Community comes together to honour victims of Washington shootings

Campaigners fighting antisemitism have described the killing of two diplomats outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington as “a ticking time bomb which has been waiting to explode”.

Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgram, who both worked for the Israeli Embassy in the United States, were shot outside Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday night as they were leaving an event.

According to police at the scene, the suspect, Elias Rodriguez, 30, from Chicago, shouted: “Free, free Palestine” as he was taken into custody.

Following a vigil for the couple, organised by the Campaign Against Antisemitism, outside the Israeli Embassy in London on Thursday evening, a spokesperson for the organisation said: “The growing extremism of the ‘Free Palestine’ movement has been a ticking time bomb which has been waiting to explode. This is what they mean when they yell ‘Globalise the intifada’ on the streets of capital cities, on our campuses and at trade union meetings.

“It means murder and terrorism, and yet the authorities have gaslit us, telling is that these are peaceful protesters.”

The couple, who were due to get engaged, were active in interfaith dialogue and peacebuilding initiatives.

A crowd gathers for a vigil outside the Israeli Embassy in London on Thursday following the killing of two Israeli Embassy staff in Washington the day before (Photo: CAA)[Missing Credit]

Speaking earlier at the vigil, CAA chief executive Gideon Falter said: “They were a couple, and had plans to travel to Jerusalem next week, where Yaron intended to propose to Sarah. That is what could have been. That is what should have been. Instead, their lives were stolen, and now, that proposal will never come. The family they would have built will never be realised.

“They were gunned down at the very gates of a Jewish museum — a place meant to preserve memory and culture — by a man shouting, ‘Free Palestine.’ This was not peace. It was violence. This was not protest. It was murder.”

Officials said Rodriguez was seen pacing outside the museum before opening fire on a group of four people.

At his court hearing Thursday, the suspect was charged with first-degree murder, as well as murder of foreign officials and related firearm charge and ordered to remain in detention. His next hearing has been scheduled for 18 June.

Social media accounts under the suspect’s name suggest that he was very active in the pro-Palestinian movement, and investigators said they were examining online statements allegedly written by him, which accused Israel of genocide and talked about violence as a form of political protest.

The Chief Rabbi said that despite the killings, which have sent shockwaves round the diaspora and Israel, the Jewish community “will never lose our hope, and we have every reason to be filled with hope, and that is because we know that the peace we are committed to, the justice that we want to see in the world, will ultimately triumph over those who seek to kill and to murder”.

The Chief Rabbi attended the vigil for couple Sarah Lynn Milgrim and Yaron Lichinsky, who were gunned down outside the Capital Museum in Washington on Wednesday. The vigil was organised by the Campaign Against Antisemitism, whose chief executive, Gideon, Falter, is pictured right (Photo: Elliott Franks)Elliott Franks

Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely sent a statement to the crowd, saying: “At a time when tensions remain high, and Jewish communities are feeling vulnerable, this incident is a sobering reminder of the threats we face. All diplomats, and representatives of embassies across the world, should be able to work without fear for their lives or safety, as they work to achieve greater cooperation amongst nations. Last night’s events are a harsh reminder of the virulent antisemitism we are still seeing, in the US, here in the UK, and across the world.”

The crowd then observed a two-minute for the victims and were then led in song and prayer by Cantor Aaron Isaac. The vigil finished with the singing of the British national anthem and the Hatikvah.