Antisemitism has been on the rise for the past few years, but since October 7, antisemitism is at the highest levels it has been since the 1930s. Yes, it’s that bad. If you haven’t heard about it, or if you don’t see it, ask yourself why, instead of casting doubt on us.
The Jewish community is hurting. Since October 7, especially, we have been gaslit on a global, unprecedented scale. After Hamas live-streamed a massacre, we are being told, globally, that it didn’t happen. Or that it wasn’t as bad as we think. Or that we deserved it. Or that we did it to ourselves.
When college students demand a global “intifada,” a term used to denote two violent Palestinian uprisings that predominantly targeted Israeli civilians, we are told “intifada” just means “to shake off.” When Hamas terrorists are caught on camera, various times, calling Israeli female hostages “sabaya,” a term Islamists use to describe sex slaves, we are told we misheard it. When an international team of forensic pathologists confirmed that Israeli children were decapitated, we are told we lied about it. We are told we lied about the rapes on October 7, despite the preponderance of eyewitness testimony, forensic evidence (e.g. broken pelvises, mutilated genitals, bloody underwear, semen on a girl’s back), and perpetrator admissions. No matter the evidence, the world keeps moving the goalposts.
Our words are scrutinized under a microscope, and are received with doubt or outright denial. The gaslighting is such that we feel like we are living in a parallel universe.
So when we tell you how bad it is…just listen to us. Even if you don’t understand. Even if you don’t see it. Believe that we know our own experience better than you do.
STOP POINTING FINGERS. START WITH YOU
We are so, so tired of fake allies who are quick to point to the antisemitism of others but won’t even begin to deconstruct their own biases. Antisemitism is very, very old, and very, very embedded into nearly every culture, so it’s likely that you have antisemitic biases, whether big or small. That goes for Jews as well!
This is not a personal accusation, and I’m not calling you a bad person. But sincere allyship begins with you. It’s very easy to point fingers. It’s a whole lot harder to take a hard look at your own actions and beliefs.
An example: several years ago, Shaun King was accused of antisemitism on Twitter (for the millionth time!). Instead of apologizing and holding himself accountable, he rebuked those accusations, saying, “I fight Nazis every day.”
In other words: instead of seeing where he could do better, or where he went wrong, Shaun King deflected by pointing to the antisemitism of Nazis. And yes, of course Nazis are antisemitic. But just because Nazis are antisemitic doesn’t mean that Shaun King can’t be antisemitic, too.
Something incredibly frustrating is that politicians on both sides of the political aisle use our existence and our experience of bigotry as a “gotcha” against their opponents. Instead of addressing the antisemitism on their side of the aisle — and it certainly exists on both sides of the aisle — they will relentlessly point to the antisemitism of their opponents, without ever addressing the antisemitism of their allies. But if they were truly serious about fighting antisemitism, politicians, whether left or right, would begin by addressing the antisemitism on their side before pointing fingers to prove a point. That’s not fighting antisemitism. That’s exploiting our pain.
People have been speaking for Jews for 2000 years. But we have our own voices, and we can speak for ourselves. The problem is that we are 0.2% of the world population (and, in the United States, 2.4% of the population). Though for centuries antisemites have depicted Jews as powerful puppeteers pulling the strings, and though we are accused of running the media, the truth is that we are vastly outnumbered and our voices are drowned out.
According to the ADL Global Index on Antisemitism, 1.09 billion people across the world hold antisemitic attitudes. There are 15 million Jews in the world. Others’ narratives about us are far louder than our own narratives. That’s a problem.
As an ally, we don’t need you to speak for us. But we do appreciate you giving us the space — and, if you have it, the platform — to speak for ourselves.
Facts don’t lie; antisemites do. A recent Jerusalem Post study found that, since October 7, 46.2% of New York Times articles were empathetic toward Palestinians alone; whereas only 10.5% were empathetic predominantly toward Israelis. In other words, the Israeli narrative of events is getting buried.
Similarly, the recent viral AI post, “All eyes on Rafah” had over 47 million shares. There are 15 million Jews in the world. A similar “pro-Israel” post, “Where were your eyes on October 7?” was shared only 500,000 times before being removed by instagram.
Our community is small and our voices get drowned out. Give space to our voices, rather than create even more noise. Nobody is more qualified to speak of the Jewish experience than we are.
SUPPORTING US PRIVATELY IS EASY. SUPPORTING US PUBLICLY IS MUCH MORE IMPORTANT
Look, I get it. Vocally supporting the Jewish community at this time is not necessarily the popular thing to do. Because of the tremendous suffering of Palestinians, anyone who shows empathy toward Jews — yes, including Israeli Jews, who not only form half of the worldwide Jewish population, but are also hurting tremendously right now — can come with consequences. You might be ostracized. You might be put on a “Zionist” blacklist, as they are popping up in just about every industry, ranging from Hollywood to psychology.
But while you have the option to “opt out,” we don’t. We don’t get to keep quiet, because this literally affects our lives and our safety. It’s getting increasingly frustrating to receive messages of “support” who will never publicly raise their voices in our defense. In remaining silent, you are contributing to an environment of fear and ostracism. That doesn’t help us.
Let me address a couple of things before you get confused.
(1) in the previous slide, I said that we can speak for ourselves; you don’t need to speak for us. In this one, I’m asking you to speak up. So what’s the deal?
Instead of, say, making a post about what is or isn’t antisemitism yourself, you can share one of our posts or even invite us to collaborate on your account. You can also publicly say “hey, this isn’t right,” or “Jewish people need support,” both in real life and online, or something of the sort, without making yourself out to be an expert over Jewish people.
(2) you don’t have to be an expert on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to recognize Jews are hurting and to publicly voice support. If you don’t know what’s going on, I’d rather you not spread misinformation, but you don’t have to know the history or the facts on the ground to tell Jews that you see our hurt, and that you’re not okay with people hurting us.
Antisemitism is a bigotry that has killed millions of Jews throughout history. It’s not a valid punishment for behavior or political views you dislike. All Jews should be protected from antisemitism, whether you like us as individuals or not. Period.
Before you share a Jewish person’s voice, ask yourself this: why am I sharing this? Am I sharing this because this person validates myviews? Am I sharing this to prove a point? Am I sharing this to show people, hey, this person agrees with me, so I can’t be antisemitic?
The truth is Jews can be antisemitic. Jews can perpetuate harmful behaviors and views that hurt the wider Jewish community. There were pro-Nazi Jews. There were pro-Stalin Jews. There are now pro-Hamas, pro-Islamic Republic, pro-Houthi, and pro-Hezbollah Jews. There have always been Jews who, for one reason or another, including internalized antisemitism, jeopardized the safety of their own community.
If your objective is to “gain” something from associating yourself with any given Jewish person, that’s not allyship. It’s weaponization and tokenism. Allyship isn’t meant to be about you; it’s meant to be about the group you’re supporting.
You should support Jews because we are human beings, and our safety matters. Not because you’re trying to get something out of us. Period.
LEARN ABOUT ANTISEMITIC TROPES AND CONSPIRACIES
I cannot stress this enough. This is the single most useful thing you can do to support the Jewish people, in my opinion. Antisemitism can be hard to catch because it generally looks quite different than other forms of bigotry, and it’s constantly evolving. It’s hard to keep up with all the conspiracies — because, most often than not, antisemitism presents via conspiracy theories — so learning the “formula” of antisemitic tropes, stereotypes, and conspiracies is extremely helpful. Once you become familiar with this, it’ll be much easier for you to recognize this insidious, mutating hatred.
Personally, I like to use this formula:
Please note: antisemitism doesn’t usually look like unabashed Jew-hatred. Antisemitism moves through conspiracies and euphemisms, whether “globalists,” “cosmopolitans,” “communists,” “capitalists,” and yes, “Zionists.”
LEARN HOW TO CRITICIZE ISRAEL
Like every other sovereign nation on planet earth, Israel is not above criticism.
It’s very important to familiarize yourself with antisemitic tropes, conspiracies, and stereotypes so that you can criticize Israel in a legitimate way, rather than in a manner that hurts Jews.
(1) it’s totally okay to criticize Israeli policies, actions, politicians, and societal issues. However, make sure that these criticisms are rooted in reality, because there is so much disinformation about Israel
(2) it’s not okay to call for Israel’s destruction, deny Jews the right to self-determine, or revise Jewish history to satisfy your narrative
(3) it’s not okay to scapegoat Israel for issues unrelated to Israel, as well as to ascribe sinister motives to every single thing Israel does
(4) it’s not okay to engage in Holocaust inversion; that is, accusing Israelis or Israel of being like Nazi Germany. Full stop
(5) it’s not okay to subject Israel to double standards not expected of any other democratic nation
(6) it’s not okay to project antisemitic tropes, conspiracies, and stereotypes onto the Jewish state
When you project antisemitism onto Israel, chances are this will not improve anything in Israeli society; however, what it will do is it will hurt Jews.
Since October 7, the Jewish community has felt especially lonely. We feel that we’ve been abandoned by all our historic allies. We’ve been ostracized from our friend groups — or we’ve cut ties ourselves, because we don’t feel safe — and from our industries, which are becoming increasingly hostile to Jews who do not pass their political litmus tests, litmus tests with ever moving goalposts.
We need support. Reach out to us, regularly. Lend an ear. Take us out for coffee. Let us know that you haven’t abandoned us.
We also feel physically unsafe. As of June 1, at least twelve synagogues have been set on fire (or been attempted to set on fire), from Tunisia to Canada. Jews in the Diaspora have been murdered, kidnapped, and raped. These attacks have received little, if any, media coverage. Do what you can to physically protect our safety.
Though most of us have absolutely no control over the policies of the Israeli government, our businesses are being targeted around the world. You can support our businesses that have been the target of antisemitic boycotts.
