Violent act: On the Washington shooting, the Palestine cause

The U.S. capital was rocked by the murder of a young couple who served there as Israeli embassy staff. The assailant, who raised slogans to “Free Palestine” following his arrest shortly after the violent act, was named by authorities as Elias Rodriguez. He has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, the murder of foreign officials, causing death with a firearm, and discharging a firearm in a crime of violence. According to reports, his social media accounts have indicated his close involvement with the pro-Palestinian protest movement. The victims, Yaron Lischinsky (30) and Sarah Lynn Milgrim (26), had plans to get married and had warm personal and professional ties with Israel and Palestine, reports noted. U.S. President Donald Trump’s post on the social media platform, Truth Social, said, “These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, now!” Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was “outraged by the horrifying antisemitic murder”, adding that the deaths were caused by “anti-Israeli incitement”. He also linked the attack to actions by the leaders of the U.K., France and Canada, who had signed a candid joint letter recently, condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza. Mr. Netanyahu has accused them of “emboldening Hamas to continue fighting forever” by calling on Israel to end the war there.

If one thing is clear, it is that the Israel-Gaza conflict has firmly entrenched itself in the public discourse in the U.S., with policy implications as well. Soon after kicking off its second term in office, the Trump administration waded into the issue, controversially and unapologetically, when it began conducting immigration raids across U.S. universities, targeting any foreign student who had participated in protests for human rights in Gaza with detention and deportation. Similarly, Mr. Trump made it clear that he was not pulling his punches when the White House announced recently that it would follow up its drastic funding cuts and other restrictions on top-tier universities — it has accused them of not doing enough to prevent anti-Semitism on their campuses — with a ban on the enrolment of international students at Harvard. Although Harvard has received temporary respite — a block has been issued by a U.S. District Court in its favour — the risk of institutions of graduate learning facing “immediate and irreparable injury” remains high at this time. It is important for the international community to be able to criticise Israel’s brutal war in Gaza and rein in Mr. Netanyahu without being seen as anti-Semitic or supportive of Hamas. But violence against Israelis has no place in the efforts to highlight the plight of the Palestinians.