None Of This Is Helping Palestinians

Progressive Activists' Reputation For Clout Chasing Is Killing Another Cause

​Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, staffers for the Israeli Embassy in Washington and a couple were murdered on Wednesday at an even by a Pro-Palestinian activist. Some activists, like TikToker Guy Christensen, left, have justified it.

The assassination of ​Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, sadly felt inevitable. Since the start of the War in Gaza after the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas, I have become increasingly worried that the futility of Hamas’s war would eventually lead pro-Palestinian activists into a state of desperation. There was no winning this war for Hamas, and Israel, governed by a far-right government elected by a people who have had it with the Palestinians, was never going to go easy on them after the brutality of 10/7.

Early on, there seemed to be a delusion among Palestinian supporters that the world would turn on Israel and intervene on behalf of the Palestinians. They were almost sure of it. At a rally in early 2024 in Manhattan’s Union Square, protestors chanted “One, Two, Three, Palestine Is Almost Free” even as Israel occupied more and more of Gaza. What would happen, I thought, once Trump won the election and Israel had a blank check to annex Gaza and truly ethnically cleanse the Palestinian territories? Activists seemed to believe it wouldn’t happen. Even if Trump won, they thought, he could be convinced to turn on Israel.

Nearly 20 months into this conflict, not only is Palestine not “almost free,” but the existence of the Palestinian people is entirely in jeopardy. Everything the Palestinian activists did has failed. Desperation kicked in. This is when violence like what happened on Wednesday becomes possible.