Fatal attack on embassy employees: hate crimes or terror?

Fatal attack on embassy employees: hate crimes or terror?

Washington, USA - The situation in the USA continues to come to a head after two employees of the Israeli embassy in Washington, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, fell victim to a fatal attack. The alleged perpetrator, Elias R., is on trial because of the first degree murder and violations of weapons laws and threatens the death penalty. The public prosecutor treats the incident as a hate crime and possibly as a terrorist act. Elias R., who comes from Chicago and traveled to Washington a day before the crime, stated during his arrest that he had committed the act out of support for the Palestinians and called "Free Palestine" on this occasion. Video surveillance material shows how he gave several shots on his victims. Investigators found a 9mm pistol and 21 cartridge sleeves at the scene. A hearing is planned for June 18. Krone reports that this brutal act is in the context of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza strip that started in October 2023.

With the outbreak of violence in the Middle East, the United States has experienced an alarming increase in racist attacks. According to a report by the NZZ, the Gaza War leads to an increase in anti-Semitic, antarabic and Islamophobic incidents. Among other things, an attack on three Palestinian students in Burlington, Vermont, was documented, in which one of the students was paralyzed from the chest. The perpetrator is not guilty and the motif is suspected as an antarabic hate crime. Furthermore, the murder of the six-year-old Wadea al-Fayoule occurred on October 14th because he was Palestinian and Muslim. NZZ documented a number of 832 anti -Semitic incidents in the United States between October 7th and November 7th, which is more than a triplet in comparison to the previous year.

growing tensions at the universities

The situation of US universities is particularly tense. At the Cooper Union in New York, Jewish students entrenched themselves in a library, while pro-Palestinian demonstrators hammered against the windows. A video of this incident went viral. In addition, a student at Cornell University threatened to bring a assault rifle to campus and shoot Jewish people. This questionable incident ended with the arrest of the 21-year-old, who appeared in a prison suit for the first hearing and did not make a confession, whereby the indictment can be punished with up to five years in prison. The current tensions were also described by experts like Brian Levin, a specialist in hatred and extremism, as "historically threatening". Against the background of these attacks, a national strategy to combat Islamophobia on the part of the US government.

President Biden has vehemently condemned both anti -Semitism and Islamophobia. The US government has initiated investigative measures at six universities to examine anti-Semitic and anti-Islamic incidents. At the same time, FBI director Christopher Wray warned of potential attacks by American extremists, fueled by the globalization of the conflicts in the Middle East. The acts of violence based on the concept of clasp liability make it clear that all Jews or Muslims are held responsible for the deeds of individuals, which further fuel the tensions.