The famous quotation “Send not to know, For whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee” (John Donne, Ernest Hemingway) is frighteningly appropriate today in a climate of ever-increasing antisemitism in America and worldwide. Bombings of synagogues, attacks on Jews in streets and on campuses, terrorism in Israel, BDS movements, denunciation of Israel in the media and world bodies including the U.N. and American halls of congress, are so routine as to make them a mainstream condition. These events can only be part of a coordinated campaign to demean Jews, delegitimize Israel and demonize the Jewish religion, and are spurred on by social and mainstream media.

Any Jew thinking they will stop and go away by themselves is either in denial, ignorant of the facts, complacent, too uninvolved to care, or already too afraid to fight back. Whatever the reasons, Jews today are approaching a watershed moment when their very existence is coming under attack. This has been the fate of Jews for thousands of years and is bubbling up again from the swamp of human wretchedness.

Our current response is the typical response of Jews over the millennia, that of either cowering in fear or not doing anything to annoy the goyim lest they hate us more. If this continues, the end result will also be as it has been throughout the ages—catastrophe. The Holocaust was not an isolated event, merely the worst event that we have been subjected to, so far. “Never Again” was a nice hopeful slogan, but in less than 80 years has already been turned into a less noble phrase, “Here We Go Again.”

There is an alternative however, not seen in Jewish history since biblical times—that provided by the State of Israel. Fight back with strength, determination, and with everything on the line. No retreat, no backing down in the face of danger, no giving in to our tormentors.

Until Jews around the world, including America, take the current existential threats seriously, they will again be the big losers. Press releases, parlor meetings with our tormentors, occasional demonstrations, appeals for moral behavior from our bitter enemies, or other inane responses will not deter those who wish to do us harm, but will only encourage them to escalate their campaigns. Much stronger action and coordination is of vital importance.

Quoting another famous saying: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”