How anti-Israel rhetoric contributes to antisemitism and real-world violence

[Mosby]

(THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP)

On Sunday, hundreds of Australian Jews gathered, as Jews have done for millennia, to light the Menorah on the first night of Hanukkah. At the same time, two armed men engaged in another historic custom: targeting Jews because they are Jews. Fifteen people were killed in the massacre at Bondi Beach, including a 10-year-old girl and an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor.

For Australia’s small but vibrant Jewish communities, this weekend’s tragedy was horrifying but, on some level, hardly surprising. Since the massacre of more than 1,000 Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, antisemitic incidents in Australia have increased fivefold. Indeed, only two days after the worst mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust, a demonstration outside the world-famous Sydney Opera House led to chants of “F— the Jews.”

Since then, the litany of antisemitic incidents in the land Down Under will be all too familiar to Diaspora Jewish communities around the world.

A synagogue was burned to the ground. Kosher restaurants were vandalized. Protests were launched at Jewish restaurants. A Jewish educational institution was spray-painted with antisemitic epithets, and swastikas showed up on the walls of local synagogues. That this unending cycle of intimidation, threats and provocation would eventually lead to violence should be a surprise to no one.

Indeed, why in the two years since the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust are Jewish communities in New York City, Manchester, London, Toronto, Los Angeles and Amsterdam under siege?

MSNOW

[question everything]

1. And, sadly, too many Jews describe themselves as "anti Zionist" not realising that anti Zionist is antisemite

All the Jews on campuses, riding the New York Metro, going to synagogues have not been questioned of their support, or not, of Israel. They were harassed because they are Jews.

[Mosby]

2. For Jews it's become "guilt" by association.

Whatever one’s view is on the war in Gaza, simply because one is Jewish, simply because one is a Zionist and simply because one feels a connection to Israel, does not make one culpable for Israel’s actions. But for many of the most radical voices in the pro-Palestinian activist community, a Jew believing that Jews should have the same right to self-determination as any other ethnic group is a scarlet letter.

That's why antisemitism is up everywhere around the world and especially among young people who get their news from podcasts and tweets. What's really scary for me is that people like Piker aren't facing any consequences for their blatant antisemitism. That's a bad sign of things to come.