Worldwide, Jew-hatred continues to rise, to flourish, to rear its vile and bigoted head. I’ve said it before, and I will say it again now: What we are witnessing is not antisemitism. Antisemitism was predicated on ideology. This scourge is Jew-hatred in its purest and ugliest form – sheer hatred.
Those of us who live in the United States are lucky. The hatred runs deeper in Europe than it does in the USA. From universities to organizations to main streets, we are hated.
Speaking Hebrew can get you assaulted. Wearing a kippah or a necklace adorned with a Magen David can get you canceled. A text favorable of Israel can get Jews banished by so-called friends and co-workers. That yellow ribbon that means so much – that in and of itself speaks volumes – can get the Jewish wearer banned.
Uniting to fight back
Working together, Jews and lovers of Israel must unite to push the evil of antisemitism back into the darkness. Together, we need to overwhelm the Jew-haters of the world.
Think of it as a numbers game. Think of it as a war against hatred.
Even if you count every Jew, there are still simply not enough of us to make the difference. We must enlist the help of non-Jews to fight this evil infestation plaguing civilized societies.
It is non-Jews who are needed to do the heavy lifting. The reality is that the voices and cries of Israelis and non-Israeli Jews are no longer paid attention to. We have become a broken record. We are considered kvetchers – complainers – not victims.
To stop Jew-hatred from becoming part of the fabric of American and world culture, Jews must seek out partners and empower non-Jews to spread the word that antisemitism is not acceptable – that Jew-hatred is not acceptable.
Major campaigns needed
Clergy, artists, and influencers must be brought into our fold. They have the audience, the following, and the forums where they can spread the word to stop antisemitism.
We need ministers and priests telling their flocks that Jew-hatred is not acceptable. We need songs and video shorts uploaded onto social media explaining the horror of Jew-hatred and extolling the importance of uprooting it and embracing Jews and Israel.
Major campaigns must be waged using artists, musicians, and athletes to embrace the beauty of Judaism and the condemnation of Jew-hatred. Pop figures have huge impacts on our future – on people under the age of 35. These are people who are tethered to their devices – their phones and tablets – who gain knowledge of the world through the short snippets presented by those they follow, those whose ideas they take on as their own.
'No one left to speak for me'
There should be no doubt that the rise of antisemitism is a precursor to society’s destruction. Martin Niemoller, the German theologian and Lutheran pastor, was sent to German concentration camps for opposing the Nazi regime. After the war, Pastor Niemoller traveled throughout Europe condemning Nazism and extolling the importance of human rights.
In 1946, Niemoller published a confessional prose piece that many people consider to be a poem. It began with the words: “First they came for the communists and I did not speak out – Because I was not a communist.” It continues similarly regarding the socialists and trade unionists. “Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out – Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.”
Niemoller was condemning inaction. He admitted that he was actually pro-Nazi for a period and even voted for Adolf Hitler in 1933 because he was an anti-communist. After Hitler assumed power, the pastor’s perspective changed and he became a staunch critic of Nazism, which landed him in Nazi prison camps for seven years.
When a society uses Jews as scapegoats, that society begins to unravel. Germany and the Soviet Union are modern examples. Spain and Portugal are other examples. There are many more examples in antiquity. When the Greeks and then the Romans subjugated their Jews, their empires began to fall. And who can forget ancient Egypt?
It is time to repel Jew hatred. It is time to recruit others to join our cause. If not now – when?
The writer is a columnist and a social and political commentator. Watch his TV show Thinking Out Loud on the Jewish Broadcasting Service.