Who are the new anti-Semites?

They shout “Free Gaza” even though it’s an independent territory • They support Hamas even though a quarter of Muslims worldwide are committed to undermining Western culture • The new anti-Semites have no idea why they’re anti-Semites.

New heights of anti-Semitism are being reached worldwide, every day: shouts of “Jews to the gas” in the streets of Western cities, without people being arrested or charged; Jews hiding in side rooms of American university campuses; heated speakers talking about the day when we will long for the orderly and civilized extermination methods of the Nazis. Even within Jewish communities worldwide, there is fear: at the beginning of the war, they were concerned about our well-being; now, in WIZO, we worry about theirs.

In some European communities, Jewish families are in self-imposed lockdown and dare not leave their homes.

“The struggle is between humanity and those who seek to carry out genocide,” tweeted Elon Musk, a simple and clear statement, so obvious that half the world, and perhaps the author himself, reads it in a completely opposite way from us. In the face of such abundant evidence, when even our terrorist enemies no longer bother to hide their cruelty towards us and towards their own peopleer – how can half the world stand behind evil, in a struggle that is, pure and simple, between humanity and genocide?

Modern anti-Semitism has always had two main characteristics: hatred and ignorance. Religious fanaticism has spread across Europe and America, where it met ignorance. The result: anti-Semitism today is not just an expression of hatred towards Jews, but also a hatred of Western culture, and the level of anti-Semitism in the world is now the most reliable “fear index”, indicating the level of threat against the peace of the entire world.

Recently, a video has been circulating on the internet in which the host asks passersby in the United States to sign their support for Hamas, and they eagerly agree. Then, before they sign, he reads to them clauses from the Hamas charter, and they are astonished to discover what Hamas represents: the denial of women’s rights, the rejection of LGBTQ+ rights, and more – and they change their minds and refuse to sign. The video is distributed together with an act of a comedian who joined a vehement anti-Israel protest and asked those present what they thought about the Israeli occupation of Australia – and they responded that Israel should immediately leave Australia. Funny? Sad? The new anti-Semites have no idea why they’re like this.

They cry “Free Gaza” even though Gaza has long been an independent territory. They complain about a “blockade” in Gaza, even though Gaza also shares a border with Egypt – so why aren’t there rockets fired at Cairo too? They support Hamas even though a quarter of the world’s Muslims are committed to undermining Western culture. Sacrificing the Jews is one thing, but what future are they condemning their grandchildren to?

This crisis offers a golden opportunity for the leaders of the free world to declare war on the seeds of chaos that are also sown in their own countries.

Faced with calls of “Palestine from the sea to the Jordan River” in London, Paris, and Stockholm, it is clearer than ever that the Zionist enterprise is the foundation of our existence and security.

Israel is an oasis of sanity in a region of lunacy, it is at the front lines of the battle between good and evil, a source of light and humanity in a world that is become darker by the day.

By Anita Friedman – chairperson of World WIZO