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This Week:

• Remembering Charlie Kirk
• Honoring the Fallen of 9/11
• RJC in the News
• Short Takes
• Week's Best Tweets
• Upcoming Events

Remembering Charlie Kirk

The murder of TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk yesterday took from us a fearless advocate for freedom, a supporter of Israel and the Jewish people, and a friend. We are shocked and grieving at his passing. (Read the RJC's full statement on Charlie's murder here.)

We want to take time today to honor Charlie Kirk's memory by sharing with you some of the tributes from his friends and colleagues in the conservative movement. They express so well who Charlie Kirk was, what he cared about, what he accomplished, and what we can do to carry on his legacy.

Mor Greenberg:

What is it about the Charlie Kirk shooting that has left us all frozen?

It is horrific. Unbelievable. Unacceptable.

But what everyone keeps coming back to is simple: Charlie was one of the good guys.

He lifted up young conservative voices and gave them a chance. He helped people not for his own gain, but because he truly saw them as friends. He built the largest grassroots organization for young voters and did it with respect, patience, and the belief that every person deserved his time.

Joel Pollak:

He was assassinated doing what he loved and what he did so well: He was exercising his right to free speech and encouraging civil dialogue among any who would participate.

He wanted his opponents to be as free as he was—even when they were hateful, and wrong.

I knew a happy warrior once, who changed my life. His name was Andrew Breitbart.

Charlie Kirk was, likewise, a happy warrior who changed the lives of so many as well.

David Marcus:

A generational leader in the conservative movement was lost on Wednesday, as Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was assassinated during a live event at a Utah university, the latest in a rash of political violence tearing America apart.

For millions of Americans, especially the young, Kirk was an inspiration whose message of patriotism and self-reliance shone like a bright light in our cynical age of national self-hatred.

...When Kirk founded TPUSA, back in 2012, it wasn’t supposed to be possible that a conservative could walk onto college campuses, those most high bastions of far leftism, and not just command a crowd, but create a movement.

At that time, being a young conservative was almost an oxymoron. Yet, here was a walking, talking Alex P. Keaton with a rapier wit and a finger on the pulse of how so many college-age Americans really felt, how frustrated they really were. He was a happy warrior, who engaged those with whom he disagreed in good faith and decency.

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) reports:

After visiting Israel in May 2018 for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the US Embassy in Jerusalem and again in 2019, Kirk described his visits to the country as eye-opening.

This afternoon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Fox News about Charlie and his strong support of Israel. (Watch it here.) PM Netanyhu said:

Charlie was an extraordinary friend. He wrote me a letter on May 2 this year. He said, "One of my greatest joys as a Christian is advocating for Israel and forming alliances to defend Judea-Christian civilization..." He was a defender of our common Judeo-Christian civilization. He was incredibly excited to walk in the footsteps of Jesus here. He valued the bond between America and Israel...

Jewish Insider reports:

While he was best known as a fierce and unyielding critic of what he assailed as the excesses of left-wing culture, Kirk, the founder of the youth activist group Turning Point USA, also cautioned against the risks of young conservatives embracing antisemitism and online conspiracy theories about Jews and Israel.

“There is a corner of the internet, of people that want to point and blame the Jews for all their problems,” he said at a recent event. “Everybody, this is demonic and it’s from the pit of hell and it should not be tolerated.”

...The Republican Jewish Coalition, in a statement on Wednesday, said that Kirk had been “a shining light in these troubled times for the American Jewish community, and we are deeply saddened at his passing.”

“Charlie was a fearless advocate for freedom, a supporter of Israel and the Jewish people, and a friend,” the RJC said. “He was cut down while doing what he loved to do, communicating with the next generation of American leaders on college campuses about the issues that affect us all.”

Ben Shapiro:

And we must pick up the baton where Charlie left it, fighting for the things he believed in so passionately. And we must fight for a better America - an America where good people can speak truth and debate passionately without fear of a bullet. I weep for Charlie’s family, and I weep for my country today. Most of all, I weep for Charlie.

Honoring the Fallen of 9/11

On September 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 innocent people died in the largest terrorist attack on US soil. It was a day that changed our country and changed the world.

As the editorial board of the New York Post points out, for so many Americans today, 9/11 is a piece of history - an event of the past that they do not remember, because they weren't born yet or old enough to understand when it happened. We have an ongoing obligation to remember and to teach, so that both the horrors and the heroes of that day will be kept vivid in the minds of Americans for generations to come.

As a remembrance of the heroes, an X account called "Am Yisrael Chai" posted the transcript of the conversation between Todd Beamer and a 911 operator named Lisa. Beamer was on United Flight 93 and was one of the passengers who tried to stop the hijackers. Flight 93 went down in Shanksville, PA, killing all on board but preventing an attack on the US Capitol in Washington, DC. Beamer's courage and determination shine brightly to this day.

President Donald Trump spoke this morning at the Pentagon's 9/11 memorial ceremony:

Twenty-four years have passed since that Tuesday morning in September, and an entire generation of Americans have come of age in a totally different world. While they cannot remember the agony of that day, they are carrying on the legacy of those who [were] lost.

...That day, we learned that the American heroic spirit was all around us. We saw it in the police officers, the great firefighters, the service members here at the Pentagon, and in the hearts of every American who answered history’s call

...This morning, we recall the light of America’s best and bravest and the love that they showed in their final moments. In their memory, we make a solemn pledge and a noble promise: we will honor — always — our great heroes… We will defend the nation they served, the values they upheld, and the freedom for which they died. We will support our troops, we will protect our families, and we will preserve the American way of life for every future generation.

RJC in the News

On September 8, RJC CEO Matt Brooks was with Sid Rosenberg on 77 WABC New York, discussing the recent terror attack in Jerusalem, the work of the RJC, the RJC's upcoming Leadership Summit in Las Vegas, and more. Listen here.

Coleman: American leadership is feeding Gaza

RJC National Chairman Senator Norm Coleman writes at The Hill:

Thanks to President [Donald] Trump, the civilian population in Gaza is receiving free food aid safely and reliably. His administration is helping to power the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has distributed more than 150 million free meals to Palestinian civilians since launching operations in late May. The reactions have been telling...

Join the Celebration! RJC at 40

From our start in 1985 to today, the RJC has been a unique, outspoken, and trusted voice for Jewish Republicans, bringing our message to Republican decision makers and the broader Jewish community.

Please consider making a gift to the RJC today in honor of our 40 years of growth and success.

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Thank you!

Short Takes

NGO Monitor: In Their Own Words: Hamas Turns Hospitals into Military Assets with NGO Compliance

For years, claims that Hamas used hospitals to shield its leadership and fighters have been met by skepticism and disregarded by the international community and media. Newly-revealed internal Hamas documents prove that the terror group’s exploitation of medical facilities in Gaza has been systematic.

Weiss: What does America acquire from Israel?

Israel’s positive impact on the world is apparent in just an abbreviated list of companies, technology and more that have come out of the Jewish state, developed by its citizens.

Tweets

Events