11 deaths in a mass shooting at a Synagogue, suspect was motivated by antisemitism.

Police and medical personnel respond to the attack. USA Today/AP.

11 people are dead and more were wounded during a mass shooting at a Synagogue committed by an avowed antisemite. USA Today. The attack took place at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania during a bris. The attacker was Robert Bowers, a 46 year old who had a social media presence and regularly denigrated Jews. He used a rifle and three handguns in the attack. When police responded to the massacre they engaged Bowers and four officers were wounded taking him into custody. Bowers survived and has been charged. The motive for the attack was very clearly antisemitism. Bowers was also a critic of President Donald Trump. 

Yahoo News has a live update post for this attack. 

A few examples of Bowers Gab.ai posts are below. 

My Comment:

I have to be very careful in this post because in order to explain antisemitism sometimes you get mistaken as an antisemite. As a precaution that I hope isn't needed I want to make sure that people understand that I have no problems with Jews and that I am not an antisemite. Explaining what other people believe does not mean that you believe those things yourself. Such warnings shouldn't be necessary but in the aftermath of an attack like this, it's probably warranted. 

This was a pretty bad mass shooting and one that was not expected, at least by me. Though I do think that antisemitism is getting worse globally I hadn't expected any violence. This was very obviously an attack that was motivated by a hatred of Jews. Obviously the social media posts and the fact that the attacker literally yelled "all Jews must die!" during his attack makes it very hard to blame it on anything else. Generally speaking though I didn't think people were that serious about antisemitism here.

Some are, of course, trying to blame this on things other than the attacker and his beliefs anyways. Obviously, antisemites are trying to distance themselves from this attack, which doesn't seem to be working since it's impossible to not claim Bowers as one of them. The media seems to be going with the fact that Bowers was anti-immigration and trying to link him to Donald Trump despite the fact that Bowers appears to hate President Trump. And if immigration was the reason for this attack, why not attack one of the secular or Christian charities that do the same immigration work? The fact that he didn't leaves no doubt in my mind that antisemitism was the motive in this attack, not that it makes it better.

Speaking of President Trump, Bowers was not a fan. Though I don't buy into any conspiracy theories about this attack, I don't think it was a coincidence that it happened right before the midterms. Bowers said "screw your optics" meaning he didn't care if this hurt the GOP in November or not and that he hated President Trump for being pro-Jewish. Though obviously his main goal was to kill innocent people I think he also didn't mind that this could hurt the GOP in November and considered that a bonus. My guess is that he was trying to force the GOP to become the anti-Jew party even though such an idea is ludicrous to say the least. 

There is no doubt in my mind that Trump was always going to be pro-Jewish and pro-Israel as his daugher and son-in-law are both Jewish and his base is wildly supportive of Israel. I think many on the political fringes thought that the media spin on Trump was correct and when he got sworn in and is now very obviously a pretty typical pro-Israel Republican they felt it as a personal betrayal even though it should have been very obvious from the start that Trump wanted nothing to do with antisemitism. 

The gun control debate may be revived due to this attack. President Trump has already said that they should have had armed guards and it's very hard to argue with that. It may not have prevented this shooting but it would have probably bought time for people to escape and led to a smaller body count. Generally speaking though I doubt that angle will be covered for long even though the media's favorite boogyman, the AR-15, was used in this attack. 

I do have to say that I have never understood Jewish opposition for gun rights. Though there are a few noted exceptions in the Jewish community, many do support gun control. You would think a group that has been almost wiped off the face of the earth more than once would be more willing to arm themselves not only to protect themselves but to take a few of the people with them if something like the Holocaust happens again. But that has never been the case and I just don't understand why. I do know that if I knew any Jewish people I would be more than willing to take them to a gun range in the wake of this attack if they wanted too. I think they should take steps to protect themselves, just like everyone else. 

Free speech is going to come up more than gun control I'm afraid. Gab.ai is getting a ton of flack for having this guy on their site and apparently verifying him. Bowers account has now been removed (which I always hate because it prevents private investigations) but Paypal has pulled their business with Gab. I'm a free speech absolutist and believe that everyone should be able to have social media accounts regardless of their beliefs but I fear that this attack may lead to more censorship. Full disclosure, I do have an account at Gab.ai to promote this blog but I of course don't approve of the antisemites that use the site, even if I do think they should be allowed to speak. Kicking them off of Twitter was a mistake as now they get less pushback when they say something stupid.

I also think that 4chan's /pol/ board might be in trouble as well. There is quite a bit of antisemtism there, most of which is tongue and cheek. A lot of it is real though (and international, many non-Americans post there as well) so I am guessing that they get blamed, even though there is no evidence that Bowers posted there. 

I do have to say that antisemitism seems to be increasing rapidly on both the far right and far left. Indeed, that's one of the few things they, and Radical Islam, agree on. They do take a different path to reach the same conclusions though. For the far left it is Israel. They hate the Jewish state and un-ironically call it an apartheid state. There is also some more general anti-capitalism stuff about Jewish businessmen but that's rarer than straight up hating Israel. As the socialist wing of the Democratic Party becomes ascendant I have seen quite a bit more anti-Jew stuff coming from the left, to the point where I don't think it's controversial to say that the Democratic Party is becoming anti-Israel. 

It's a different story on the far right. Though they hate Israel as well (while at the same time hating Muslims for the most part, which gets really confusing for normal people) generally these people are much more concerned about the actions of American Jews. Support for globalism is a big part of it as many Jews do support that belief system. The fact that many feel that Jews are massively over-represented in entertainment, technology and the academic systems (which is backed up by demographics) is a huge part of it as well. Many also see quite a bit of racism against whites as coming from Jewish individuals. (Keep in mind I am just explaining their beliefs, not advocating them).

I also don't think that this attack occurring at a bris was an accident. A bris is a celebration of circumcision and there are few things in this world that are more controversial than circumcision. Indeed, I often have trouble figuring out if these people hate circumcision because of Jews or hate Jews because of circumcision. Either way, I would be willing to bet that this attack was at least partially motivated by hatred of the practice. They idea that a little flap of skin is worth killing over is beyond stupid but it's a disturbingly common thought. Thankfully the baby wasn't shot in this attack. 

I do think that these kinds of attacks might continue. America has always been very friendly to Jews but I do think that antisemitism is on the rise here. It used to be that there wasn't any place in the world that was safer for Jews than America outside of Israel (and not even there during wartime) but I am wondering if that is true anymore. It probably is still a better situation than Europe, which has been overrun by both Muslims and antisemites on the left and right, but I do wonder if this attack is a start of something worse... I do think there is quite a bit of potential for a copycat attack(s).