I have always found it fascinating when Islamophobia and antisemitism are juxtaposed with each other since they are two different human emotions. A person who is Islamophobic is a person who is in fear of Islamic terrorism. Considering 9/11 and 10/7, would it not be reasonable for a person to be Islamophobic? Wouldn’t it be reasonable to have a basic fear and mistrust of having a ceasefire with Hamas, considering that 10/7 occurred during a ceasefire?

Antisemitism, on the other hand, is a visceral hatred based on false narratives that have been perpetuated and proven false for centuries. There has been and still is a country for Jews for thousands of years, either in reality or in the hearts and minds of Jews. The capital of that country was and is Jerusalem.There has never been an independent country of Palestine, let alone a Palestine with its capital in Jerusalem.

Antisemitism existed long before the modern State of Israel was certified as a legitimate independent country by the United Nations in 1947-48. Israel became the latest excuse for antisemitism. A two-state solution was offered to the Arabs as early as 1947. The issue, contrary to the Biden administration’s stance, is the Arab acceptance of a Jewish state in any shape or form. Iran has made that clear.

The antisemites, the quasi-antisemites and the moral equivalency crowd find it difficult to accept the fact that Israel is fighting to save the Jewish people not only in Israel but across the world. Other than Biden’s “Don’t,” no restrictions have been put on Iran or Hamas. Yet, the present administration keeps warning the most humane army in the world to be careful on how to go about defeating Hamas (Iran). No American army was given restraints after Pearl Harbor or the German declaration of war on the United States in 1941. America was fighting for its own survival in 1941, not for England, not for France, not for western civilization, and certainly not for the Jews. It seems as though currently the situation has been reversed: the Jews are now fighting for themselves as well as for the survival of the soul of western civilization.

Joel M. Glazer

Elizabeth