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More Attacks Like the Embassy Murders and CO Firebombing Are Coming Unless We Change Our Anti-Terror Strategy
Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim who were shot and killed as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum, pose for a picture at an unknown location, in this handout image released by Embassy of Israel to the US on May 22, 2025. Photo: Embassy of Israel to the USA via X/Handout via REUTERS
On May 21, 2025, Elias Rodriguez approached two Israeli embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., and murdered them in cold blood. Just hours earlier, he had posted a 900-word manifesto online that justified violent political “escalation” in the name of Gaza, framed the impending attack as legitimate protest, and called for more “armed demonstrations.”
Less than two weeks later, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian national living illegally in the US, set several pro-Israel demonstrators on fire near a mall in Boulder, CO. Twelve people were injured, including several elderly participants and a Holocaust survivor. Soliman later admitted to targeting “Zionist people” and claimed that he had planned the attack for over a year.
While these incidents differed in method (one attacker used a gun, the other a flamethrower) and in communication strategy (one published a manifesto, the other did not), both represent not just failures of intelligence, but failures of imagination. These attacks expose outdated methods for tracking threats, systems that fail to account for the role of radicalized language in the digital age, and social media platforms’ reluctance to share critical data necessary to detect and address these risks.
For decades, counterterrorism has focused almost exclusively on tracking networks: chatter between suspects, coordinated plots, and ties to extremist groups. These threats are real, but today’s most urgent danger comes from individuals radicalized in isolation, often online. They don’t need a group or a leader. They don’t signal affiliation or send encrypted messages. Instead, they broadcast their ideology openly.
Rodriguez and Soliman fit this pattern. Neither was a member of a known extremist group, nor did they use ciphers or communicate surreptitiously on back-channel applications. Rodriguez’s manifesto was a clear, public statement of intent to carry out an attack, while Soliman’s attack was driven by over a year of ideological hatred. Both follow a pattern seen in other lone-actor attacks like Pittsburgh (2018), Christchurch (2019), and Halle (2019). In each of these tragedies, the manifesto or incitement was discovered only after the killings. Each time, we promised to learn — but each time, we missed the same signals.
These attacks were also a byproduct of obsolete detection methods. While enormous resources go into tracking invisible networks, far too little attention is paid to what is being said online and in person — the words and sentences that reflect dangerous ideologies. Violent extremists often use dehumanizing language to justify murder, but their rhetoric is often dismissed as mere speech (and protected speech, at that).
Rodriguez’s manifesto was ignored until after the violence occurred. Soliman’s attack, while not preceded by a written screed, was the result of sustained ideological incitement. Still, each case demonstrates why we cannot continue to treat incitement as just noise. Dangerous fantasies of “resistance” and glorified violence circulate online every day, often unchecked and without consequence.
Further complicating the matter are online platforms that continue to restrict access to the very data that researchers, civil society, and policymakers rely on to monitor and prevent these threats. Under the guise of protecting privacy or free speech, they enable opacity. People are getting hurt — and dying — as a result.
Make no mistake: free speech and privacy are essential to any democracy. However, these ideals become untenable when they shield violent content, allowing it to spread unchecked. The belief that all speech is equal and non-predictive is naive. History has shown us that hate speech often precedes violence. From the Holocaust to Rwanda, we know that such rhetoric prepares the ground for action.
In a world where lone-actor violence is escalating, and incitement to violence is more openly visible than ever, the solution is multifaceted. We must change the way we listen by investing in systems and disciplines that can analyze not just slurs or buzzwords, but ideological narratives, dehumanizing metaphors, and escalating rhetoric. This includes AI capable of detecting patterns, and fields like psycholinguistics and discourse analysis, which examine radicalization as a communicative process, not just a network-based phenomenon.
We can achieve this while striking the right balance between free speech and public safety. By prioritizing the content of speech over the identity of the speaker, we can monitor threats while upholding the same legal standard we apply offline, where speech is protected until it becomes a credible, imminent threat. At that point, the state not only has the right — but the obligation — to act.
Rodriguez told us what he was going to do. His words were public, unencrypted, and visible for all to see. Soliman’s attack, though not preceded by a manifesto, was the result of ideological incitement. In each case, we failed to act.
If we continue relying on antiquated tracking methods, treating hate speech as background noise, and looking the other way as platforms restrict the very data we need to track incitement, we will remain blind to the threats emerging right in front of us. We need to listen differently, adapt our methods, and invest in the right tools before the next manifesto becomes another obituary.
Matthias J. Becker is a visiting fellow at the Tel Aviv Institute and leads Decoding Antisemitism at the University of Cambridge.
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‘Fine Scholar’: UC Berkeley Chancellor Praises Professor Who Expressed Solidarity With Oct. 7 Attacks
University of California, Berkeley chancellor Dr. Rich Lyons, testifies at a Congressional hearing on antisemitism, in Washington, D.C., U.S., on July 15, 2025. Photo: Allison Bailey via Reuters Connect.
The chancellor of University of California, Berkeley described a professor who cheered the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre across southern Israel a “fine scholar” during a congressional hearing held at Capitol Hill on Tuesday.
Richard K. Lyons, who assumed the chancellorship in July 2024 issued the unmitigated praise while being questioned by members of the House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce, which summoned him and the chief administrators of two other major universities to interrogate their handling of the campus antisemitism crisis.
Lyons stumbled into the statement while being questioned by Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI), who asked Lyons to describe the extent of his relationship and correspondence with Professor Ussama Makdisi, who tweeted in Feb. 2024 that he “could have been one of those who broke through the siege on October 7.”
“What do you think the professor meant,” McClain asked Lyons, to which the chancellor responded, “I believe it was a celebration of the terrorist attack on October 7.” McClain proceeded to ask if Lyons discussed the tweet with Makdisi or personally reprimanded him, prompting an exchange of remarks which concluded with Lyons’s saying, “He is a fine scholar.”
Lyon’s comment came after nearly three hours in which the group of university leaders — which included Dr. Robert Groves, president of Georgetown University, and Dr. Felix V. Matos Rodriguez, chancellor of the City University of New York (CUNY) — offered gaffe-free, deliberately worded answers to the members’ questions to avoid eliciting the kind of public relations ordeal which prematurely ended the tenures of two Ivy League presidents in 2024 following an education committee held in Dec. 2023.
Rep. McClain later criticized Lyons on social media, calling his comment “totally disgraceful.” She added, “Faculty must be held accountable and Jewish students deserve better.”
CUNY chancellor Rodriguez also triggered a rebuke from the committee members in which he was also described as a “disgrace.”
As previously reported by The Algemeiner, CUNY campuses have been lambasted by critics as some of the most antisemitic institutions of higher education in the United States. Last year, the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) resolved half a dozen investigations of antisemitism on CUNY campuses, one of which involved Jewish students who were pressured into saying that Jews are White people who should be excluded from discussions about social justice.
During Tuesday’s hearing Rodriguez acknowledged that antisemitic incidents continue to disrupt Jewish academic life, disclosing that 84 complaints of antisemitism have been formally reported to CUNY administrators since 2024. 15 were filed in 2025 alone, but CUNY, he said, has published only 18 students for antisemitic conduct. Rodriguez went on to denounce efforts to pressure CUNY into adopting the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, saying, “I have repudiated BDS and I have said there’s no place for BDS at the City University of New York.”
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) remarked, however, that Rodriguez has allegedly done little to address antisemitism in the CUNY faculty union, the Professional Staff Congress (PSC), which has passed several resolutions endorsing BDS and whose members, according to 2021 ruling rendered by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), discriminated against Professor Jeffrey Lax by holding meetings on Shabbat to prevent him and other Jews from attending them.
“The PSC does not speak for the City University of New York,” Rodriquez protested. “We’ve been clear on our commitment against antisemitism and against BDS.”
Later, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), whose grilling of higher education officials who appear before the committee has created several viral moments, rejected Rodriguez’s responses as disingenuous.
“It’s all words, no action. You have failed the people of New York,” she told the chancellor. “You have failed Jewish students in New York State, and it is a disgrace.”
Following the hearing, The Lawfare Project, legal nonprofit which provides legal services free of charge to Jewish victims of civil rights violations, applauded the education committee for publicizing antisemitism at CUNY.
“I am thankful for the many members of Congress who worked with us to ensure that the deeply disturbing facts about antisemitism at CUNY were brought forward in this hearing,” Lawfare Project litigation director Zipora Reich said in a press release. “While it is deeply frustrating to hear more platitudes and vague promises from CUNY’s leadership, we are encouraged to see federal lawmakers demanding accountability.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Huckabee Calls for Israeli Investigation Into ‘Criminal and Terrorist’ Killing of Palestinian-American in West Bank
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee on Monday urged Israeli officials to swiftly investigate the killing of Saif Musallet, a 20-year-old American citizen who was allegedly beaten to death by Israeli settlers while he was visiting family in the West Bank town of Sinjil.
“There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act,” Huckabee wrote on social media, in what is one of his strongest condemnations of Israeli settler violence since he was appointed by President Donald Trump in November 2024. “Saif was just 20 yrs old.”
Musallet, a Florida native, was reportedly attacked on July 11 by a group of Israelis while accompanying relatives on family-owned farmland near Ramallah. His family says he was severely beaten and denied medical attention for nearly three hours before succumbing to his injuries. Another Palestinian man, 23-year-old Mohammad al-Shalabi, was shot and killed during the same incident, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Israeli authorities said the violence followed an alleged rock-throwing incident that left two Israelis lightly wounded, a common occurrence in the West Bank which las left scores of Israelis civilians wounded and some killed. The Israel Defense Forces stated they used non-lethal crowd dispersal methods during the clash. The IDF says the incident is under investigation. Two Israeli minors were arrested following the attack, though according to Israeli media reports, neither of them is a murder suspect, and they were subsequently released to house arrest.
Musallet had traveled to the West Bank in early June to visit relatives and potentially meet a bride. Raised in Port Charlotte, Florida, he had recently co-founded an ice cream business in Tampa with his family. His death comes amid an escalation in settler-related violence across the West Bank, which has intensified since the October 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel and the Israeli military’s ongoing campaign in Gaza.
Huckabee has historically defended Israeli settlement activity and has vowed to serve as an unwavering defender of the Jewish state.
Human rights groups and local activists say Musallet’s killing is part of a growing pattern of impunity for attacks on Palestinians, including American citizens. No Israeli suspects have been indicted in several high-profile deaths of Palestinian Americans in recent years, including journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and teenager Omar Mohammad Rabea.
U.S. lawmakers, including Representative Kathy Castor (D-FL), who represents Tampa, joined calls for an investigation. The State Department said it is aware of the incident and is providing consular support to the family but deferred further comment to Israeli authorities.
Musallet’s funeral was held Sunday in his family’s hometown of al-Mazra’a ash-Sharqiya. His relatives say they are demanding justice not only for Saif, but for all Americans caught in what they describe as an increasingly lawless situation in the occupied West Bank.
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Scandal-Plagued UN Commission Disbands Amid Increasing US Pressure Against Anti-Israel International Organizations
Miloon Kothari, member of the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, briefs reporters on the first report of the Commission. UN Photo/Jean Marc Ferré
The Commission of Inquiry (COI), a controversial United Nations commission investigating Israel for nearly five years, has collapsed after all three of its members abruptly resigned days after the United States sanctioned a senior UN official over antisemitism.
Commission chair Navi Pillay resigned on July 8, citing health concerns and scheduling conflicts. Her fellow commissioners, Chris Sidoti and Miloon Kothari, followed suit days later. While none of the commissioners directly linked their resignations to the U.S. sanctions, the timing suggests mounting American pressure played a decisive role.
The resignations came just one day before the Trump administration announced sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian territories. Albanese was sanctioned over what the State Department called a “pattern of antisemitic and inflammatory rhetoric.” She had previously claimed that the U.S. was controlled by a “Jewish lobby” and questioned Israel’s right to self-defense. The sanctions bar her from entering the U.S. and freeze any assets under American jurisdiction.
The resignations mark a major victory for critics who have long viewed the inquiry as biased and politically motivated.
Watchdog groups, including Geneva-based UN Watch, celebrated the swift collapse of the Commission of Inquiry (COI), which they say had long operated with an open mandate to target Israel. “This is a watershed moment of accountability,” said UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer. “The COI was built on bias and sustained by hatred. Its fall is a victory for human rights, not a defeat.”
The COI had faced heavy criticism since its formation in 2021. In July 2022, Commissioner Miloon Kothari, made comments about the undue influence of a so-called “Jewish lobby” on the media, said the COI would “have to look at issues of settler colonialism.”
“Apartheid itself is a very useful paradigm, so we have a slightly different approach, but we will definitely get to it,” he added.
The Commission was established in 2021 year following the 11-day war between Israel and Gaza’s ruling Hamas group in May. COI is the first UN commission to ever be granted an indefinite period of investigation, which has drawn criticism from the US State Department, members of US Congress, and Jewish leaders across the world.
Following the resignations, Council President Jürg Lauber invited member states to nominate replacements by August 31. However, it is unclear whether the commission will be reconstituted or quietly shelved. UN Watch and other groups have urged the council to disband the COI entirely, calling it irreparably biased.
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