Israeli and US pro-Israeli politicians and activists have called for an end to political violence after the killing of 31-year-old far-right gun advocate Charlie Kirk at a university event on Wednesday 10 September night.

Charlie Kirk: loved by the far-right and Israel

Charlie Kirk, the Trump-supporting co-founder of far-right group Turning Point USA which has been criticised for its white supremacist connections, was shot during an appearance at a Utah university during his ‘MAGA’-linked “American Comeback” tour. He is reported to have been shot from a distance of two hundred yards, suggesting an expert marksman.

Before Kirk’s death was confirmed, Donald Trump called him “a great guy” and urged supporters to “pray for Charlie.” Israeli PM Netanyahu posted on X that he was doing so; after Kirk’s death, Netanyahu called him “a great guy” and a “lion-hearted friend of Israel” who “fought the lies and stood tall for Judeo-Christian civilization… We lost an incredible human being.”

An hour before that, Netanyahu had again threatened Qatar, days after bombing it in an attempt to kill Gazan peace negotiators asked by Trump to attend ceasefire talks there, saying that:

I say to Qatar and all nations who harbor terrorists, you either expel them or you bring them to justice. Because if you don’t, we will.

Because Qatar is, he says, giving the Palestinian peace delegation “sumptuous villas”.

US fanatics mourn

Israel fanatic and House Speaker Mike Johnson addressed reporters on Capitol Hill after the shooting, telling them that the shooting and similar incidents:

violate the core principles of… our Judeo-Christian values… It must stop. We need everyone who has a political platform… to say this loudly:

On Tuesday, Johnson had responded to Israel’s bombing of a building in Doha, Qatar, in an attempt to murder Palestinian peace negotiators, by saying that:

[Israel] have enemies encamped around them and they’re trying to bring that to a peace as well. But Hamas, you know, by anybody who looks at this reasonably, and this is my personal view, Hamas must be eradicated.

Right-wing US pro-Israel activist Shabbos Kestenbaum, who has relentlessly defended Israel’s genocide in Gaza and blamed it on the Palestinian resistance, demanded that:

The political violence must END.

Kestenbaum, like Netanyahu and Israel’s apologists, doesn’t seem to mind political violence in Gaza. In July he appeared on Piers Morgan’s show to deny that Israel is committing genocide, blame the deaths of Palestinian civilians on resistance groups and complain that the world was wrongly accusing Israel of ethnic cleansing when it only had the wellbeing of Gaza refugees in mind.

Kestenbaum’s logic was also that of Charlie Kirk, leading many to conclude that by his own reasoning, he was to blame for his own death rather than the person who shot him:

Political violence

Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA has been accused by whistleblowers of racism and discrimination, as well as of illegal activities on college campuses. Since 2021, the group has run what it calls the “School Board Watchlist” website on which it ‘doxxes’ school board members who support anti-racist curricula; schools appealed to federal government for help against threats and violence from outraged protesters supported by the group.

It seems that, for Israel and its fans, political violence against their mates is beyond the pale, but political violence (and worse) against anyone they don’t like is just dandy.

Featured image via the Canary

By Skwawkbox

This post was originally published on Canary.