Comments on: Jerusalem Pride Mass Stabbing by Haredi Repeat Suspect

Jerusalem Pride Mass Stabbing by Haredi Repeat Suspect

Dreidl — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 14:16:06 -0800

Six people have been stabbed at Jerusalem's Pride Parade following threats from both a Haredi man just released from prison for a similar knife attack at the 2005 Jersusalem Pride parade, and from Lehava, a right-wing Jewish supremacy organization that also held a protest away from the LGBTQ parade route. These knife attacks are unfortunately not the first time LGBTQ Jews have been killed by other Jews; there was a gun attack on the Tel Aviv LGBTQ youth center in 2009 (previously).

It appears the suspect struck both female and male marchers randomly, after breaking through the police and volunteer security line. Plainclothes and uniformed police subdued him almost immediately, with civilian parade attendees helping the wounded until medics arrived. Two people have life-threatening injuries, and the remaining four are expected to recover fully. More links (trigger warning for video and stills of actual attack): Joe.My.God. Ha'aretz general coverage BBC general coverage Ha'aretz on suspect's previous threats Failed Messiah - do read the comments if you have a strong stomach and want to understand the attacker's background

By: Dreidl

Dreidl — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 14:18:40 -0800

My error - I meant to say "not the first time LGBTQ and ally Israelis and Palestinians have been attacked by Israeli Jews."

By: saturday_morning

saturday_morning — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 14:25:57 -0800

As a Jew, I would say these people are an affront to my religion -- but I don't think we share a religion, really. Awful, awful, awful.

By: zachlipton

zachlipton — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 14:31:46 -0800

Before the 2005 incident, Shlissel reportedly shouted, "I came to kill in God's name."

The fact that this man and I supposedly have anything in common is horrifying.

By: chimaera

chimaera — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 14:35:32 -0800

Before the 2005 incident, Shlissel reportedly shouted, "I came to kill in God's name." Tell him he sounds just like an ISIS member and watch the cognitive dissonance turn him incandescent.

By: T.D. Strange

T.D. Strange — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 14:36:42 -0800

Rightwing extremists really have much more in common with each other the world over, be they Haredi, Southern Baptist or ISIS, than with the mainstream varieties of the religions they purport to follow. I'd say it's a shame they can't all get along together and leave the rest of the world alone, but it's probably good that they're diluted around the world instead of all concentrated together.

By: zarq

zarq — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 14:45:19 -0800

Oh G-d. :( Israeli Chief Rabbi Yosef and Jerusalem Chief Rabbi Stern sharply condemned the Jerusalem Pride stabbing attack. Yosef has been a consistent ally of Israel's LGBT community. Rabbi Aryeh Stern is against the pride parade and gay clergy. It's good that he's condemning the attack, but perhaps if he and his fellow Orthodox leaders would stop fucking Othering his fellow Jews and fanning the flames of hatred, tragedies like this would be less likely to happen.

By: nevercalm

nevercalm — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 14:46:32 -0800

I haven't seen this called terrorism anywhere yet, but I'm sure lots of LGBTQ folks in Israel feel pretty terrorized.

By: Countess Elena

Countess Elena — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 14:48:17 -0800

Stabbing in the back -- stabbing that slender young woman in the back. I don't know if the Israeli police have legal mechanisms to follow or restrain individuals like this, known threats with known targets, but they sure as hell fell down on the job if they did.

By: Artw

Artw — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 15:31:24 -0800

I've been in America too long, because my first thought was "at least it wasn't a gun".

By: restless_nomad

restless_nomad — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 15:33:48 -0800

[comments removed. If you have a problem with a linked site, contact us, don't derail the thread over it.

By: Sys Rq

Sys Rq — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 15:38:54 -0800

I came to kill in God's name. So that's two commandments broken...

By: Sticherbeast

Sticherbeast — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 15:41:23 -0800

How awful. Terrorism, by any reasonable definition. This should never happen anywhere, ever.

By: benito.strauss

benito.strauss — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 16:50:37 -0800

I've got nothing to say but to express my sadness, and I hope we don't get to the point where we're leaving dots. How about six arrows pointing upwards, for the six victims who I hope will come back from this insane attack? ^^^^^^

By: vuron

vuron — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 17:13:07 -0800

Despicable act hopefully everyone has a full recovery. Unfortunately my first thought was along the same line as artw in that at least he was only armed with a knife and not a bomb or gun. My suspicions are that while he's willing to kill in god's name he's not willing to die in god's name.

By: Westringia F.

Westringia F. — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 17:33:38 -0800

And it's erev Tu B'Av, the holiday of love. :,(

By: atomicstone

atomicstone — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 17:42:32 -0800

Ugh. Who knew there was a loophole in hilchot negiah of you want to stab a woman.

By: prettypretty

prettypretty — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 18:08:34 -0800

atomicstone it's probably okay since the knife touched her and not his hand? Or he closed his eyes or something. Or she's a horrid slut who... I can't even. This is horrible.

By: srboisvert

srboisvert — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 18:42:36 -0800

When I saw the news I couldn't believe that they would let a person out of jail right before the event he last committed a terrorist attack at.

By: feckless fecal fear mongering

feckless fecal fear mongering — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 18:49:27 -0800

This.. I can't I can't. You lose the right to claim you're acting for g-d the moment you're fomenting hatred and trying to kill people.

By: BinGregory

BinGregory — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 19:36:08 -0800

Rightwing extremists really have much more in common with each other the world over, I thought I agreed with this and then I saw Sweden is having a Far-Right Gay Pride parade, and now I'm utterly confused.

By: Flashman

Flashman — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 19:40:36 -0800

When I saw the news I couldn't believe that they would let a person out of jail right before the event he last committed a terrorist attack at. It's like a terrible, real life version of Sideshow Bob.

By: feckless fecal fear mongering

feckless fecal fear mongering — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 19:40:44 -0800

BInGregory, we discussws that here already. That's rightwing shitbags using sexual minorities as catspaws to (hopefully, from their POV) piss off Muslim immigrants.

By: qcubed

qcubed — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 19:58:58 -0800

So, obviously the guy was not sufficiently rehabilitated during his sentence if he thought it was okay to do again what he originally went to prison for. How is this such a hard lesson to learn for some people? "Don't try to kill others. It's mean, unpleasant, messy, and you're a dick if you do."

By: Joe in Australia

Joe in Australia — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 20:17:12 -0800

I think these are reports on the assault in '05 for which he received his original conviction: Violence erupts at Gay Pride Parade Gay Parade stabber gets 12 years in prison So, obviously the guy was not sufficiently rehabilitated during his sentence if he thought it was okay to do again what he originally went to prison for. No, and you would think that he should have been subject to a restraining order at the very least.

By: nestor_makhno

nestor_makhno — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 00:58:17 -0800

"A small number of protesters from the extremist Lehava organization, including the group's leader Rabbi Bentzi Gopstein, were present at the march" He sounds like an asshole. What does he have to say for himself? "This is the holy city of Jerusalem and there is no place for such [a parade], and no reason for people to be proud about it," Gopstein told The Jerusalem Post. "If such people can have a pride march, then soon pedophiles and anyone else with such inclinations can hold a march." Wow! Huge asshole. And then . . . "Despite Gopstein's vitriol, he released a statement following the stabbings stating that the organization "is opposed to the stabbing of Jews." YOU GOTTA BE FUCKING KIDDING ME. YOU COULDN'T SAY ITS WRONG TO STAB PEOPLE?!?!?!? THE ONLY BIGGER ASSHOLE TODAY WAS THE GUY WITH A FUCKING KNIFE.

By: feckless fecal fear mongering

feckless fecal fear mongering — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 06:21:34 -0800

So, obviously the guy was not sufficiently rehabilitated during his sentence if he thought it was okay to do again what he originally went to prison for. No, and you would think that he should have been subject to a restraining order at the very least. I have a sneaking suspicion he wouldn't obey such an order. As for the timing of his release, it makes me wonder--seriously, actually wondering--what the political leanings of whoever makes such decisions are, and whether they played a factor.

By: Sys Rq

Sys Rq — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 09:16:55 -0800

the organization "is opposed to the stabbing of Jews." The part that especially bothers me about that statement in relation to the attack is that I don't think it's even a condemnation of it; possibly quite the contrary. Notice how he doesn't say these Jews. If you were to follow up on it by asking Gopstein if he considers gay Jews to be Jews at all, he seems very likely to answer in the negative. Heck, the pre-parade statement calls them enemies of the Jewish people.

By: zachlipton

zachlipton — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 09:55:54 -0800

No, and you would think that he should have been subject to a restraining order at the very least. Moreover, you would think that 1/1,000,000th of the effort that Israel puts into its intelligence operations could go to a general "hey look out for this guy" during the parade.

By: zarq

zarq — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 10:02:26 -0800

The part that especially bothers me about that statement in relation to the attack is that I don't think it's even a condemnation of it; possibly quite the contrary. Notice how he doesn't say these Jews. If you were to follow up on it by asking Gopstein if he considers gay Jews to be Jews at all, he seems very likely to answer in the negative. Heck, the pre-parade statement calls them enemies of the Jewish people. Yes. The distinction was likely quite deliberate. Some Orthodox Jews refuse to acknowledge that anyone they disapprove of as Jewish, including members of other sects. In some cases including members of their own sect. There are streams to Orthodox Judaism. Modern or Hareidi divisions, etc. From a religious standpoint, an Orthodox Jew's refusal to acknowledge that Reform or Conservative Jews are in fact Jews is an attempt to fight against those they feel are diluting the traditional purity of the religion. In the same vein, homophobia is rampant in many Hareidi communities. And even in some Modern Orthodox ones. All of this is the worst kind of fundamentalism, and it's easy to dismiss them all as insanely clinging to irrelevance until something like this happens.

By: Joe in Australia

Joe in Australia — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 02:44:23 -0800

Moreover, you would think that 1/1,000,000th of the effort that Israel puts into its intelligence operations could go to a general "hey look out for this guy" during the parade. It's very, very, hard to defend against things like this. A whole bunch of people have been killed/wounded by stabbings in Jerusalem over the past couple of years. It has a weird historical resonance, because the Sicarii ("knife guys") were a militant group based in Jerusalem that went around stabbing Romans in the period leading up to the First Revolt. As for the timing of his release, it makes me wonder--seriously, actually wondering--what the political leanings of whoever makes such decisions are, and whether they played a factor. The USA is an outlier when it comes to political interference in the criminal justice process. He was convicted ten years ago for a stabbing that took place on June 30th, and he received a twelve-year sentence. Most people receive parole (which is usually a good thing!) and two years off is actually less than I'd expect in, say, Australia or the UK. I presume his eligibility for parole was reviewed annually, which is why he'd been out on parole for "a few weeks". In retrospect ...

By: Artw

Artw — Sun, 02 Aug 2015 10:25:12 -0800

Teen Girl Dies From Wounds After Attack at Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade

By: Joe in Australia

Joe in Australia — Sun, 02 Aug 2015 16:26:04 -0800

Joe in Australia — Sun, 23 Aug 2015 23:45:37 -0800

State indicts alleged gay pride parade stabber Schlissel for murder – The indictment comes following a psychiatric evaluation that deemed Schlissel mentally competent to stand trial.