Ron
Jacobs
In
November 1938, a seventeen year old refugee without papers named Herschel
Grynzspan from Poland walked into the Nazi Embassy in Paris, France, asked to
see a member of the diplomatic staff, and when Nazi diplomat Ernst von Rath
appeared, shot him. Von Rath died not long afterwards, despite the efforts of
Hitler’s doctors who were sent to Paris by Hitler. According to most sources,
Grynzspan was angry at the Nazi regime for taking away his parents German
citizenship and employment. They were then sent to a concentration camp in
Poland not long before his action. Some historians have hinted that Grynzspan
was gay, that von Rath was one of his associates and that Grynzspan was
blackmailing him. Grynzspan was arrested in France, where he was imprisoned
until the collaborator Vichy regime came to power; the Gestapo then transferred
him to a concentration camp in Germany. No matter what the rationale was, the
essential fact is that a few days later, the Nazi regime used the assassination
as an excuse to attack Jewish people, their shops and their homes in what
became known as Kristallnacht. While the Kristallnacht pogroms were not
officially carried out by uniformed Nazis in the government or the Party, they
were encouraged and supported by officials in the party including Joseph
Goebbels, who made a speech essentially giving the Nazi rank and file the go
ahead.
On
May 22, 2025, most US residents woke up to the news that a thirty-year-old man
named Elias Rodriguez had been arrested for killing two employees of the
Israeli Embassy outside a benefit at the Jewish museum. Within hours of the
shooting, members of the Trump administration, including Attorney General Pam
Bondi and Trump himself, linked the accused gunman to the movement against the
US-Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza—a movement they label as
anti-Semitic—and vowed to step up the attacks on, the persecution and
prosecution of anti-occupation protesters in the United States. The Israeli
government used the murders as an excuse to kill more Palestinians.
I’m
hesitant to predict how the fallout from this action will unwind. I hope it
doesn’t precipitate a Zionist version of Kristallnacht with fanatics who want
all Palestinians killed or exiled and then take it upon themselves to
precipitate exactly that. We saw suggestions of this possibility in spring 2024
when US Zionist fanatics joined with reserve IDF troops and violently attacked
encampments on college campuses around the United States. Some of these attacks
were funded by wealthy Zionists of both the Christian and Jewish faiths.
Given
the pro-Israel nature of the US establishment, I will phrase these next couple
of sentences carefully. Also, as a student of movements the rulers call
terrorist, I think I understand the anger and frustration that motivated the
alleged killer to commit these murders. This doesn’t mean I support the act.
Indeed, I can honestly state that I oppose the murders of the Israeli embassy
employees just like I oppose the genocidal slaughter and starvation of tens of
thousands of Palestinians by the Israeli military and its henchmen in the
so-called settler movement. I doubt very much that most (or any) supporters of
Israel and its occupation can honestly say the same thing.
There
are at least two questions involved when considering the murders Rodriguez is
accused of. One is moral and the other is political. They exist separately,
complementary and as one. I know there are supporters of the Palestinian people
who believe these killings to be morally justified. Their argument includes
these essential facts: the dead were supporters of the occupation and its
military aspects. Their employer was the government of Israel—a government
accused of genocide by millions around the world, including the International
Court of Justice. These facts made them complicit in the slaughter. I don’t
believe I can do their argument justice since I oppose the murders, so I will
move on.
I
find murder morally reprehensible. As a general rule, I oppose killing. I have
been fortunate, in large part because of the circumstances of my birth, and
have never had to put my moral repulsion at killing to the test. In other
words, I might very well be a member of an armed resistance force if I lived in
Palestine. That being said, I have supported armed anti-imperialist and
anti-colonial resistance in US colonies and neocolonies around the world,
including the Black colony in the United States and continue to do so. I base
this support on the idea that, as residents of the imperial power, it is not up
to us to tell those fighting for their liberation how to fight for it. Instead,
it is up to us to limit the damage the invader can do by opposing its political
and military regime at home. I believe this can best occur by organizing
massive civil disobedience and direct actions in solidarity with those
resisting the US empire around the world. If the US did not have its economic
and military talons skewering people around the world, there would be little to
no need for armed resistance movements to oppose those oppressing and
exploiting them.
The
political element is a bit trickier to discuss. However, given recent history,
it seems quite likely that the murders will be used to further crack down on
the movement in support of the Palestinians. Protesters could see more federal
and state felony charges for speaking out without permission, protests might be
banned and those considered leaders will be silenced. The Zionists will be
emboldened further, with the most hateful and fascist elements taking even more
of a lead than they already have, while Jewish opposition to the occupation and
the genocide will face greater repression and isolation. The template being
used against the supporters of the Palestinians and anti-genocide protesters
will become more repressive and potentially be applied to other anti-trumpist
protests and protesters. In short, the ever-less-nascent fascism of the Trump
administration will be given a much longer leash.
Given
this possibility, it becomes more important than ever that the movement against
the genocide broaden its base and deepen its solidarity and commitment to end
US participation in and support for the Israeli occupation. The hunger strike
begun by a few students is expanding into many other parts of US society,
including veterans. This is one example of what this intensified opposition can
look like. So are the massive protests in London, Amsterdam and Yemen, and many
other places around the globe. So, too, are the blockades and occupations of
corporations and financial institutions involved in providing Israel with the
machinery of death, the weapons of mass destruction, the software and the
technology to commit genocide.
The
obvious intent of the regime in Israel (together with the United States and
other collaborators) is to destroy the people and the concept of Palestine.
That intent is as obvious as the cruelty undertaken by the Israeli military and
many of its civilian supporters. Starving people to death reminds this human of
the Nazi death camps. The antiwar priest Daniel Berrigan wrote in a letter to
the Weather Underground in 1970, “Do only that which one cannot not do.”
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