J7 statement on the Deadly Shooting at the Jewish Museum in Washington DC.

The J7 Large Com­munit­ies’ Task Force Against Antisemitism, rep­res­ent­ing the seven largest diaspora Jewish com­munit­ies, issued the following statement in reaction to Wednesday’s deadly shooting at the Jewish Museum in Wash­ing­ton DC:

We are dev­ast­ated by the antisemitic terrorist shooting targeting the Capital Jewish Museum in Wash­ing­ton DC, killing two young people at the prime of their lives who had been attending an American Jewish Committee event for young lead­er­ship on dip­lo­mat­ic human­it­ari­an projects.

The threat of antisemitic violence and terrorism targeting Jewish insti­tu­tions and Jewish people is a daily reality for our com­munit­ies. Par­tic­u­larly in the aftermath of the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, we have seen the expo­nen­tial rise in antisemitic actions and threats along with a continual drumbeat of rhetoric that incites and justifies this hate.

This heinous attack is yet another wake-up call that gov­ern­ments, law enforce­ment and societies worldwide need to take language and threats directed against the Jewish community seriously and ensure our com­munit­ies have the security they need. In the past decade, Jews have been killed in their syn­agogues, kosher grocery stores, and their homes. Antisemitic attitudes, ste­reo­types, and con­spir­acy theories have become more nor­mal­ized. They are a threat not only to Jewish com­munit­ies but also to the freedoms and rights of all people.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of Yaron Lis­ch­in­sky, an Israeli-German and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, an American from Kansas, who were staffers at the Israeli Embassy in Wash­ing­ton. May their memories be a blessing.

J7 Members

Argentina: Del­ega­ción de Asociaciones Israel­it­as Argen­ti­nas (DAIA)
Australia: Executive Council of Aus­trali­an Jewry (ECAJ)
Canada: Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA)
France: Conseil Représent­atif des Insti­tu­tions Juives de France (CRIF)
Germany: Central Council of Jews in Germany
The United Kingdom: Board of Deputies of British Jews
The United States: ADL (Anti-Defam­a­tion League) and the Con­fer­ence of Pres­id­ents of Major American Jewish Organ­iz­a­tions