Don’t wait to fight antisemitism until it’s too late.
Facing ever growing antisemitism in the decades following the Holocaust, the Diaspora Jewish community’s common response has been to declare “Never Again”, describe ourselves as the “canary in the coal mine” and warn everyone else that the hate that begins with the Jews never ends
with the Jews.
While these ideas are echoed by millions, they are no longer making any difference. Racial tensions are intensifying in America, Jews are being increasingly targeted, and Jewish leaders fail to realize that action is required to prevent this violent hatred from becoming “Again and Again”. We cannot continue to be helpless, expendable canaries any longer.
Rabbi Hillel said: “Im ein ani li mi li? If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? And if I am just for myself, then what am I? And if not now, when?” (Pirkei Avot 1:14).
It is upon us to act, NOW!
Antisemitism is on the rise, and it is likely to get much worse. A perfect storm of circumstances is significantly increasing the danger. Jew-haters are taking advantage of the cracks in our society. They amplify their hateful rhetoric on mainstream and social media and incite violence toward our communities in frightening ways without suffering any consequences.
From medieval Europe to 20th century Nazi Germany, Jews were the scapegoat for all problems. Similarly, the COVID-19 crisis and some rioters, following George Floyd’s unjust murder, have amplified global antisemitic campaigns by falsely accusing Israel and the Jewish people of spreading diseases, orchestrating economic turmoil, and supporting racial inequality.
In an age of rampant conspiracy theories and polarized politics, the new antisemitism, fueled by the terror-linked Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, promotes Jew-hatred and violence globally, harboring the support of other radical movements in America: the far-right, the far-left, and the radical Muslims.
The spread and prevalence of this hatred today threatens to destroy our American religious freedom, and our rights to liberty, prosperity, and security. We must do everything in our power to stop this enormous storm before it swallows America whole.
Now is the time to protect our loved ones and our communities and safeguard American values. We need to change our approach from defense to offense, get personally involved, and deploy out-of-the-box strategies.
We, as a community, must adopt several principles to win this critical battle. First, embrace and support the State of Israel without any pre-conditions. Second, harness our community’s leadership, financial resources, and influence to protect ourselves. Third, build a broad coalition with our allies to fight antisemitism and other forms of bigotry.
Antisemitism is not only a Jewish problem; it’s an American problem that we must fight together.
Financial resources are needed to support and expand existing projects and platforms that fight back and put Jew-haters on defense. Additional resources must be invested in research and technology that enable us to combat antisemitism by exposing antisemites and their illegal activities, violent plans, and networks and promptly alerting authorities, media, and the public about these threats.
Though a perfect storm of antisemitism is looming, we should not be seeking shelter. When it comes to Jew-hatred, we can’t afford to be passive and risk-averse any longer.
Join me to make sure that “Never Again” is in fact never again and that we are no longer helpless, expendable canaries in the coal mine.
Let’s think outside-of-the-box and use our resources to secure the future of America and the future of Jews in America. Let’s make a difference together. For us, our family, and our loved ones.
Join Adam and Gila Milstein and support their out-of-the box efforts to combat antisemitism. Contact the Milstein Family Foundation at [email protected].
Follow us on Twitter @AdamMilstein and on Facebook www.facebook.com/AdamMilsteinCP.
