Anti-Semitism has been based on vilification and demonization of Jews for more than 2,000 years. It predates Christianity, as Jews were perceived as the other by Greeks and Romans; as people holding on to their monotheism, separating themselves by adherence to weird dietary restrictions (kashrut) and, by circumcision (bris milah) of newborn boys, making their males easily distinguishable from other people. With time, Jews were accused, judged, and murdered for various reasons—blood libel, deicide, too much power, too much wealth, being capitalists, being Bolsheviks or communists, and more. The vocabulary of such epithets has greatly expanded thanks to loud voices coming from pro-Hamas and pro-Palestinian protests on U.S. university campuses and capital cities all over the world.
Now we are not only Christ-killers, but also “settler colonialist, white supremacist Zionists.” We are the ones who commit genocide and murder Palestinians babies. The sad thing is that many people, not just “ordinary” folks, but nutty academics, artists, and intellectuals do believe this, or, at least, do not question the veracity of these horrible accusations.
Some loud voices won the battle for turning the American soul if not against Jews (at least not yet) then, for sure, against Israel. It all started with the arrival of certain Arab academicians, most notably Edward Said and Rashid Khalidi, along with the financial support provided decades later by Qatar, were able to expand many departments of humanities into bastions of anti-Israel and anti-Zionist preaching, including turning “settler-colonialism” on its head and inciting violence and hatred of Israel.
With October 7, 2023, all was in place and the fire was ignited not only in the south of Israel and Gaza but also on American campuses. All was noted, observed, and recorded not just by the general public but by social media and newspapers (yes, some are still around), and influencers. And the torch of hatred has been carried around the U.S.A. from campus to campus, from cities and college towns to the approval of cheering masses of students, some of them future U.S. leaders. The same process has been repeated in Europe, Canada, and Australia. And now anti-Zionism, inspired by radical Muslims and others already suffering from the “ordinary” type of anti-Semitic insanity, commit odious terrorist attacks even in countries not known for a significant degree of anti-Semitism. The heinous shooting resulting in the death of 15 people celebrating Chanukah at Bondi Beach in Australia last December, the recent shooting at synagogues in Toronto, and various other events in the U.S. should not surprise anybody.
Terrorists and Islamists attract quite sizable audience because of their loud mouths and because of the provocative and titillating message pointing at Jews as villains, confirming what a sizable portion of the population already believes. What is even worse is the brainwashing aimed at children in some public schools, such as kids in California already learning in kindergarten that Jews are enemy number one.
So what should we do? Some like Sheryl Sandberg insist that talking about anti-Semitism only encourages it, inspires people to express anti-Semitic ideas, and commit crimes against Jews and Israel. I suggest that anti-Semitism cannot be ignored but that we need to find a more effective way to fight it.
Sheryl Sandberg is mistaken that anti-Semitism, though a massive problem, is still on the fringe. It is massive and therefore not on the fringe. People may not be anti-Semitic, but they believe anti-Semitic tropes spread around because they cannot distinguish between what is true and what is false.
Rather than directly address well-known anti-Semites such as Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes, and Joe Kent who are not only anti-Semites but are also great entertainers attracting large audiences, we need to explain that anti-Semitism is based on spreading baseless lies and hatred against Jews, and explain why various individual acts of anti-Semites are hateful rather than justifiable by people who feel threatened by Jews. It does not have to be an outright lie; a deliberate misinterpretation or an omission of an important fact might be enough to lead readers to take certain “news” as truth for what it seems to suggest. The misinterpretation and intentional misreporting of a recent attempt to attack a synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan, provides a good example. An NPR report and an article in the New York Times used language subtly indicating that the attacker was disturbed because his family was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon. The attacker was introduced as a super nice person working in a local bakery who was always pleasant to customers. What was pointed out only later that his brothers were Hezbollah members, and that he himself had ties to Hezbollah as well. Nobody questioned his presence in the U.S. In other words, readers not following the current events in Lebanon might have gotten the impression that attacks on Jewish synagogues and kindergartens might be justified because Israeli actions lead to the death of “innocent” people in Lebanon.
Sheryl Sandberg continues by claiming that, yes, it is a massive problem but still a fringe problem. And, according to her, “the problem is that if we run around telling everyone that everyone’s antisemitic, we will cause everyone to be antisemitic.” Well, perhaps. “That’s what all the data shows us,” she said. “And I do think as a Jewish community, as we’ve gotten alarmed about the rise of antisemitism, I am worried that some of us are inadvertently kind of spreading it.”
Sheryl Sandberg is mistaken that anti-Semitism, though a massive problem, is still on the fringe. It is massive and therefore not on the fringe. People may not be anti-Semitic, but they believe anti-Semitic tropes spread around because they cannot distinguish between what is true and what is false. When they hear about fatalities in Gaza, it is easy to convince them that Israel committed genocide. When they hear about 900 fatalities in Lebanon counted since the beginning of the Iran war, they believe that it is Israel’s fault. They do not include Hezbollah’s constant interference and bombing of Israel (they do not even know about it), or that Hezbollah never kept the conditions of a ceasefire negotiated by the U.S. in November 2024. All Americans and citizens of other Western countries see is the bombing of Iran and Lebanon by Israel. So they blame Israel for all these fatalities. And that leads directly to anti-Semitism.
The pro-Hamas instigators of anti-Israel demonstrations understand this tactic—after all, it is they and their comrades who developed it. Add some photos of injured or dead Palestinians, and—voilà—look at another Israel war crime. Let’s take Israelis to the ICC or ICJ for inquisition. This worked well in the Middle Ages, so it will work now as well! And there is a very good reason why this works so well. Because, as many leaders and politicians in the U.S. (mostly Democrats) and Europe keep explaining that all we need is diplomacy and negotiations, not war and not casualties, all the war and casualties are perpetrated by Israel.
And people believe this, because who wants to fight, especially 81 years since WWII? And that is now a part of ancient history, together with crusades and WWI. Even the pope knows that, and he is infallible. So why should we believe the Jews with their constant complaints and not Leo XIV, the new kind “benevolent” pope, who just blames us nicely?
I am convinced that, instead of complaining that Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, and now Joe Kent spread anti-Semitic lies and nonsense, we need to educate people about issues and news hijacked by them and other anti-Semites. Those speakers and influencers are entertaining, making the impression that they are knowledgeable. Many people in the audience do not know much about Jews, do not question the speakers, are gullible, and do not follow very closely current events, if at all. These lies should be exposed for what they are—lies and falsehoods. And how should we do it? By writing on social media, in journals and magazines, or at least by talking to our friends and neighbors. And education should start in kindergarten and not in front of TV and in high school or with TikTok. Bret Stephens, an enthusiastic proponent of Jewish education, does not realize all the hurdles expansion of Jewish networks of schools would face. He understands the essential significance of education, but it does escape him that Jewish day schools, even with increase in funding and subsidies, will not solve the problem of Jewish education. For one, we need to educate as many children as possible regardless of their religion or nationality. That means education needs a substantial revision. Second, even a significant infusion of funds into Jewish schools will not make Jewish education accessible to all Jewish students. It is not realistic that Jewish day schools can function in all localities, particularly in small towns where the Jewish communities are small. Do we have enough teachers? And good teachers who are qualified and equipped with enough knowledge, especially in Jewish studies, who could teach in Jewish and other schools as well?
All this will take years and may not be enough. But, no matter how long it takes, it needs to be done at all levels of education, from kindergarten to adulthood. And then we have a problem with some public school districts that succeeded in incorporating anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism into their curricula. To reverse and correct these atrocities will take a lot of time and effort, but, for the sake of not just Jews but the whole country, it needs to be done.
