Every day, I find myself getting more and more frustrated at the lack of leadership in our Jewish communities, in our country, and around the world. The rise of Jew hatred is not just what we see on college campuses. It’s not just the ICC and the charges from South Africa that other countries are now joining. It’s not just the shooting at Jewish schools in Toronto and Montreal or a synagogue in Vancouver. There is a systemic effort going on to make us think we are safe while the walls close around us. We are once again putting our heads in the sand and failing to see what is actually happening. This scares me.
As things in the north of Israel are now literally on fire, we have reached a new point in both the war and the Jew hatred around the world. Israel has been attacked from the south and many people are no longer living there while the war in Gaza continues. Evacuations from the north are well known but not appreciated. Kiryat Shemona, where I have visited numerous times, now has only 8 houses left standing because of the bombing. Iran has said any offensive by Israel against Hezbollah in Lebanon will result in a full war with Iran. And yet the United States continues to kowtow to Iran and its role as the number one sponsor of state terror in the world. Israel is literally being squeezed from three sides (the third is the Mediterranean Sea). How much longer before the terrorists get an uprising in the West Bank/Judea and Samaria to squeeze Israel on all four sides while the United States plays games with Iran and our upcoming election? This chalkboard image describes a scary future.
My great-grandfather told us that once, we could go traveling in Syria.
My grandma told that once, we used to be able to travel in Lebanon.
Mom tells me that once we could travel in the Galilee.
And yet, as Jews in the diaspora we continue to fight with each other. We continue to ignore the existential threat to ourselves and work to defend those who openly declare their hatred and desire to murder us. The Jewish apologists in the diaspora, specifically in America make me physically ill. Their efforts not only undermine Israel, they put every Jew in America at risk. They encourage the hatred of Jews by legitimizing it. The encourage attacks on Jews by legitimizing it.
Former Staff member of the US Department of the Interior, Lily Greenberg Call, was quoted as saying,
Instead of fighting for peace and the end of Hamas, true evil, her ‘Jewish values’ requires her to sacrifice the lives of Jews. Instead of being a Queen Esther, a Hannah Senesh, a Golda Meir, she gives up the ability to save Jewish lives. This is the same thinking in Spain prior to 1492 and in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. It is what led to the destruction of the 2nd Temple by the Romans in 70 and our 2,000-year exile. We refuse to learn. We refuse to stand up for ourselves and fight back. Thankfully we have Israel now who fights back. Israel inspires many of us in the diaspora to also fight back and not put our heads in the sand. Lily Greenberg Call represents a generation that would have Jews eliminated because of their sense of fairness. They, like generations before them, believe that if they stand with those who hate Jews, they will treated as if they aren’t Jews. That never works out. History has shown us that a Jew is a Jew is a Jew.
Somebody I follow on Twitter posted this.
I would add to the bottom, “Don’t defend their actions.” the Lily Greenberg Calls of the world excuse this behavior and blame the victim. The wouldn’t do this for any other group, just for Jews. It is amazing how quickly the world has forgotten the horrors of October 7th. Of the videos made by Hamas of what they were doing that day. I’ll never forget the joy in the voice of the Hamas man who was telling his parents that he personally murdered 10 ‘Yehuds’ (Jews). The joy in his father’s voice. How proud his mother was of him. I’ll never forget watching a terrorist behead a Jewish man on October 7th. Of the father jumping on a grenade to save his children who, traumatized, are taken to their kitchen by the terrorist while he gets a drink. The pain in their voices will never leave my mind. I’ll never forget walking through Kibbutz Kfar Aza and seeing the destruction from not just Hamas, but the second and third wave of Gazan civilians who came in and did more damage, robbed and mutilated Jewish bodies. These were people who the day before had sat together, talking peace, sharing a meal, hoping for a better future. A day later, these Gazans had no problem mutilating them. My friend from the trip, Mikey, posted this on Instagram that captures the feeling of being in Kfar Aza better than I have.
I haven’t given up on the many Palestinian people I have met who do want peace. Who want to live next door to Israel. Unfortunately I am giving up on the world who would rather support terrorists that want them dead than those who want peace. Iran and their proxies Hamas and Hezbollah have been clear that they want a Caliphate. They want the world to be their type of muslim and sharia law to be the law of the world. No more England, France, or Spain. No United States, Canada, or Mexico. No China or Russia. Everywhere must follow their version of Islam and live under sharia law. It won’t take too much longer for the first of these countries to experience this impact. Some are struggling with it again. It continues to be a self-inflicted wound.
I can only hope that our American leaders wake up to the threat. That they decide it is more important to lead than it is to plan for the next election. That being a leader means you do what is needed for the benefit of the country, not what is needed for you to be re-elected. That the threat of Iran, almost a nuclear Iran, is so great that action must be taken. That the corruption of the UN, UNRWA, and the Palestinian Authority is so great than none deserve to survive. That the Abraham Accords, bringing never before seen peace in the region, are a good things and worth investing in. Saudia Arabia and Indonesia were ready to normalize relations with Israel prior to October 7th. The world was changing.
Today we have UNRWA turning their schools in Gaza into military institutions. Tunnels with openings inside or next to the schools. Weapons stored and fired from the schools. These are UNRWA schools, funded by the UN and by the world.
We have Hamas using homes as militiary bases and the world cries when these homes/bases are destroyed. The picture below was from a child’s bedroom in Gaza.
The world wants to be social justice warriors and ignore the realities. I am fearful for the future of not just the United States but the world as a whole. What happens when Europe falls? When mass casualty events are occuring in the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, and around the world? Are we really that far away from the post-apocalyptic world of the Mad Max movies? I’ve been watching the new TV show Fallout on Prime with my kids. Is that our near future?
I am also amazed at the power of the protesters who know nothing. They attend Ivy League universities. The attend top academic institutions and yet show their indoctrination and lack of knowledge every time they open their mouths. We all saw the Columbia woman who wanted food delivered to their illegally occupied building at Columbia. We have seen many interviews of people who don’t know what river it is nor do they know what sea it is. This woman might be the worst of them all, self proclaiming she spent a semester in Israel/Palestine yet not knowing anything when asked. She even thinks Israel is a muslim country!
I returned from Israel two weeks ago. I go back to Israel in four weeks. Just as I wasn’t sure what Israel I was going to in May, I’m not sure what Israel I will be returning to in July. Will the hostages, or at least some of them, be freed? Will there be a ceasefire? Will Hamas leadership still be in place? Will there be a full war in the north? Can we go further north than Tel Aviv and Jerusalem? What will my second visit to Kibbutz Kfar Aza and the Nova site feel like? How will the world have changed in just the 6 weeks between visits?
Since my return from Israel, I have dug deeper into what is going on and it makes me sick the more I dig. The systemic hate. The lies that are told. Some of our ‘leaders’ who are filled with hatred and misinformation. I am usually a very optimistic person. I usually can find the good in any situation. I’m known for finding a pathway through challenges to a better place. As I sit here today, I am at a loss. As a world traveler, there are few places other than Israel that I would visit today. As an American, I don’t want to visit many of our states. Part of me thinks the only solution is what some of my Israeli friends have told me – to make Aliyah, to move to Israel where I will be safe. Yet I also know that running from the fight for security isn’t the answer either. The fight is here. There is no escaping it. Leaving it to people like the woman in the video who knows nothing isn’t acceptable. Abandoning people like Mikey who are fighting the fight here isn’t acceptable. Leaving it to apologists like Lily Greenberg Call is doing self harm and not acceptable. So I will stay and fight. I will urge you to join me. The future of the Jewish people is at stake. The future of the United States is at stake. The future of the world is at stake. Don’t sit by idly. Don’t stay uninformed or be quiet because you are afraid of the consequences of speaking out. I promise you, the price of your silences is far worse than the price of using your voice.
The words of Elie Weisel are more important now than ever.
We are the ones suffering and being humiliated. The people of Gaza are suffering and being humiliated because of Hamas, Iran, and those who would sacrifice them on the idol of Jew hatred. We cannot be silent. We cannot be neutral. We are the tormented. And we refuse to the victim once again.
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