Every Life is a Universe

On the Murder of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrom

For several days, I have resisted sharing my thoughts about the tragic murder of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrom in Washington D.C. Mostly, I have resisted because it seems that everyone else has an opinion about it, and I’m not sure I have anything to say about it that would add significantly to the discussion. I will admit, however, that there is also a small part of me that has resisted saying anything because, quite frankly, I have complicated feelings about the whole matter.

Now, let me just get out of the way what is NOT complicated in this situation. What is NOT complicated is that the murder of Yaron and Sarah was tragic, and it never should have happened. It was wrong, and not just because it hurts the Palestinian cause. It was wrong because, as Jewish tradition states, every life is a universe. Every human life is precious, and we should all be horrified when young lives are snuffed out too soon. We should all condemn it. Full stop.

Yet it is this very fact— the fact that every life is precious— that brings up complicated feelings for me. In the past few days, I have heard many of my Jewish friends and colleagues speaking out against hate and violence, when all the while, for the last 19 months, they have been silent about the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza. There was much rage about a now debunked story of beheaded babies on October 7, but where is the rage for actual beheaded babies in Gaza— for children’s bodies that have literally been ripped apart by bombs? There has been much consternation about alleged hate towards Jewish students on college campuses, but where is the same concern for Muslim students who are spit upon, threatened, and in the case of Muslim students at Brown University, shot?

If every life is a universe, then everyone who is angry about this past week’s shooting in D.C. should be equally outraged about the intentional starvation of the entire civilian population of Gaza. Israel has killed an average of 30 children a day since the genocide began. Where is the outrage for them? Where is the concern for them?

It is the lack of outrage on behalf of children in Gaza that makes it difficult for me to take seriously the critique of the Palestine solidarity movement for not being sufficiently outraged about this past week’s events. One recent opinion piece in Haaretz criticizes those who have been vocal on behalf of Palestine for being “uncharacteristically quiet,” and assumes that our silence is because deep down, we nod our heads in silent approval at the murder of two young Jews. This particular opinion piece also argues that an event like this was inevitable given that we are apparently a movement “in thrall to a cult of violence.”

I reject the assertion that this act was an inevitable result of the Palestine solidarity movement. I reject it because the truth is, the vast majority of the people who have been demonstrating for Palestinian justice and freedom have chosen to do so in peaceful ways. We have marched peacefully, we have prayed peacefully, we have fasted and boycotted because of our commitment is to non-violent resistance. We have raised our voices— forcefully, to be sure— but we have done so peacefully. Have we made some people uncomfortable? Absolutely. Does discomfort equal violence? Absolutely not.

What finally prompted me to speak was an email I received from a colleague suggesting that those of us who are against the war in Gaza should refrain from using radical, violent rhetoric, including the phrase “free Palestine.” This was too much for me to bear. This attempt to mute our voices and our advocacy, to manipulate us into feeling guilty for speaking up for a population that is being exterminated, pushed me over the edge. I will never stop saying “free Palestine,” until the day that Palestine is free. I will never stop speaking out against the murder of children and the intentional starvation of an entire people. To say that we shouldn’t use the simplest, plainest of language, just because one deranged person happened to say the same thing, is an outrageous demand. If I suggested that because one radical Israeli settler, who happened to be violent, used the phrase “Israel has the right to defend itself,” all Israelis and supporters of Israel should refrain from using the phrase, I doubt that request would be received kindly.

To say that “free Palestine” is somehow extremist or violent is to fundamentally misunderstand the movement for justice in Palestine all together, for the Palestinian solidarity movement understands that truly, none of us are free until all of us are free. This means that until there is a free Palestine, Israelis also are not free. Freedom for Palestinians means freedom for Israelis. Freedom for Palestinians means freedom for all.

Therefore, I will not be silent. I will continue to raise my voice and say, as loud as I can, “free Palestine.” And I will continue to advocate, non-violently, for the freedom and liberation of all people. The murder of two young people in D.C. was wrong and it was tragic. And, the murder of Palestinians in Gaza is also wrong, because every life is previous. Every. Single. One.