, and thank you for being such a voice of deep morality. Much gratitude.
All that Peter has said is correct. Added to the tragedy is that Peter and so many antigenocide Jews have predicted this violent reaction to Israel's genocide. One fear is that they are as susceptible to violence by undiscerning pro-Palestinians as those supporting the genocide. We need to condemn violence on all sides at the same time distinguishing pro-genocide Zionists (Christian as well as Jewish) from those who oppose and deplore it.
Peter is a hypocrite by defending Zionists' "right" to call for armed actions against Palestinians(see his essay!)while excluding me from his weekly call for saying(like other attendees)that there are no occupation "civilians". Peter engages in victim-shaming or rather in sectarianism toward supporters of armed resistance against Zionism. How are these assassinations different from partisans assassinating Nazi officials? Palestine's occupiers should be glad that the call is only for their military defeat and possible expulsion rather than the extermination of its genocidal occupiers. Unlike the CCP or Putin-supporting masses whose elimination may be necessary to defend democratic civilisation, fascist Jews are still given the grace of relocation to the US.
I agree with everything you say, but ( or and) there are more points to be made.
It isn’t just that this disgusting cold blooded double murder will set back the pro- Palestinian cause. It is that people will deliberately and consciously use it in that way. Some of them sincerely think it is moral to defend Israel’s brutal actions ( genocidal actions but they will deny this) but immoral to protest them. Immoral, because if you say Israel is committing genocide then it is likely some moral idiot will decide to engage in terrorism to fight back.
The underlying attitude here is a racist one. And as usual, it cloaks itself behind the claim of fighting murderous antisemitism.
A normal decent person exposed to this issue for the first time, probably having spent decades hiding behind Rawls’s veil of ignorance, would see that the DC murders were bad, Hamas terrorism is bad, and Israeli apartheid and genocide are bad. And they would see ideologues running around denying one or two of these propositions, and they would recognize this is also bad.
Though I want to add regarding my last point, that I have seen only a couple people defending the DC murders, but defenses of Israeli atrocities are ubiquitous. And these people are all leaping to invoke the DC murders to bolster their racist apologetics for Israel’s murder spree.
Well said -- but missing an important point. It is important to refute the characterization of this murder as antisemitism. From the very beginning this murder was characterized by the press and by the authorities and by many Jewish groups and by Israel as an antisemitic attack. IT WAN'T!
It was the murder of two low level Israeli diplomats at a conference of diplomats organized by the AJC. The nature of the event and the occupations of the victims and the slogan "Free Free Palestine" shouted by the murderer make it clear that this was an anti-Israel act -- NOT an antisemitic act.
The conflation of antisemitism with anti-Israelism and anti-Zionism harms our ability to fight antisemitism and strengthens the political and ideological agenda of those Israel advocacy organizations that want to weaponize the charge of antisemitism. The most numerous of such groups in the US are the Christian nationalists and Christian Zionists. And large portions of these groups have a long history of real antisemitism. And yet these groups are allied with Jewish Zionist groups in supporting Israel and the Israeli oppression of the Palestinian people and the Israel's genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and southern Lebanon.
Thank you for this Peter, as always, and Benjamin, I am making the same point - it is not antisemitism (AS) but a reaction to the horror of witnessing Israeli/IDF/Jewish/US violence against Palestinians and others. I have been expecting this, actually something bigger and was afraid it would happen. As a political intuitive, I predicted 9/11 - not aware of Al Qaeda but more could feel the asymmetrical dynamics would provoke a reaction against the US.
The distinction between AS and anti-Israel - or maybe Judeaphobia - or Zionophobia, fear and horror of abuse of Jewish power, is critical. If you don't have an accurate diagnosis you cannot design an effective treatment plan. As Peter has pointed out, there are studies correlating Israeli violence with acts against Jews which go down when Israel appears to be engaged in peace processes. The concept of "fighting AS" is illogical, but we can thing in terms of dramatically REDUCING Antisemitism by ending the war and the occupation and working for rights and self-determination in whatever form that takes.
The Tree of Life murders were not only because they were Jews, but specifically because they were helping refugees/immigrants. This couple was killed because of being incorrectly implicated in the genocide, as I think they were working to send aid Gaza.
Thank you, Peter. The media coverage of this remains horribly single-sided such, that I've struggled to process this all day long. The babies blown to pieces in Gaza lived precious lives cut short by Netanyahu's immoral campaign. Your words help me to breathe again before dusk. It's a struggle to live in this country every day. Legacy media are not capable of imagining Palistinian lives as precious and worth their time. Sadness
Two innocent Israelis murdered
46,000 innocent Palestinians murdered
The endless mobius loop of tit for tat leads to more death and destruction.
Thank you Peter. Is there any chance that you would put this on Instagram so your important perspective can reach a wider audience?
Peter
Life is indeed precious, and I mourn the loss of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim. I condemn this act of terrorism by a loony.
This incident should not deter the Palestinian cause. When a white individual commits a mass shooting, we often label him as mentally deranged; we should apply the same standards to Elias Rodriguez and treat him as we have with other mass murderers.
We must hold Biden accountable for the increase in anti-Semitism. Had he not vetoed the UN resolution for a cease-fire three times, we would not have witnessed the deaths of over 50,000 Palestinians, including around 15,000 children. Furthermore, he continued supplying bombs that killed the Palestinians. He has diverted over $150 billion from funds meant for veterans, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, and other child benefits; shame on him—and shame on us for sacrificing Americans. We did not protest enough.
Like everyone else, Biden will leave this world someday, but conscientious Americans will carry guilt for generations. I hope the Catholic Church will excommunicate him; he acted as an anti-Christ, contradicting Jesus' call to be a blessed peacemaker. We must consistently stand against any killings, regardless of where they occur.
We must commit to building cohesive societies in which every American feels secure, regardless of their religious, social, national, sexual, political, or ethnic affiliation.
Mike Ghouse
Center for Pluralism
Unfortunately the babies are still dying and you have been distracted
Thank you Peter for a very strong moral statement about the murder of the two Israeli civilians, and the fact that every Palestinian who has been killed/murdered in Gaza also has a name. People should know that one of the two, Sarah Milgram, was an Israeli peace activist, who was a beloved activist in Tech2Peace, and her death is being mourned by the entire Israeli peace movement. This is a continuation of the terrible fact that many of the Israelis who lived in the border kibbutzim who were killed on October 7th like Vivian Silver of Women Wage Peace, Aviv Atzili and the parents of Maoz Inon were peace activists, along with some of the hostages who were killed like Oded Lifshutz and Chaim Peri. And I know that there were also Palestinian peace activists who were in dialogue with Israelis who have been killed as well in the course of the horrific war. It has to end.
I really must question the premise of describing occupiers who chose to live within shouting distance of a death camp's-then perhaps "merely" a concentration camp-barbed wire fence and flew no Palestinian flags as "peace" activists. "Peace", the occupiers' peace perhaps but arguably not justice activists.
As to the assassinations in DC, under historical perspective: The struggle wasn't about negotiating with Nazi officials to get more calories to Dachau's or Theresienstadt's inmates but about destroying the regime which set up the camps, including by targeting a complicit--but arguably percentage-wise more legitimately "civilian" than Jewish Zionist occupiers--populace.
You have a right to your opinion, but I can assure you that Prof. Rashid Khalidi is an example of one of many Palestinians who doesn't agree with you. Your approach will not help the Palestinians end the horror and get their legitimate rights. I'm currently reading Jonathan Kuttab's memoir "The Truth Shall Set You Free: The Story of a Palestinian Human Rights Lawyer Working for Peace & Justice in Palestine/Israel". I recommend that you read it as well.
Thank you for your response. Obviously, we each have a right to our opinions. I tend to follow the equally Palestinian PFLP regarding armed resistance. Your apparent advocacy of only unarmed resistance will not help Palestinians end the horror that is Zionism. My only recommendation is to read PFLP position statements.
Amen to all the above. Grateful for your voice of reason in this moment.
I live in Washington, DC and passed numerous sirens, police cars and ambulances on my way home last night. When I got home, instead of heading to bed, I turned on CNN.
My first thought when I saw the news was: that could be someone I deeply love. My second thought was: that could have been me, walking into the JCC last week with a friend for the Jewish Film Festival.
My heart breaks for that young couple, but I also refuse to let that pain and fear serve as justification for the ongoing ethnic cleansing and genocide of Palestinians that are no less human than all of us reading this. Multiple truths. Our collective safety is deeply intertwined.
A nice dissection of events that have a common intersection of humanity and violence
I needed to hear this today. Thank you.
Ethical and war do not have anything to do with each other. Violence of any sort is unethical. The “rules” concerning conducting wars are hopelessly immoral. To murder under the canopy of “war”does not make it anything but wrong.
Wow, you couldn’t have said it any better or with more depth, heart and nuance. I’m profoundly touched by your words, your sermon I should say, and thank you for being such a voice of deep morality. Much gratitude.
All that Peter has said is correct. Added to the tragedy is that Peter and so many antigenocide Jews have predicted this violent reaction to Israel's genocide. One fear is that they are as susceptible to violence by undiscerning pro-Palestinians as those supporting the genocide. We need to condemn violence on all sides at the same time distinguishing pro-genocide Zionists (Christian as well as Jewish) from those who oppose and deplore it.
thank you Peter
Peter is a hypocrite by defending Zionists' "right" to call for armed actions against Palestinians(see his essay!)while excluding me from his weekly call for saying(like other attendees)that there are no occupation "civilians". Peter engages in victim-shaming or rather in sectarianism toward supporters of armed resistance against Zionism. How are these assassinations different from partisans assassinating Nazi officials? Palestine's occupiers should be glad that the call is only for their military defeat and possible expulsion rather than the extermination of its genocidal occupiers. Unlike the CCP or Putin-supporting masses whose elimination may be necessary to defend democratic civilisation, fascist Jews are still given the grace of relocation to the US.
I agree with everything you say, but ( or and) there are more points to be made.
It isn’t just that this disgusting cold blooded double murder will set back the pro- Palestinian cause. It is that people will deliberately and consciously use it in that way. Some of them sincerely think it is moral to defend Israel’s brutal actions ( genocidal actions but they will deny this) but immoral to protest them. Immoral, because if you say Israel is committing genocide then it is likely some moral idiot will decide to engage in terrorism to fight back.
The underlying attitude here is a racist one. And as usual, it cloaks itself behind the claim of fighting murderous antisemitism.
A normal decent person exposed to this issue for the first time, probably having spent decades hiding behind Rawls’s veil of ignorance, would see that the DC murders were bad, Hamas terrorism is bad, and Israeli apartheid and genocide are bad. And they would see ideologues running around denying one or two of these propositions, and they would recognize this is also bad.
Though I want to add regarding my last point, that I have seen only a couple people defending the DC murders, but defenses of Israeli atrocities are ubiquitous. And these people are all leaping to invoke the DC murders to bolster their racist apologetics for Israel’s murder spree.