[ [link removed]- ] [ [link removed]- ]J Street[ [link removed]- ]
Friends, 

Today, we awake to the aftermath of yet another brutal act of political
violence.

Whatever one thinks of Charlie Kirk’s views, the murder of the 31-year-old
founder of the nation’s leading right-wing youth movement should shock us
all. Another brutal, public shooting on an American college campus. A wife
and two young children whose worlds have been shattered.

We don’t yet know who pulled the trigger or their motive, but we do know
they have sent shockwaves across a fragile America. A personal catastrophe
for Kirk’s family with which we empathize, yesterday’s shooting is also a
catastrophe for our country where violence is too often now an extension
of political argument. 

The assassination of Melissa Hortman, Minnesota’s House Speaker, and her
husband. The murders of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, two fellows at
the Israeli Embassy in DC. The attack on a hostage vigil in Colorado.
Assassination attempts on President Trump. The plot to kidnap Gretchen
Whitmer. The attack on Paul Pelosi. The January 6 insurrection. The list
goes on.

In the words of Ezra Klein: “Political violence is contagious. It is
spreading. It is not confined to one side or belief system. It should
terrify us all. The foundation of a free society is the ability to
participate in it without fear of violence. Political violence is always
an attack against us all. You have to be so blind not to see that.”

We cannot be blind. And we specifically cannot be blind to the risk of
what’s to come. 

The ever-rising level of partisanship, fear and extremism in our country
threatens the very fabric of our nation.

I’m of course dismayed by fringe voices on social media who celebrated
yesterday's barbarity. I’m even more deeply concerned about the potential
response from our president who appears to be laying the groundwork not
for healing or introspection, but for retribution against political
opponents and the “radical left.” 

We must be ready to stand up to any effort by this administration to
exploit this event as a pretext to pursue its authoritarian agenda.

For all its brutality, political violence only drives us further from the
solutions we desperately need. Cycles of vengeance and retaliation spiral
until they consume everything in their path.

Against this backdrop, we must be ready to defend the core freedoms that
define this country and establish our democracy.  We must protect our
diversity and the right to freedom of speech, even when we don’t agree
with what’s being said. 

And in this moment, we must seek out and elevate champions with the
courage to rise above the cacophony, to call us back to our better angels,
and lead us toward a more perfect union. 

Despite the threats we face and the most extreme voices at the political
fringes, I hold fast to this core belief: The vast majority of people in
this country and around the world are good, decent, empathetic human
beings. In the never-ending struggle within our souls, and within our
communities, between good and evil, compassion and prejudice, love and
hate, I do believe most people will choose the side of decency.

The road ahead will not be easy. The temptation to give up, to retreat
from public life or to answer hatred with more hatred is strong. But if we
are to honor the memory of those whose lives have been stolen by violence,
we must resist that temptation.

We must refuse to join the loudest fringes in the gutter. We must insist
on something better and stronger – on the possibility of community even in
the face of division.

That is not naïve optimism. It is, I believe, the only path forward.

Yours, 

Jeremy Ben-Ami
President, J Street

[ [link removed]- ]Threads [ [link removed]- ]Facebook [ [link removed]- ]Instagram [ [link removed]- ]Twitter
[ [link removed]- ]SUPPORT OUR MISSION »
© 2025 J Street | [ [link removed]- ]www.jstreet.org | [email protected]

J Street is the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy
Americans who want Israel to be secure, democratic and the national home of the
Jewish people. Working in American politics and the Jewish community, we
advocate policies that advance shared US and Israeli interests as well as Jewish
and democratic values, leading to a two-state solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.



You can unsubscribe from this mailing list at any time:
[link removed]-