Ambassador Elan Carr, Col. Richard Kemp, Brooke Goldstein echo message at Pulse of Israel conference.
(Courtesy of The Pulse of Israel) The first Pulse of Israel Conference, “Unmasking Jew-Hatred Within the Palestinian National Movement,” took place Sunday evening at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem. The four-hour conference featured an international roster of speakers, all prominent leaders in the fight against antisemitism, as well as an in-person audience and online viewers from over 25 countries.
Conference creator Avi Abelow, CEO of 12Tribe Films Foundation and host of its media project, Pulse of Israel, created the conference as a call to action to spark ongoing engagement and activity throughout the year. “We are here today to highlight what many in our Jewish leadership are failing to do, and that is to simply call out Palestinian nationalism for what it is: antisemitic rhetoric. My hope is that all those attending will be empowered to get our leaders to do what it takes to bring about a much-needed change in ending this growing hatred around the world that is endangering Jews.”
Among the conference presenters were Col. Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, who spoke via video on why Israel and the Jewish people must fight the antisemitism of the Palestinian national movement despite international apathy. British author and journalist Melanie Phillips encouraged the audience to take charge of the narrative and “build a coherent strategy to tell our story.” Palestinian Media Watch founder Itamar Marcus showed disturbing interviews with Arab leaders praising terror, encouraging the killing of Jews and spreading lies about Jews and Israel. Caroline Glick, columnist and author, criticized the inefficacy and silence of world Jewry for not speaking out against the Palestinian Authority and its erasure and appropriation of Jewish history for themselves.
In a pre-taped video message from the U.S., attorney Brooke Goldtstein, founder of The Lawfare Project, cited Jew-hatred as “the last form of racism that is still tolerated by polite society.” She recently initiated the #EndJewHatred campaign on social media, “the first Jewish civil rights movement in the West.”
Social media and campus activism were discussed on a panel moderated by Ido Daniel, senior director for digital strategy and partnerships at Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs. Joining him were three young-adult pro-Israel activists. Social media influencers Adiel Cohen and Yirmiyahu Danzig and campus activist Nina Raab described their grassroots efforts to mobilize the next generations with positive and personal stories on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
Ambassador Elan Carr offered six key solutions to fight the “ancient, yet recurring indefatigable sickness known as Jew-hatred”: “Double down on Jewish peoplehood, explain our right to our homeland. Combat antisemitism in all its forms—from neo-Nazis on the right to radical Marxists on the left and antisemitic activists who justify their actions in the name of the Palestinian national movement. Bring balance back to college campuses and schools, and differentiate between protected speech and propaganda. Suffocate state sponsors of antisemitism, particularly Iran, and the jaw-dropping, shocking textbooks being used by the Palestinian Authority in schools. There is a Jewish story in just about every country. There is no reason America shouldn’t be covered with content for Jewish Heritage Month … in May.”
The program concluded with a call to action by Abelow. “It is critical that we move this part of the conversation on antisemitism within the Palestinian national movement out of the darkness. We must get everyone involved to change this conversation in order to properly protect Jews around the world and save lives.”
