JANM Statement on the Capital Jewish Museum Shooting

Editors please note: JANM’s Pavilion is closed for renovation; programs will continue on the JANM campus and at other locations at janm.org/OnTheGo. 

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) is saddened and dismayed by the shooting of two Israeli Embassy staff on the steps of the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, on Wednesday. Scapegoating of individuals based on their ethnicity in the name of political action is unacceptable and abhorrent. The Japanese American community knows the consequences of this all too well. During World War II, Japanese Americans and their families were targeted based on their ethnicity and imprisoned in America’s concentration camps. 

“Museums are places of respite and refuge, where all people should feel welcome to gather safely. Our Museum stands as a place of memory, truth, and justice, where history is not only preserved but actively used to confront contemporary threats to democracy and human dignity. Our hearts go out to the victims’ families and loved ones and to the staff and patrons of the Capital Jewish Museum who had this violence brought to their doorstep. JANM deplores violence in all its forms and hopes that this incident does not further inflame antisemitic and anti-Arab/Palestinian sentiments that have been on the rise. When fear and insecurity bind together, they can inflict grave harm on individuals, heaping ongoing trauma onto communities, and etching deep wounds into humanity that fuels hate speech and violence. This type of violence against individuals does nothing to support the movement for peace and justice,” said Ann Burroughs, JANM’s President and CEO.

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