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# When Will Enough Be Enough?
November 02 2026
Written by Abe Gurko.
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ABE WON'T BE SILENT - I’ve hit a wall with the relentless stream of antisemitic bile flooding my social media feeds—and with the willingness of too many people to excuse it when it comes wrapped in the language of political resistance.
It keeps bringing me back to one name: Sirhan Sirhan.
The 1960s were among the most turbulent years in modern American history. Assassinations, riots, war, and profound divisions shook the country.
When Sirhan shot Robert F. Kennedy at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968, the news brought back the surreal shock I had felt less than five years earlier when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. I remember our school closing in the middle of the day.
Robert Kennedy died the following morning. Once again, Americans were left mourning a leader and wondering what was happening to their country.
Sirhan, a Palestinian Christian born in Jerusalem, was angered by Kennedy’s support for Israel, including his advocacy for supplying it with 50 Phantom fighter jets. The shooting occurred on the first anniversary of the beginning of the Six-Day War.
That history matters because it shows what can happen when someone decides a political grievance justifies taking a human life.
Sirhan was responsible for his crime. His Palestinian identity did not make every Palestinian responsible then, any more than a violent extremist speaks for an entire people today.
But neither should a political cause provide cover for hatred or murder.
Supporting Palestinian rights is legitimate. Criticizing the Israeli government is legitimate. Peaceful protest is legitimate.
Threatening Jews, attacking synagogues, targeting people because of their connection to Israel, or celebrating the murder of civilians is indefensible. No slogan changes that.
When people cross that line, we need to say so clearly. And when others minimize their actions because they sympathize with the cause being invoked, we need to challenge that, too.
We have names to remind us of what is at stake.
Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim.
The two Israeli Embassy employees were shot and killed outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., in May 2025. Federal prosecutors allege that the gunman shouted “Free Palestine.”
Two people leaving an event. Two lives destroyed. Families left with a loss no political argument can explain away.
Karen Diamond.
She died in June 2025 from injuries sustained in the attack on a peaceful gathering in Boulder, Colorado, supporting the release of Israeli hostages.
People had assembled to keep the hostages’ plight in public view. They should have been able to do so without fearing for their lives.
Melvin Cravitz.
He was stabbed to death during the attack at a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur in October 2025.
A place of worship, on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, became a scene of terror.
These victims deserve more than a brief burst of public sympathy before attention moves elsewhere. Their deaths demand a sustained response to the hatred that puts Jewish communities at risk.
I am tired of the qualifications that follow what should be straightforward condemnations. I am tired of watching people search for political context before acknowledging the humanity of someone who has been murdered.
Context can help explain how violence develops. It cannot absolve the person who commits it.
The same standard applies to those who organize protests and lead political movements. They cannot control every person who claims their cause. They can control what they endorse, what they tolerate, and how they respond when someone uses that cause to threaten or attack others.
If you advocate for Palestinian freedom, reject those who invoke it to justify violence against Jews. If you defend Israel, reject those who use that defense to justify hatred of Palestinians.
That should be a basic moral obligation.
Jewish people disagree passionately about Israel, its government, and the war. Those disagreements do not diminish anyone’s Jewish identity or make anyone deserving of abuse. We can argue forcefully without treating fellow Jews as enemies.
We should also expect more from public officials. Threats need to be taken seriously. Attacks need to be investigated thoroughly. Schools, synagogues, community centers, and public gatherings need effective protection.
Authorities should pursue credible evidence of criminal conduct. Political leaders should condemn antisemitism consistently, including when doing so makes their own supporters uncomfortable.
And the rest of us have a responsibility to resist the casual language that makes cruelty easier to accept: the jokes about dead civilians, the celebration of attacks, the suggestion that an individual deserves to suffer because of a nationality, religion, or presumed political allegiance.
Those are choices people make. We can challenge them before they become accepted features of public life.
Sirhan Sirhan killed Robert Kennedy more than half a century ago. The belief that a cause can authorize murder remains with us.
We have seen where it leads. We have mourned the people it takes.
How many more names must we learn before enough is finally enough?
***(ABE GURKO** is a writer and author of Won’t Be Silent—Don’t Stop ’til It Matters, and a producer of the documentary. LOUDER: The Soundtrack of Change. He is an opinionator and host of the podcast Won’t Be Silent, engaging in conversations from the edge of democracy. Abe is a contributor to CityWatchLA.com)*
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