We Cannot Be Silent on Antisemitism

And we will not be.

(image credit: Rod Lamkey, Jr. // Associated Press)

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Last week, less than a mile from Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., the American Jewish Committee hosted the AJC ACCESS Young Diplomats Reception at the Lillian & Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum.

It was a social event for young professionals in diplomacy and international affairs who work in a wide variety of sub-fields, all of which intersect with human rights, many of them working primarily on human rights and interfaith dialogue.

Shortly after 9pm, the Coward—whom I refuse to acknowledge by name—walked up to a small group in front of the museum who were leaving the event and shot 26-year-old Sarah Milgrim and 30-year-old Yaron Lischinsky at point-blank range.

Ms. Milgrim attempted to crawl away while the Coward reloaded his handgun and then shot her several more times.

Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

Mr. Lischinsky was a research assistant at the Israeli Embassy tasked with monitoring the Middle East. He had planned to propose to Ms. Milgrim the following week.

Ms. Milgrim was a civil society affairs coordinator at the Embassy. She had spent the past several years involved in projects that work to build bridges and advocate for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Prior to—and while—being detained by authorities, the Coward shouted “Free Palestine!” numerous times, erroneously connecting his violent hatred with the cause of protecting Palestinian civilians.

Although there has been an outpouring of grief and condemnation from many on the far left in response to this atrocity, it has also been horrifying and disgusting to watch some morally bankrupt fools absurdly attempt to rationalize, downplay, and justify these antisemitic murders as an understandable—even righteous—response to the ongoing atrocities against innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

Because they’re incompetent. Because they’re antisemitic. Because even in the most generous reading of their asinine worldview, they have completely failed to grasp how much this murderous piece of shit just set back the cause for peace.

Ms. Milgrim and Mr. Lischinsky were the kind of young professionals we need in conversations about Gaza to ensure empathy and accountability. He murdered two people who were exactly the kind of leaders we’d want at the table.

The Coward’s defenders would have us believe that he intentionally went to the site of the oldest surviving synagogue in D.C.—which houses a museum of Jewish history and culture and was hosting a Jewish organization’s event for mostly young Jewish professionals—and somehow, for reasons completely unrelated to antisemitism, murdered two of those young Jewish professionals simply because they happened to be leaving when he arrived.

This completely selfish, narcissistic, sociopathic piece of shit murdered two young leaders we’d want in spaces where decisions are made—and he did so because he equated targeting a Jewish space with supporting liberation.

It's clear that a few on the far-left who are attempting to frame this as "complicated" don't really care about Palestinian liberation. They only care about their egos and performativity and placating the wrath of anti-Jewish extremists.

Those who would defend such a brutal and hateful act of political violence should not be welcome into any space that claims to center liberation, let alone moral clarity, let alone a basic sense of humanity.

Two weeks after the October 7th attack, I wrote an essay on how it had come to feel impossible to either speak up or be silent, so fraught had the national discourse quickly become — and remains.

Twenty months later, we look around us and see silence everywhere. Silence about antisemitism. Silence about Islamophobia. Silence about the horrific slaughter of at least 54,000 Palestinian civilians. Silence about the 58 hostages still with Hamas, only 20 of them confirmed to be alive (as far as we know on any given day).

Silence for fear of scorn. Silence for fear of the inconvenience of good faith. Silence for fear of risking the value of a mile on the value of a conceded inch.

In the aftermath of this shooting, there is understandably a great deal more fear among Jewish Americans, and it’s not as though fear was scarce prior to these murders.

The FBI published data showing that reports of antisemitic hate crimes increased by 63 percent in 2023, and 68 percent of all religion-based hate crimes in the United States that year were antisemitic in nature.

Just last month, the official residence of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro was targeted by an arsonist, and it’s a miracle no one was killed.

There’s obviously nothing I can say that will alleviate any of this, but I would like to reaffirm—alongside so many other non-Jewish folks in this country—a personal commitment to rejecting and combatting antisemitism wherever it exists, however meager that must feel compared to your fear and overwhelming pain.

You are our family and friends and neighbors and colleagues, and we’re not going anywhere. I promise you that.

The family of Ms. Milgrim have asked the public to consider making a donation to the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City (link). Please join me in doing so.

May the memories of Ms. Milgrim and Mr. Lischinsky be a blessing.

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