Month: July 2025

We must fight the lies

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

Genocide. Ethnic Cleansing. Apartheid. Famine. War Crimes. Collective Punishment. Hard words to type. Hard words to say. Yet very easy accusations for those who hate Jews or the Bibi Netanyahu government to throw around. They are short. They are powerful. They cut deeply and very quickly hurt. People use them without knowing the definition. People repeat them because they are short, powerful, and cut deeply.

When they are used, the typical response is to go into detail about how these words are not accurate. To go into a deep explanation and share the facts. To attempt to prove them wrong by using data and facts. This doesn’t work. Why doesn’t it work? Because those who use them don’t care about the facts. They are sure in their positions without any facts. They saw it on TikTok. They read it on social media. A celebrity said it. One of our virtuous media outlets that want to break the story first without confirmation decided to blindly report whatever the Gaza Health Ministry (i.e. Hamas) said.

It’s easy to yell “Genocide, Genocide, Genocide” while the other side tries to explain using a 1,000 word essay why it isn’t. Every time they take a breath during the essay, another “Genocide” is shouted. They openly say that the definition is flexible. It’s ethnic cleansing even though Israel tried to get the citizens not involved with Hamas and/or October 7th moved to the Sinai so they wouldn’t be harmed and it was Egypt who said no. It’s easy to say Israel is starving the people of Gaza and there is a famine even when unprecedented aid is being provided by Israel and it is Hamas stealing the food, shooting the Gazan people trying to get the food, and selling the stolen aid on the black market. If you want to understand how this is historically unprecedented, read this piece by John Spencer. They cry collective punishment when it is Hamas punishing the people of Gaza. They cry apartheid when Arabs have more rights in Israel than any other country in the region.

Israel has not waged a perfect war. Far from it. There have been plenty of strategic mistakes. Innocent people have died, which is what happens in war. In fact, in 2022, the UN stated that 90% of war time casualties in are civilians. That means that 9 civilians are killed in war for every combatant. This is according to the UN. During the war in Gaza, the estimated civilians to combatant ratio is betwen 1-1 and 1.5-1. That’s is 6 to time times BETTER than the accepted rate in war. Yet Israel is accused of ethnic cleansing and genocide. It doesn’t make sense. The facts say one thing. The media says something entirely different.

It’s time for us to stop trying to win a debate tournament with dimwits. It isn’t a debate, it’s a street fight. We need to understand exactly who and what we are fighting. No more essays. No more long diatribes explaining how they are wrong. It’s time to realize this is a street fight and fight the way you would in the streets.

When they say Genocide, we scream Liar. When they say ethnic cleansing, we scream racist. When they claim apartheid, we respond Jew hater. If they say famine we say 2 million meals a day. If they claim war crime, we respond by Hamas. When they say collective punishment, we respond with by the UN. Make them defend their false claims. Put them on the defensive.

We can also use video and images. Pallywood (the nickname used to describe the fake imagery Hamas uses to sway world opinion) cannot be left unchallenged. Post and share videos like this one from Stand With Us UK showing the difference between the UN distributing aid (when they actually do) and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distributing aid. One is chaotic, overrun because the people of Gaza know they have to get it before Hamas does. The other is orderly, organized, becaus the people of Gaza know they are going to get the food and Hamas isn’t.

Who is actually getting food to the people? The UN or the GHF? Which one is clearly the problem?

Invest the time to identify sources that provide real information. TPS-IL (the Press Service of Israel) is one and you can subscribe to get a daily email. The Bernie News Network is another great resource for regular updates. My only warning is that the WhatsApp updates are frequent and you will get more information than you expect.

Don’t be afraid to use your knowledge and your voice. Don’t be on the defensive. When you are on the right side of history, make those on the wrong side be on the defensive. Make them explain and defend their baseless statements built on lies. From experience, they can’t. And when they try, it’ll be a bunch of BS saying things like ‘intent doesn’t matter’ or citing statistics that have been proven false.

We now know what the Jews are terrible at. Genocide.

You don’t have to defend the Israeli Government to defend Israel. Just like any country, it’s ok to criticize the leadership. We criticize the leadership of the United States, Canada, the UK, France, Spain, and throughout the world. That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be countries. That doesn’t mean they are evil as a country. It does mean they are a country where the leadership makes mistakes. I will openly state that Israel has not fought a perfect war. But no war is perfect. Innocent people have been killed – that’s what happens in war and why war should be avoided whenever possible. It’s ok to say that. There is power in that.

You will hear those words thrown around. Don’t be afraid of them. Don’t be afraid to respond with short, powerful declarations right back at them. Don’t try to explain why they are wrong. Attack. The lies only have power when we don’t fight back against them. Because if we don’t fight back against the lies, the can look like this one and people will believe it.

The Genocide Libel

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

For more than two decades, I have made one simple claim. American’s are dumb. It’s simple. It’s clear. I don’t think it is even debatable at this point. This doesn’t mean I don’t love America or that I hate the American people. It does mean that we are so self-righteous and have such a small attention span that we believe whatever we are told. It means that the Big Lie theory, popularized by Adolph Hitler, is right when the theory says, “if a lie is sufficiently enormous and repeated frequently enough, people will eventually believe it.” We see it all the time. Our news media does it all the time. Our leaders do it all the time.

I have lunch every Friday afternoon with a group of 80 year old men. It’s a fabulous group and I’m thrilled that they invited me over a year ago, 20 to 30 years younger than them, to join. When working, they were titans of their industries. Lawyers, Doctors, Judges, Newspaper editors, and much more. Their wisdom infuses the conversations each week into something rare in today’s world. For the past few months I have been bringing up the subject of the media and their agenda with everything that they do. No longer is it the about getting the facts and the truth out into the public arena. No longer is it about verifying stories before you go to press because truth and integrity matters. Today’s media is about money. It’s about clicks and views and being the fastest out with something because that’s how you monitize it. I often make the comment that there is a reason why the news is now in the entertainment division. My friend who was the newspaper editor always takes umbrage when I say this because he recalls a different day. A day when the media had an obligation to truth and independence. A day when you could count on the media almost all the time to get it right, even if they didn’t get it fast. I long for those days but am realistic about where we are.

The media lies because it sells papers, gets ratings, and gets clicks. They don’t even try to hide it. Take the NY Times. In order to blame Israel, they used a photo of Mohammed al-Mutawaaq, a child with a muscular disorder, as the face of famine in Gaza.

This isn’t the first time they have lied about Israel nor will it be the last. Earlier in the week they ran a terrible piece, based on no facts, stating that there is no proof that Hamas is stealing the food from the UN. The day after, a piece in the Jerusalem post showed just how wrong the Times was once again and how they and Reuters ignored a mountain of evidence to print their narrative and lies. The NY Times and the media simply don’t get held accountable. I’m stunned by the number of Jews who continu to read the NY Times and view it as a source of respectible journalism. Then again, I am stunned by the number of Jews who support those who would kill us all if they had the opportunity. This isn’t a new phenomenon. It’s been going on for thousands of years. In our effort to build a better world, we have done harm to ourselves going back thousands of years. It is our history. The question is when will we learn from our history – or maybe better stated, will we ever learn from our history.

A friend of mine from Jewish summer camp many years ago just wrote a piece accusing Israel of Genocide. I won’t post it. He is a University Professor in Canada so it didn’t surprise me. It did sadden me. As I read it, I was even more disappointed as so many facts were simply wrong. When educated, smart Jews who I know have a strong Jewish identity believe the lies, it is clear that we have failed. It is clear that what we have done up until now has not worked and that if we don’t take a hard look at ourselves, our organizations, and our communities and understand where we went wrong, where we missed, and devise a new path, we have a very troubled and scary future in front of us.

We had a detailed interaction and conversation on Facebook about it. It was very civil and reasonable. Topics were discussed, information shared, and no minds were changed. I think what was the saddest part for me, other than seeing the lack of real information being used by him was his final statement. I had asked him to read a piece written by John Spencer, the chair of Urban Warfare studies at the Madison Policy Forum. Spencer is one of the world experts on war and specifically Urban war like in Gaza. He is not just an academic, as he served 25 years in the U.S. Army, to included two combat tours in Iraq. The piece, titled I’m a War Scholar. There Is No Genocide in Gaza, is filled with facts and information from somebody who is world renown in the field and has no skin in the game. He isn’t Jewish or Israeli and is completely independent. My friend’s reply was “Thank you, but I think I’ve read enough.”

That’s a major part of the problem. People read things that confirm their bias. They watch the news that is clearly far left or clearly far right. They never read things that challenge their beliefs or their world view. It goes back to the saying “my truth”. There isn’t ‘my truth’. There is only ‘the truth’. As the late, great Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, “You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.” In today’s world, people are choosing their own facts.

I read a piece in the Free Press today about the greatness of Billy Joel. In it, they quoted two verses from his classic song, “Prelude/Angry Young Man”. It’s one of my favorite songs and the lyrics hit me different this time.

The first verse quoted reflects the attitude of the young. It reads: 

There’s a place in the world for the angry young man
With his working-class ties and his radical plans
He refuses to bend, he refuses to crawl,
And he’s always at home with his back to the wall.
And he’s proud of his scars and the battles he’s lost,
And he struggles and bleeds as he hangs on his cross
And he likes to be known as the angry young man.

Billy Joel

When I was young, I related to that verse. It spoke to me as who I was at that time. Then I got older. I got more mature. I got married, had a family, built a life within society. The second verse of the song that they wrote about reflects that version of me.

I believe I’ve passed the age
Of consciousness and righteous rage
I found that just surviving was a noble fight.
I once believed in causes too,
I had my pointless point of view,
And life went on no matter who was wrong or right.

Billy Joel

Until October 7th, that was more of who I was. I no longer had that ‘righteous rage’ and understood that there was a nobleness in surviving the challenges of life. Everything didn’t have to be perfect and there were certain things that no matter how wrong I thought they were, they were not going to change. My point of view was mine and the world didn’t need to conform to my worldview. I respected my scars and the battles I’ve lost but I didn’t need to obtain new ones or lose new battles. October 7th changed that for me.

Since October 7th, I’m no longer that person passed the age of conciousness and righteous rage. I’m also not the angry young man. The person I am has more of the angry young man than the older version. I know that we can’t sit by idly and I need to be part of the group that will have radical plans because what has been done up to now has epically failed. I can’t bend and I can’t crawl. I have to fight because now it really is about survival.

So despite my inability to change the mind of my camp friend, I won’t stop speaking the truth. I won’t stop calling out the Jew hatred all around us. I won’t stop naming those who are vile antisemites or those who blatently lie because of their Jew hatred. Will there be consequences? Probably. Will I get new scars? Definitely. Will I be proud of the battles I’ve lost? Not a chance. Because losing a battle isn’t success. There are no moral victories when it comes to my life and the lives of my fellow Jews. I may be known as the angry ‘not so young’ man, but I don’t care. Because if we don’t stand up and fight now, by the time we may be ready, it will be too late. I’m not willing to take that chance. Are you?

The many faces of Jew hatred

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

Since October 7th, I have been struggling with the violent antisemitism that occured then and that has continued to increase and occur. Having worked on a college campus for 15 years, it ripped my soul watching what happened on various college campuses across Canada and the United States. Seeing people attacked in the streets for being publicly Jewish broke my heart and watching the world stay silent about it infuriated me.

I watch some of our leaders excuse and defend this Jew hatred when they were publicly leaders against the hatred of other groups. What makes it ok to hate Jews? Why does the world not just permit it but celebrate it? Why is it ok to light the door of a synagogue on fire while Jews are inside praying, trying to kill them all? Why has it been ok to shoot Jewish schools?

This past week on the Fresh and Fit Podcast, a group of young people actually blamed the Jews for the Nazi’s committing Genocide. Listen to them speak and understand their hatred. Understand that we have now made it ok for people to openly hate, lie, and spew prejudice. They may as well be wearing white sheets and be the Klu Klux Klan. Except the Klan wore their sheets to hide from public scrutiny. They show their faces proudly as they spew their hatred. Watch the man, the supposed adult, smile with joy as the Jew hatred is shared. This is the world we live in today.

It gets worse. This week, a group of 50 Jewish children were returning from summer camp on a Vueling flight from Spain to France. These children were speaking Hebrew, joking, and signing songs in Hebrew. Totally appropriate teen behavior. Yet the crew, saying that Israel is a terrorist state, called the police and had them forcibly removed from the plane. For being Jewish. For speaking Hebrew. In America, this is equivilant to ‘Driving while black’, when African American people are pulled over and arrested or harrassed just because they black. This is what happens when we allow hatred to grow unchallenged. Watch the video below as the Director of the Camp, trying to understand what is happening and why they have been targeted and are being removed, is thrown to the ground, beaten, handcuffed and arrested. Not for being violent. Not for being a terrorist. Not for making threatening statements or causing a problem with other passengers. Simply for being Jewish.

The police knew they were in trouble for their behavior immdiately. They took the phones from the children and made them delete the video of what happened. They wanted no proof of their Jew hatred. The lies in the media began as soon as the story broke. Claims that the children were singing songs about killing Arabs. That they were behaving aggressively. The media does this with Jews regularly. Spin the lies fast and furious and the Jew hatred takes over. This time however, passengers on the plane spoke up. The passengers were clear that the children did nothing wrong and that it was the crew who wanted them removed once they realized they were Jews.

Then there is the issue of the ‘mass starvation and famine” in Gaza. The claims that Israel is starving the people of Gaza. The talk about the IDF shooting Gazan people who are trying to get food. While I’m sure accidents happen like in any war, it has been clear that it is Hamas who is shooting and killing the Gazan people who are trying to get food from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Why would Hamas do this? Hamas has been stealing the food and aid since the beginning and using it to feed themselves and sell the rest on the black market to fund their purchase of rockets and weapons to kill Israelis. The complaint from the Gazan people, before the GHF began delivering food directly to them, was that ‘the food is too expensive’. The food that is provided for free is too expensive. I’ve heard the stories of Gazan people, coming to get food from the GHF double and triple checking that the food was actually free. In Daniel Gordis’s Israel from the Inside, the shared this video of a mob of Gazan people running towards an overturned food truck (how it got overturned isn’t clear or shown). The IDF is there as this mob runs towards them. I can’t imagine what it must feel like to see a mob this size running towards you, but I can imagine it is frightening. The commander instructs them not to shoot, not to fire on the people and they don’t. At the end, an extraordinary thing happens – the Gazan people stand and applaud and cheer the IDF soldiers. Forget what you are shown on the news – this is raw footage of the Gazan people appreciating the IDF. Perhaps the narrative you are being fed isn’t accurate.

A mob in Gaza rushing to an overturned food truck – there is no violence and what a remarkable end.

What is factual? The UN has over 950 trucks of food and aid sitting inside Gaza waiting to be delivered. The UN refuses to deliver it unless they are escorted by Hamas for protection. The IDF has offered to provide the protection so the food gets to the people who are hungry, not the terrorists. The UN would rather lt the food sit, undelivered, and have the people of Gaza go hungry that ensure that Hamas doesn’t steal the food and keep it from the people. Watch the video and see all this food, waiting to be delivered, while the UN refuses to deliver it and blames Israel for starving the people of Gaza. The UN has committed so many human rights violations since October 7th and the world refuses to hold them accountable. It’s better to blame the Jews and encourage Jew hatred.

Then there is the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. They are delivering over 2 million meals per day directly to the people of Gaza. Hamas hates this, as they can’t steal the food and use the black market revenue to pay their terrorists and fund their terror. The UN hates this because it highlights how corrupt they are. The media likes to highlight the Gazan people being killed by Hamas waiting for food and blame Israel for their deaths. Yet the facts show something entirely different.

The UN and the other NGOs refuse to work with the GHF because it gets food directly to the people of Gaza and does not go through Hamas. When food goes through Hamas it ends up in the tunnels, feeding Hamas, and it goes to the black market where the money funds Hamas’s terror and efforts to kill every Jew. The complaints by the people of Gaza have been that ‘the food is too expensive.’ The free food that is being provided is too expensive! When the GHF began distributing food directly to the people of Gaza, they kept getting asked over and over again, “Are you sure this food is really free.”

The world wants to blame Israel and say that Israel is starving the Gazan people and the children in Gaza. There is no doubt that there is food insecurity in Gaza but the blame is not on Israel. It’s on the world. The world would rather blame Israel than ensure the food is properly distributed. The world would rather invest in Jew hatred than fill the stomach’s of the people in Gaza. The world would rather see starving and dead Gazans than see Israel exist. In his Israel from the Inside blog today, Daniel Gordis addresses the food issue. He shares this video which clearly addresses the problem – food distribution. This is entirely solvable by the world if they wanted to. They don’t. They’d rather blame Israel

From Daniel Gordis’s Israel from the Inside. If you don’t subscribe and read it, you should.

So here is the real question. Do you care about the people of Gaza, the children of Gaza, or do you hate Jews and Israel? If you truly care about the people and the children, you’ll fight against the UN and the NGOs that refuse to deliver the food unless it goes through Gaza. If you care about the people and the children, you won’t tolerate the media slandering the GHF and will hold them accountable for reporting the reality that the food distribution by the UN and other NGO’s has been the problem. If you care about the people and the children, you will hold Hamas accountable and not demand any ceasefire until they release the hostages and leave power. If you really just hate Jews and Israel, keep on blaming Israel, supporting the UN and Hamas. It will be clear if you are a humanitarian or a Jew hater by your choice.

To Life, To Life, L’Chaim. L’Chaim, L’Chaim, To Life.

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

Ever since October 7, 2023, I have been writing this blog very regularly. Over the past month, that has slowed to a crawl. I’m not sure if it is fatigue, frustration, anger, sadness, or some other emotion. I just know that writing has been very difficult as the Israel-Hamas-Hezbollah-Iran-Houthis war continues and the rise in antisemitism around the world and in the United States continues to grow.

I write when I am moved emotionally or intellectually. My emotions have been muted and the rise and acceptance of Jew hatred has made me wonder about the intelligence of the people in this country and the world. I wasn’t sure what to write or if I would find something that moved to me to write.

Then I read this post by Jon Polin, the father of Hersh Goldberg-Polin. The power of his words hit me deeply. The price of this war hit me deeply. Read Jon’s words and let them wash over you, sink into your soul, and see if you are not changed.

I respectfully ask that the Office of The Prime Minister of IsraelBenjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו stop claiming that “his forceful application of combined military and diplomatic pressure has so far achieved the release of 205 hostages out of a total of 255.”

This insensitive claim whitewashes the lives of the 20% of the 205 who were taken into Gaza alive, survived a period of torture, and were then killed in captivity, including my son Hersh.

In August 2024, a negotiated deal was possible to release a number of hostages, including Hersh and at least three others of the five with whom he was held (together “the Beautiful Six”). Instead of completing this deal, and despite finding a live Israeli hostage in close proximity to where the Beautiful Six would be executed just two days later, a decision was made to continue with the risky military operation in Rafah. This decision led the Beautiful Six to be executed. Ironically, the deal that could have saved them was finally completed in January 2025 under pressure from President Trump.

Please do not take credit for “achieving the release” of Hersh. This is offensive to Hersh and to our family.

As I began to write this, deeply impacted by Jon’s words, the price paid by Rachel and Jon and so many others in Israel, dealing with my own feelings about not being able to go to Israel since September and plans to go in October, the graduation from college of my younger son and the career success of my older son, while so many in Israel have lost their children and loved ones because of the war and, I came across this piece in Daniel Gordis’s “Israel from the Inside” substack. He posted this piece written by Hagai Luber, an actor, playwright, theater director, acting teacher, and the founder and artistic director of the “Aspaklaria” theater and acting school. The translation is below. It captures my feelings beautifully.

Please, please,  
On the panels in the TV studios,  
On social media and in tweets,  
In the Knesset, in committees, and in speeches.  
And in the war cabinet, in the heat of discussions,  
Do not use the dead soldiers as proof of your righteousness!  
Do not say—"See? We must achieve a decisive victory."  
And do not say—"This is the proof that it is time to end the war."  
And do not prove with a victorious shout that if only there were more fighters, the disaster would have been avoided.  
And do not passionately criticize the methods of fighting and the security doctrine.  
And do not say—not today at least—  
That we must...  
That now...  
That the time has come...  
That we warned long ago...  
(And never, ever dare to say "They fell for politics and in vain")  
Just take a moment,  
Or a day,  
Or a year.  
And quietly look at these beautiful ones, in the picture.  
And think about the wondrous fact,  
That regardless of taking a stand or having an opinion,  
They were willing to die for you (f.) and for you (m.).  
And when they heard over the radio that soldiers hit explosives,  
The rescue forces rushed there to save lives,  
And took fire and continued, gritting their teeth, in evacuating them.  
And they didn’t check which sector they belonged to.  
And whether they are "secular" or "ultra-Orthodox,"  
And what their opinion is about the situation and what exactly they think.  
And this unconditional connection is the rock of our existence.  
And it is stronger and more steadfast than all our follies.  
And it is the secret of our strength.  
And it is the light and the good in our lives.  
We will grieve together.  
We will be comforted together.  
And we will rise together.

Haggai Lober

Maybe this hit me so hard today because I watched a former student who became a friend, bury his wife, another former student who became a friend, in Israel today. As I watched the funeral, I was struck by a number of things. First, her desire to be buried in Israel. How much that meant to her. Secondly, how as people talked about her, I could see her face, hear her voice, her laughter, and her passion for life. Third, how grateful I was that I got to see her last fall when I was in Atlanta and that I got to give her a big hug then. I only wished I’d spent more time with her that day.

That’s who we are as Jews. We love life. We cherish life. Our toast, L’Chaim, is literally saying “To Life”. Saving a life is as if we saved an entire world. We celebrate life throughout our lives. Even when somebody dies, we use shiva, the 7 day mourning period after burial, as a way to help the mourners deal with living their lives after losing their loved one. We tell stories about the person who died to celebrate their life and bring comfort to the lives of their loved ones. Everything is about life.

Beginning on October 7th, we have lived in an almost 2 year period of death. Death on October 7th. Death of hostages. Rise of antisemitism impacting our ability to live life. It only struck me today how un-Jewish this time period has been. I was reminded of this by words spoken by the daughter of my friend Yael (z’l) as she eulogized her mother. She had asked Yael (z’l) if she regretted anything in her life and she told her no. When pressed, Yael (z’l) told her daughter that she married a man she loved with all her heart, had parents who loved her, had 2 beautiful children that she loved more than anything, and had a fulfilling career. What was there to regret.

As I type and read those words, I can hear Yael’s voice saying them. Even in death, Yael (z’l) reminded her children, her family, and me the importance of living life. Jon Polin reminded us about how important living life is and just how powerful the loss of life is, through his son Hersh (z’l). Haggai Lober teaches us through his essay how important life is by the way we do whatever we can to save lives and how despite the incredible value of life, we are willing to risk our life to save others.

October 7th and the war that has followed has cost us too many lives to not honor their memories by living ours. Living them Jewishly, whatever that means to each of us. I have my Nova tattoo, my we will dance again tattoo, and my tattoo of the artwork by Moshe Shapira connecting released hostage Emily Damari’s hand with the priestly blessings. Moshe’s son Aner was murdered on October 7th as he repeatedly threw grenades out of the bomb shelter, trying to save others, until there was one he couldn’t get to in time and this tattoo reminds me of Aner, Emily, and Moshe. I wear my Star of David with Israel as the center of it proudly every day, outside my shirt. I got my Florida Stands with Israel license plate and display it proudly on my car.

Florida Stands With Israel License Plate
The art of Moshe Shapira plus We will dance again tattoo
Nova Tattoo
My special Magen David

I’m not the most religious person but I go to minyan when asked. I learn Jewishly every week through two different teachers and with a Rabbi friend when possible. I am proudly and outwardly Jewish. I refuse to hide it. I often think of my parents, who were outwardly proudly Jewish, my grandparents, who were outwardly proudly Jewish, and my Great-grandmother Rose, the only of my Great-grandparents that I knew, who was also outwardly proudly Jewish. I owe it to them and to my children to be proud of who I am, of my history, of my heritage, of my culture.

In memory of all those murdered on October 7th, who have died protecting Israel and the Jewish people, who were murdered by Hamas as hostages, I have one thing to say.