08/02 Links Pt2: Jury votes to sentence Tree of Life synagogue killer to death; Don't let the Palestinians erase the Jewish history of Israel

From Ian:

Pittsburgh jury votes to sentence Tree of Life synagogue killer to death

A federal jury on Wednesday sentenced Robert Bowers to death for killing 11 worshippers at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, the deadliest antisemitic attack in US history, the New York Times reported.

In June, the jury found Bowers, 50, guilty of dozens of federal hate crimes in the trial held at the US District Court in Pittsburgh in western Pennsylvania. Bowers was convicted of 63 counts, including 11 counts of obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death.

Two weeks ago, during the first phase of the sentencing portion of the trial, the jury found Bowers to be eligible for the death penalty. Jurors then heard testimony and arguments from both prosecutors and defense attorneys as to whether he deserved to be put to death for the killings.

On June 16, the jury found him guilty on all counts, with defense lawyers offering no dispute that he planned and carried out the attack.

First-hand accounts pulled at the heartstrings of jurors
Jurors heard testimony from some of the survivors of the attack and evidence of Bowers' antisemitism, including multiple posts attacking Jews made on a far-right website in the months leading up to the attack.

In federal capital cases, a unanimous vote by jurors in a separate penalty phase of the trial is required in order to sentence a defendant to death, and the judge cannot reject the jury's vote. If jurors are unable to reach a unanimous decision, the offender is instead sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release.

In the sentencing phase, prosecutors have argued that Bowers had the necessary intent and premeditation to qualify for the death penalty. They presented witnesses and evidence to show he carefully planned the attack and deliberately targeted vulnerable elderly worshipers.

Defense lawyers argued that Bowers suffers from major mental illness, including schizophrenia, and so lacked the necessary level of intent.

Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, who hid in a bathroom during the attack, thanked the jury in a statement, saying "it is my hope that we can begin to heal and move forward."

US Jewish leaders applaud death sentence for Tree of Life shooter

Jewish organizations have applauded a Pittsburg jury's Wednesday decision to sentence the perpetrator of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in 2018.

Amb. Ronald S. Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, emphasized, "Today's decision represents a measure of justice for the slaughter of 11 Jewish worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, the deadliest act of antisemitism in US history."

Lauder continued, "The jury's decision is a stark reminder to remain vigilant against antisemitism, calling on American leaders to amplify efforts to protect Jewish communities nationwide."

The American Jewish Committee (AJC) stated, "As we process the jury's decision, let us remember the eleven lives lost to a cold-blooded hater of Jews while at prayer in the synagogue."

Yaakov Hagoel, chairman of the World Zionist Organization, praised the Pennsylvania court's decision to sentence the antisemitic killer to death, asserting, "No punishment can undo the loss of these 11 lives, but we will not forget nor forgive."

Reflection on the Jewish community of Pittsburgh
Jewish Federations of North America shared their thoughts and prayers, stating: "As our friends at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh reflect, our thoughts, sympathy, and prayers today are with the Pittsburgh community; the families of the victims; the survivors and first responders directly affected; the congregations that lost loved members; and all of the people traumatized by this crime."

They continued by remembering and honoring the eleven victims.

As they acknowledged the closing of this chapter, the organization emphasized the strength and resilience of Pittsburgh's Jewish community.

Chairman of The Jewish Agency, Doron Almog, reflected on his visit to the Pittsburgh community, stating: "A year ago I visited the Pittsburgh community that is still picking up the pieces from the unimaginable tragedy. The memory of the murdered will be encircled in our hearts, and we at the Jewish Agency send a big hug and strengthen the hands of the families and the community."

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10/27 Links Pt2: Marking 4 years since Tree of Life massacre, Biden rues ‘ugly rise’ of antisemitism; Melanie Phillips: The unholy alliance between Republicans and Islamists; BigLaw’s Jewish Problem

From Ian:

Marking 4 years since Tree of Life massacre, Biden rues ‘ugly rise’ of antisemitism

US President Joe Biden led memorial messages and vows to combat antisemitism on Thursday, marking four years since a gunman shot dead eleven Jewish worshipers and injured seven others at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

“A quiet Shabbat morning was shattered by gunfire and hate, and a place of sanctuary became a place of carnage,” Biden said in a statement.

“As we grieve this deadliest act of antisemitism in American history, we stand with the community of Squirrel Hill — and Jewish communities across America and around the world — in resolving to combat antisemitism and hate in all of its forms,” he said.

“This is especially true as we witness an ugly increase in antisemitism in America.”

Listing action the administration has taken to confront antisemitism, Biden noted the appointment of Holocaust expert Deborah Lipstadt as Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, an ambassador-level role.

He also cited the largest-ever increase in funding for security for synagogues and other religious institutes, and other actions announced last month at the United We Stand Summit.

“The rabbis teach that ‘what comes from the heart, enters the heart,'” Biden said, citing the eleventh Century Rabbi Moses ibn Ezra.

“On this difficult day, our hearts are with the families of the victims, the survivors, and all those impacted by the Tree of Life shooting. May their memories be a blessing, and may we continue to bridge the gap between the world we see and the future we seek.”

US Antisemitism Envoy: France ‘Ground Zero’ for European Antisemitism

France has become the epicenter of 21st century antisemitism in Europe — a phenomena which is now beginning to replicate in other countries around the world, the US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism has warned.

“I think that in many ways France has proven to be ‘Ground Zero’ for European antisemitism, in part because of the large Muslim population,” the envoy, Deborah Lipstadt, told a panel hosted by the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF) and the World Jewish Congress (WJC) in Paris on Monday. “If we’d been having this conversation 15 years ago, I would have said France is a unique situation – sadly, it’s not unique anymore.”

In her remarks, which follow a week-long trip to Belgium and France to meet with EU officials on combating antisemitism, Lipstadt cited some of the deadly antisemitic and terrorist attacks that have plagued France over the last twenty years, among them the 2006 kidnapping and murder of Ilan Halimi, a young cellphone salesman, by an antisemitic gang known as “The Barbarians”, as well as the 2012 and 2015 respective gun attacks on a Jewish school in Toulouse and a kosher supermarket in Paris.

Other incidents included the 2017 murder of Sarah Halimi, a Jewish woman who was beaten and thrown to her death from the third-floor window of her Paris apartment by her neighbor, Kobili Traore, during a frenzied antisemitic assault. French Jews were outraged in April 2021 when the country’s highest court upheld an earlier decision that Traore could not be held criminally responsible for Halimi’s death because his intake of marijuana on the night of the killing had rendered him temporarily insane.

Lipstadt warned the evolution of antisemitism which once limited to France had now spread to other countries, including the United States. “I think that in many respects, France emulates what we’ve seen in other places, because it’s not just Islamist extremist antisemitism, it’s also from the right and from the left,” she said.

Lipstadt also noted that the convergence of antisemitic criticism of Israel from the fringes of both right and left wing ideologies is occuring not only in France, but in the US and UK as well.

Statement from Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt on Recent Antisemitism pic.twitter.com/UBdbJdtGLx

— Special Envoy Deborah Lipstadt (@StateSEAS) October 26, 2022

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