Man, Who Kills 2 Israeli Embassy Staff Members in D.C., Said He Did It for Palestine & Gaza

(Embassy of Israel in U.S. via AP)

With all of the anti-Semitic hatred directed at Israel in this country since October 7, 2023, it was only a matter of time when a pro-Hamas apologist was going to kill Jews on American soil. 

It happened last night in Washington, D.C. in front of the Capital Jewish Museum where a gunman shot and killed two people. As it turned out, the two people were employed at the Israeli Embassy. Sarah Milgrim, who was born in this country, and German-born Israeli born Yaron Lischinsky were engaged to be married. They were attending an event at the museum sponsored by the American Jewish Committee. 

The perpetrator has been identified as Elias Rodriguez. He entered the museum following the shooting. At first, those inside thought he might have witnessed the shooting and was traumatized by what he saw. But after police arrived, Rodriguez pulled out a red keffiyeh and gleefully shouted, "I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza."

Mind you, Rodriguez traveled from Chicago to D.C. to commit the crime with a gun in tow. Whether it was a false statement by a UN official that 14,000 babies in Gaza would die of starvation within 48 hours which pushed him over the edge or whether he's been planning since October 7th, Rodriguez succeeded in his mission to kill Jews.

Naturally, there are those who are making excuses for Rodriguez's actions such as Rabbi David Mivasair who wrote on X:

They claim "simply for being Jewish" bcz they must deflect from the reality that this young couple was murdered bcz they worked in the embassy of a country committing livestreamed genocide -- devoting themselves to its relations with the US, which maintains that genocide.

No, schmuck!!! Rodriguez deliberately targeted a Jewish gathering. Of course, Rodriguez had no specific way to know he shot two Israelis, but I have no doubt he delights in having done so. But Rodriguez would have exclaimed that he did it for Palestine and Gaza whether the people he had shot were from Israel or from Illinois. The murder of any Jew would have accomplished his mission.

I should mention that Mivasair spent a number of years as the guest rabbi at Shaarey Shomayim in my hometown Thunder Bay, Ontario although the congregation would sever their ties with him after October 7th.

Naturally, I fear this will not be the last such incident of this kind where Jewish institutions are targeted either by Palestinians or those who are in "solidarity" with them.

I also feel a certain horror that this occurred at an event sponsored by the American Jewish Committee. In December 2023, I attended an event at a synagogue in Newton with the theme, "In Plain Sight: Anti-Semitism in America".

At the time, I was critical of AJC for not advertising the meeting openly because it sends the message that Jews must now meet in secret. Was last night's gathering in D.C. advertised or was it kept restricted to those on their mailing list. If it was the latter, then how did Rodriguez find out about it?

Whatever the case, Jews must live our lives in America out in the open. Anything less and we live on our knees. Yes, this entails a certain amount of risk. But we cannot cower to Palestinians and their apologists who believe violence against Jews is acceptable. The same can also be said for far-right white supremacists. 

Sarah Milgram and Yaron Lischinsky had their whole lives ahead of them - marriage, children, grandchildren. Now that has been snuffed out by a man who did so in the name of Palestine and Gaza. How many more will see fit to follow the path of Elias Rodriguez? And who among us will stop them? And who among us will see fit to call out Palestinians and their apologists who refuse to condemn these acts?

Of course, there is a right way and a wrong way to confront pro-Palestinian anti-Semitism. The wrong way is to arbitrarily detain and deport people as has been done by the Trump Administration. You just create martyrs that way. The right way is to demonstrate why anti-Semitism is an evil which can spread like wildfire whether one was born in Palestine or in Palatine and for Americans to shun anti-Semites in whichever form it takes.