We all are in horror at the events that unfolded in Washington DC last week as yet another anti-Israel, antisemitic extremist shot and killed two young people, believing they were Jewish (both were Israel Embassy staff, one was not Jewish). This is not the first time that Jews and Non-Jews have been targeted by anti-Israel activists. 138 of the October 7 hostages held foreign passports and dozens of them were not Jewish. Eight Muslim Arabs and an uknown number were Israeli Druze. The Druze town of Majdal Shams lost 12 children in a rocket attack. From 2018 to 2025, there have been multiple incidents of Synagogues being vandalized and members threatened.
The bottom line is that words matter. The UN frequently has to retract or correct inaccurate claim it makes or remained silent when UN officials made provocative misstatements that inflamed sentiment toward the Jewish community. Just as "Defund the Police" may be a convenient slogan that means police accountability and investing in mental health response to some, to others it means reducing law enforcement dollars during a critical crisis in public safety. Similarly, "Free Palestine" is an oversimplistic phrase that to many anti-Israel activists means taking back all of modern day Israel from the 7 million Jewish citizens living there.
We need to make clear how terms like "From the River to the Sea" or false claims of Israeli "Apartheid" or "genocide" and mischaracterizing Zionism generally to make it synonymous only with with Revisionist or Religious Zionism are not only offensive but, are aimed squarely at delegitimizing Jewish identity and the mainstream community that supports Israel but is not responsible for the actions of the Israel government (We also must be aware of the impact of our own words as well and not be afraid to speak to our own community to hold ourselves accountable).
That being said, we can not fight hateful disinformation without your activism. When you have stepped forward, we have been able to change outcomes and defeat these efforts. Thank you for being willing to step forward and be heard.
