Police said a suspect was in custody after the shooting near the Capital Jewish Museum
A suspect is in custody after shooting dead two Israeli embassy staff outside a Jewish museum in Washington on Wednesday night.
The gunman, named by police as Elias Rodriguez, 30, of Chicago, approached a group of four people leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum and opened fire, killing Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim.
Metropolitan police chief Pamela Smith said the shooter had been pacing outside the museum, which is steps away from the FBI’s field office, before the shooting.
After killing the pair, who officials said were a couple, he walked inside, where event security detained him. The suspect yelled: “Free, free Palestine,” after he was arrested, police said.
That’s a really bizarre take. I don’t know anyone who is Jewish who specifically argues against the existence of Israel. I have read about, like, the idea that “Israel” can’t exist until the messiah appears and in the early days of its creaton that was a schism of sorts, but I don’t think they go so far as to not support the Jewish state with that name or the people who live there in general.
And as for supporters of Israel who aren’t Jewish, I guess I’d have to ask what the context is - what “supporter” is defined as and so on. I imagine there are people who support Israel who are not Jewish, and any of them I might know would be very much against the genocide at the same time.
In general terms, if someone attacks an Israeli-sponsored event, or museum, or whatever, the odds are very very good they intend to attack Jewish people. To think that’s racist is kinda weird.
It reminds me a little of the sort of David Icke position where Zionism is certainly behind a number of global conspiracies and truly evil to its core, but has absolutely nothing to do with the Jewish religion or Jewish people. I think that’s got a whiff of truth but is in practical terms not true and essentially creates an environment to hate on Jewish people while absolving themselves of racist charges.
I’m not talking about the existence of Israel, or some asshole’s conspiracy lunacy. I’m just talking about the brutality and crimes of Israel.
Are you saying that because you don’t know any Jewish people that have a problem with Israel’s actions, that being a supporter of Israel is part of being Jewish? Are you really comfortable making such a generalization?
No.
I’m saying I know Jewish people who have a huge problem with Israel’s actions and support Israel and, yes that support is part of how they identify as Jewish.
And I’m totally comfortable with that as a generalization because I haven’t seen anything like a large group of people who are just one of those things (with the notable exception of Evangelical ‘Christians’ who support Israel, and their crimes, and are not Jewish).