By The Cradle
Two employees of the Israeli embassy in the US were killed in a shooting attack in Washington DC early on 22 May, causing an uproar and accusations about “antisemitism” being the motive behind the killings.
Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, the two Israeli diplomats, were shot while leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in the US capital. The two were reportedly set to be engaged, as Lischinsky had planned to propose to Milgrim in occupied Jerusalem next week.
The shooter has been identified as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez, who chanted “Free, free Palestine” as he was being detained by Metropolitan Police shortly after the attack. Reports said he had first put his hands up and told the police, “I did this” before getting arrested.
Rodriguez was holding a Keffiye, a traditional Palestinian headscarf, which was seen falling to the ground in the footage of his arrest.
“These horrible DC killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW! Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA. Condolences to the families of the victims. So sad that such things as this can happen! God Bless You ALL!” US President Donald Trump said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was “shocked by the horrifying antisemitic murder” and vowed to bolster security at Israel’s embassies worldwide.
Danny Danon, Israeli ambassador to the UN, also referred to the shooting as a “depraved act of antiSemitic terrorism.”
The shooter had no past criminal record, police said. According to reports, he was known to have participated in pro-Palestine protests condemning Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, and was reportedly affiliated with the US-based Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL).
The PSL, however, clarified that Rodriguez was not a member of the group.
A manifesto allegedly written by Rodriguez and obtained by journalist Ken Klippenstein praised US airman Aaron Bushnell – who self-immolated outside the US embassy last year in protest against the war in Gaza – as well as others who “sacrificed themselves in the hopes of stopping the massacre.”
The manifesto goes on to condemn Israel for its killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza and its blockade preventing humanitarian aid from entering the strip.
“We who let this happen will never deserve the Palestinians’ forgiveness,” Rodriguez allegedly wrote.
The killing came after a delegation of foreign diplomats came under fire from Israeli troops at the eastern entrance of the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
It also coincided with a brutal new operation – dubbed Gideon’s Chariots – being carried out by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip.
The operation aims to bring the entirety of Gaza under Israeli control and will see the army displace the whole population and confine it to a small area in the southern region of the strip.
Well over 500 Palestinians have been killed in just a few days as a result of nonstop airstrikes from south to north.
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