Seven Years After Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting, JCPA Highlights Crisis of Increasingly-Normalized Antisemitism and Extremism

Today marks seven years since the horrific Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, where a white supremacist gunman murdered 11 Jewish worshippers from three congregations at Tree of Life, the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in American history. 

Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) and member of The Tree of Life Academic Advisory Council — who previously led the successful lawsuit against the white supremacists responsible for the Charlottesville violence — released the following statement:

“Seven years after the Tree of Life shooting, the insidious antisemitism, hate, and extremism that fueled that attack have become normalized in our politics and our society.

As we face rising antisemitism across the ideological spectrum, we must remain clear-eyed about how this particular brand of antisemitic extremism is being mainstreamed in the highest levels of power: avowed neo-Nazis appointed to senior government roles; the embrace of the deadly conspiracy theories that inspired this violence; and the gutting of the very programs intended to counter domestic extremism. At the same time, social media companies are giving an unchecked platform to this hate, incentivizing and monetizing it in incredibly dangerous ways. And extremists of all stripes seize on this to pit the Jewish community against others and reinforce division and polarization, when solidarity has never been more urgent.

This leaves the Jewish, and all communities, even more vulnerable at a moment we were already facing record-level hate.

The Pittsburgh attack — and the broader cycle of extremist violence — are a painful reminder that Jewish safety is inextricably linked with the safety of all communities. There is no inclusive democracy without Jewish safety — when Jews are unsafe, all communities are threatened. And so too does our safety as Jews depend on the safety and rights of all communities and a strong, pluralistic democracy.

The solidarity and resilience of the Pittsburgh community in the aftermath of the Tree of Life attack should inspire us to action — to rejecting efforts to divide us; to advancing the whole-of-society approach that treats this crisis with the seriousness it demands; and to building a world in which Jews and all people can pray, study, and live safely and freely without fear. 

Today we remember Joyce, Richard, Rose, Jerry, Cecil, David, Bernice, Sylvan, Daniel, Melvin, and Irving. May their memories forever be a blessing, and may their legacy be one of resilience, hope, and strength.”