OPINION:
I am horrified by murders on Wednesday night of two Israeli embassy staff workers — Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, a young couple that reportedly planned to become engaged next week in Jerusalem — at an event sponsored by the American Jewish Committee outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington (“Two Israeli Embassy staffers shot dead in D.C. by gunman who yelled ‘Free, Free Palestine,’” Web, May 22).
Lest there be any doubt as to intent and motive, the alleged perpetrator apparently shot them at close range and repeatedly shouted “Free, free Palestine” while being taken into custody.
Ironically and unsurprisingly, the murdered Israelis were peace activists. Mr. Lischinsky wrote on LinkedIn: “I’m an ardent believer in the vision that was outlined in the Abraham Accords and believe that expanding the circle of peace with our Arab neighbors and pursuing regional cooperation is in the best interest of the State of Israel and the Middle East as a whole. To this end, I advocate for interfaith dialogue and intercultural understanding.”
This is a reminder that the so-called “pro-Palestinian” protests that have spread across the country since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel — and the accompanying slogans, such as “Free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea,” as well as the individuals who chant them — are unabashedly antisemitic.
It also reminds us of the violent ends to which seemingly small acts of anti-Israel dehumanization — from tearing down posters of Israelis kidnapped and held hostage by Hamas and blocking Jewish and pro-Israel students from libraries and classes on college campuses, to saturating neighborhoods, schools and government buildings with pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel graffiti — can ultimately lead.
STEPHEN A. SILVER
San Francisco, California
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