Yorktown Student’s Reflection on Antisemitism: Sarah Milgrim ‘Could Have Been Me’
Opinion Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the author/producer’s interpretation of facts and data.
By Talia Pierson
Over the last nineteen months, the phrase “Globalize the Intifada” – alongside antisemitic hate under the guise of pro-Palestinian activism – has gone viral in America. From its use on social media platforms, to college campuses, to the streets of our own cities and towns, the normalization of this phrase (which calls for a globalization of terrorism) should have terrified any American – certainly any American Jew. But after the murder of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim last Wednesday night, it is clear that not nearly enough people took these calls for terror seriously.
Both Yaron and Sarah were believers in peace who sought to make the world a better place. They were a young couple, about to begin their life together. They were exiting a Jewish event at the Capital Jewish Museum when a pro-Palestinian activist, active in groups calling to “Globalize the Intifada,” opened fire on them. Shortly after opening fire, the gunman shouted “free, free Palestine.”
This act of terror did not happen in Israel. It happened in the United States. On the streets of the Nation’s capital.
I want to focus on Sarah. The more I learn about her, the more I see myself in her. And I realize that it could have been me who was murdered outside the museum.
In 2017, Sarah was a senior in high school in Kansas when swastikas were graffitied on a building in her school. She responded actively to the hateful incident, speaking to a local news channel and saying, “It’s so ignorant that you would bring up a symbol like that, that would bring so much pain to people.”
I am a rising senior in high school in Westchester County. Last year, a student in my school selected the hateful and genocidal phrase “from the river to the sea” as their senior yearbook quote. I spoke to my local news channel about the incident to share how hurtful the quote was to me and other Jewish students.
Sarah was an American Jew with a passion for Israel. She had always been an active part of her Jewish community. At the University of Kansas, where she received her undergraduate degree, she served on the board of the university’s Hillel. After October 7, she began working for the Israeli embassy as a diplomat. She lost friends and was ostracized from circles where she had previously been welcomed over her pro-Israel views, but she continued to stand proud as a Jew and Zionist.
I am an American Jew with a passion for Israel. I volunteer at a local Hebrew school and started a youth organization of Jews and allies to build community in the aftermath of October 7. I fell in love with Israel after visiting it for the first time and have spent the last year-and-a-half learning about and advocating for it. I am interested in diplomacy and can see myself studying and working in that field in the future.
Sarah believed in the peace-building process — one conversation at a time. She spent a year in Israel interning with Tech2Peace, an organization that facilitates dialogue and partnership between Israelis and Palestinians in the tech industry. She was curious to learn about the conflict and eager to find solutions. She brought empathy and conviction to difficult conversations, advocated for mutual understanding, and remained hopeful and committed to building a better future for the region. The event she and Yaron attended on Wednesday night had been dedicated to bridge-building in the Middle East and bringing humanitarian aid to areas such as Gaza.
I believe in the peace-building process — through conversation and storytelling. I lead a club in my school dedicated to promoting tolerance, understanding and the building of bridges across groups in the school. For the one-year anniversary of Oct. 7th, I brought together my community – including Jews and non-Jews – to hear the story of a Nova Festival survivor. I believe that every chance to share a personal story, to engage in a difficult conversation, is an opportunity to open hearts and move closer towards peace.
I share these parallels because Sarah could have been any one of us. She could have been me. She could have been any one of the young and hopeful peace-seekers trying to brighten the world that we all have in our lives.
“Globalize the Intifada” may begin as a slogan on college campuses, but it ends with senseless violence on the streets of the United States, rationalized as an act of justice in the name of Palestinians.
I want Palestinians to be free. I believe that Palestinian children deserve a real future. The same future Israeli children deserve. But the pro-Palestinian movement in the West will not be “freeing Palestine” so long as it continues to call for a globalization of the intifada and other radical measures that only end in more pain, destruction and bloodshed.
We cannot afford to sit back and wait to lose more people like Yaron and Sarah.
May Yaron and Sarah’s memories be a blessing and a call-to-action — for the world to call out the radicalism of this movement and to continue working to build the future Yaron and Sarah believed in.
Talia Pierson is a junior at Yorktown High School and the founder of Lights of Tomorrow, a youth-led organization that connects Jewish teens to their heritage, builds community, and empowers them to stand against antisemitism.
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