Museum Warns of Dangerous Link Between Antisemitic Speech and Deadly Violence

WASHINGTON – Within days, two antisemitic terrorist attacks in the U.S. have cast in stark relief the outcome of the normalization of hatred of the Jewish people. On May 21, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, staffers at the Israeli Embassy, were brutally murdered outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. The shooter shouted, “Free, free Palestine.” Just 11 days later in Boulder, Colorado, a man yelling “Free Palestine” and “End Zionists” used a homemade incendiary device to viciously attack a peaceful march calling for the release of hostages of all nationalities held in Gaza for over 600 days. Several people remain hospitalized with life-threatening burns. One of the victims is an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor.

“Rarely in U.S. history has such murderous antisemitism been on display. These outrageous terrorist attacks reveal the antisemitism that drives those wanting to ‘globalize the intifada’ and pose an immediate threat to Jewish lives and the democratic foundations of our country,” said United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Chairman Stuart E. Eizenstat. “All sectors of society must unflinchingly confront antisemitism in all of its forms—including anti-Zionism—before it provokes more violence against innocent people. Unverified stories and conspiracy theories, rampant on social media and too often echoed in the press, preceded each of these attacks. The centuries-long portrayal of Jews as killers and predators—which the Nazis exploited to lay the groundwork for the Holocaust—makes clear the deadly consequences of this type of demonization.” 

A nonpartisan federal, educational institution, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is America’s national memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, dedicated to ensuring the permanence of Holocaust memory, understanding, and relevance. Through the power of Holocaust history, the Museum challenges leaders and individuals worldwide to think critically about their role in society and to confront antisemitism and other forms of hate, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity. For more information, visit ushmm.org.