(JTA) — In December 1778, as the American Revolution still raged, a Jewish writer in Charlestown opened a newspaper and saw Jews made into wartime scapegoats. An article in the local press claimed that Jews in Georgia had taken “every advantage in trade,” then fled with “ill-got wealth” as soon as the state was “attacked by an enemy,” “turning their backs upon the country when in danger.”

The writer did not let this accusation go unanswered. He responded in print. And he signed his reply with a line that declared both his patriotism and his devotion to Judaism: “A real AMERICAN, and True hearted ISRAELITE.”

That combination — civic belonging and Jewish identity claimed in the same breath — feels newly resonant as the United States enters its 250th anniversary year. The American story has never been free of antisemitism. But this early source reveals something else that is often overlooked: From the country’s earliest years, Jews in the United States could answer public insinuations in newspapers, using the civic vocabulary of their time, as participants in the public square.

The 1778 letter is striking not only for its tone but for its immediacy. The author refutes the rumor with a blunt factual claim: “there is not, at this present hour, a single Georgia Israelite in Charlestown.” The people the earlier writer thought he had identified “upon inspection of their faces,” he suggests, were women “with their dear babes,” fleeing danger as countless families did in wartime.

Then he turns the accusation on its head. Far from abandoning Georgia, he writes, Jewish merchants from the state had been in Charlestown on “Sunday the 22d” [sic] of the previous month and when they learned of an enemy landing, “they instantly left this… and proceeded post haste to Georgia, leaving all their concerns unsettled.” They are now, he insists, “with their brother citizens in the field, doing that which every honest American should do.”

The accusation did not end with the Revolution. In the next century, amid another national crisis, it returned in a different form — and again drew a public reply.

A second text, published 85 years later during the Civil War, records antisemitism appearing again. On May 22, 1863, the Natchez Daily Courier published an extract from a sermon preached at the German Hebrew Synagogue in Richmond on a fast day “recommended by the President.” The rabbi, M. J. Michelbacher, addressed what he called the “cry” heard in public life: “that the Israelite does not fight in the battles of his country.”

The sermon does what the Charlestown letter did. It names the accusation plainly, then insists that it is false. “All history attests the untruthfulness of this ungracious charge,” the rabbi declares. He speaks of Jewish soldiers who have been “crippled for life, or slain upon the field of battle,” and of “several thousand” still in the war’s campaigns.

Then he turns to another longstanding claim — one that recalled the 1778 rumor about “ill-got wealth.” “There is another cry heard,” he says, “and it was even repeated in the Hall of Congress, that the Israelite is oppressing the people — that he is engaged in the great sin of speculating and extorting in the bread and meat of the land.”

The rabbi reports having made “due inquiry” from the Potomac to the Rio Grande and concludes: “the Israelites are not speculators nor extortioners.” He argues that Jewish merchants do not hoard a staple “to enhance its value,” and he appeals to the plain logic of commerce: “It is obvious to the most obtuse mind that the high prices of the Israelite would drive all his customers into the stores of his Christian neighbors.”

Taken together, the 1778 letter and the 1863 sermon extract show two strands present early in the American record: antisemitism, and the ability to answer it in print. That right did not erase prejudice or guarantee safety. But it did give American Jews an early civic tool of belonging —something many European Jews could not take for granted.

The same paper record that preserves these rebuttals also holds another inheritance: early scenes of Jewish belonging, especially at synagogue dedications and cornerstone layings, when non-Jewish neighbors and civic leaders chose to show up.

In Charleston, one of the nation’s earliest centers of Jewish life, Temple Beth Elohim rebuilt after a devastating fire in 1838. When the new synagogue was dedicated in March 1841, notices extended an invitation beyond the Jewish community. “Clergy of all denominations,” “His Excellency the Governor,” judges, other elected officials, the Mayor and Aldermen of Charleston, and “the public generally” were all “respectfully invited to attend.”

The notice shows the dedication as a civic occasion, not a private rite.

A similar pattern appears in Mobile. In 1858, after a fire left the Jewish community without its synagogue, a report in The Israelite spoke with gratitude of “Christian brethren” who “had generously and liberally contributed towards erecting a most beautiful and substantial edifice.” The same theme surfaces again and again in early reports of synagogue building across the United States.

That is why these sources matter in a 250th anniversary year: The paper record preserves both early prejudice and early practices of public belonging, and provides a template for what Jews can anticipate in the face of attacks, like last week’s arson at a synagogue in Jackson, Mississippi.

That double inheritance still shapes American Jewish life: welcome and violence, belonging and suspicion. The balance is never guaranteed. Pluralism has to be chosen again and again.

In the 1778 letter, the writer does not ask for pity. He asks for fair judgment. “Let judgment take place,” the earlier author had written, after describing Jews fleeing Georgia. The rebuttal responds with evidence and with a claim about the obligations of citizenship: Georgia’s Jewish merchants, he insists, are “with their brother citizens in the field.”

In 1863, M.J. Michelbacher did not pretend that the accusations were harmless. He calls them “ungracious” and rooted in prejudice.

As the United States marks 250 years, there will be no shortage of speeches about what it means to be an American. Newspaper archives offer one reminder: pluralism has always depended on choices made in public life — by editors who amplify slander or correct it, by neighbors who show up to moments of celebration across lines of faith, and by those who helped build places of worship not their own.

Belonging has never been guaranteed; it has been defended. The Charlestown “true hearted Israelite” offers an enduring lesson for the 250th: when prejudice is spoken, and you have the power to answer, you answer

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.

The post For 250 years, American Jews have answered prejudice with defiance appeared first on The Forward.

As Iran is gripped by its most intense wave of protests in years, concern is mounting over the fate of Americans imprisoned by the Islamic Republic — particularly Kamran Hekmati, an Iranian Jewish man from Great Neck, New York, who was sentenced to two years in prison while traveling to Iran for business. His crime was traveling to Israel 13 years ago for his son’s bar mitzvah.

Hekmati, 70, suffers from aggressive bladder cancer and is currently being held at the Evin prison in Iran, which is notorious for its particularly harsh conditions. Hekmati, a father and husband, is a jeweler and a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals of the village of Great Neck Estates. He was born in Iran, moved to the United States over 55 years ago, and holds dual Iranian and American citizenship. Prior to his arrest, Hekmati had reportedly traveled to Iran about three times a year without issue.

Barry Rosen, a Jew and former U.S. diplomat who was held hostage in the U.S. embassy in Iran for 444 days, said there are currently about eight Americans wrongfully imprisoned in Iran. Hekmati is the only Jewish captive.

Amid the current unrest in Iran, Rosen, a founding member of Hostage Aid Worldwide, said his organization is facing major challenges “getting information out about what is happening to the hostages.” “Right now,” he said, “the captives are not the most important issue in Iran for the State Department” or other organizations that could help.

Despite those challenges, Rosen said the current moment could present a rare opportunity to see American prisoners like Hekmati freed, as the United States comes to the negotiating table with significant leverage amid President Donald Trump’s threats to involve the U.S. militarily.

“There could possibly be a deal,” Rosen said, “but there has to be three or four prongs to this situation.” Any agreement, he added, would necessarily involve not only freeing American prisoners, but also restrictions on key security issues like Iranian nuclear enrichment and ballistic missile production.

That leverage comes against the backdrop of heightened regional conflict following the war between Israel and Iran this summer. Community members in Great Neck say Hekmati was captured by Iranian authorities around the time of the Twelve-Day War. “The regime wants to use him as an example of Israel’s use of Iran’s Jewish population as ‘Israeli’ infiltrators,” Rosen said.

Fear and hope among Great Neck’s Persian community

News of Hekmati’s imprisonment reverberated through his hometown of Great Neck, which has a significant Iranian population that is largely Jewish, and where nearly half of all households include a Jewish resident.

For Elizabeth Shirian, who was aware of Hekmati’s frequent travel to Iran, the news was both frightening and grimly unsurprising. About 10 years ago, while on a family trip to Istanbul, she ran into Hekmati at a restaurant as he was on his way to Iran. Even then, she said, “We thought, ‘Wow, he’s such a risk taker.’”

Shirian said her uncle was taken prisoner around the time of the Islamic Revolution in Iran for his alleged connection to Israel and was released after about a year. As unrest in Iran grows, she said her concern for Hekmati has only intensified. “Being a Jew imprisoned in the Islamic Republic of Iran is not something that typically ends well,” she said. “And now I think they’re even more ruthless than they were back then.”

Another community member, Ebby Victory, said Hekmati’s imprisonment has erased any lingering sense of normalcy for Iranians in Great Neck who had continued traveling to Iran prior to his arrest. “His situation has definitely made people more cautious about going back to the country,” Victory said.

The case has also drawn attention from elected officials representing the area. “When Mr. Hekmati was unjustly imprisoned in Iran late last year, I immediately reached out to Secretary Rubio and urged him to take swift action,” Rep. Tom Suozzi, whose district includes Great Neck, said in a statement to the Forward. My staff will be receiving an updated briefing from the State Department on Mr. Hekmati’s status in the coming days,” he said. Rep. Suozzi added that he will “continue to both work for his release and stand with courageous Iranian protestors.”

Amid protests, Jews in Iran retreat from public life

Rosen said Hekmati’s imprisonment reflects the increasingly precarious position of Iran’s Jewish community during moments of national crisis. “The Jewish community in Iran is playing a very tough balancing act,” Rosen said. “The balancing act is, ‘I’m Jewish and I’m not pro-Israeli.’” This distinction becomes even more critical during moments of upheaval. “The Jewish community knows that they have to be very, very careful in what they say and do right now,” said Rosen.

According to Rosen, between 20 and 30 Jewish Iranians have been taken prisoner in Iran since the Twelve-Day War, most accused of working with the Mossad or Israel. That number is significantly higher than anything he has seen from the regime in many years. Since the war, Rosen said, the situation for Jews in Iran has grown deeply precarious, and the protests have only intensified that reality.

“From what I gather, they’re not out,” Rosen said. “They just are not congregating anywhere, because they don’t want to get caught up in a situation where they might get arrested for some demonstration.”

For Iran’s Jewish community, Rosen said, the overriding priority remains survival. “It’s a vise that they’re in right now,” he said. “How do you survive in this situation?”

The post As protests grip Iran, fears grow for a Jewish New Yorker held prisoner there appeared first on The Forward.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged Iranians to keep protesting their theocratic, authoritarian government, vowing “help” was coming as the regime continued its brutal crackdown on the nationwide demonstrations.

Trump’s message came amid growing concerns from Iran that it could see defections among the security forces, which have been killing and arresting thousands of protesters to crush the biggest threat to the regime’s stability in years.

“Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price. I have canceled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY. MIGA [Make Iran Great Again]!!!”

Trump did not elaborate on what support may be coming. When asked what he meant by “help is on its way,” Trump told reporters that they would have to figure it out.

However, Trump has said multiple times over the last two weeks that he will intervene against the Iranian regime if security forces continue killing protesters. Adding to threats of military action, Trump late on Monday announced that any country doing business with Iran will face a new tariff of 25 percent on its exports to the US.

According to reports, Trump was to meet with senior advisers on Tuesday to discuss options for Iran, including military strikes, using cyber weapons, widening sanctions, and providing online help to anti-government sources.

Iran has continued to face fierce demonstrations, which began on Dec. 28 over economic hardships but escalated into large-scale protests calling for the downfall of the country’s Islamist system.

The regime has responded with an increasingly violent crackdown on protests. An Iranian official told Reuters that about 2,000 people had been killed in the protests, marking the first time authorities have given an overall death toll from more than two weeks of unrest.

US-based rights group HRANA said that of the 2,003 people whose deaths it had confirmed, 1,850 were protesters. It added that 16,784 people had been detained, a significant increase from the figure of 10,721 it gave on Monday.

However, thousands more people are feared dead.

“Based on available data and cross-checking information obtained from reliable sources, including the Supreme National Security Council and the presidential office, the initial estimate by the Islamic Republic’s security institutions is that at least 12,000 people were killed in this nationwide killing,” reported Iran International, a Persian-language news outlet.

According to CBS News, the figure could be as high as 20,000.

With the regime imposing an internet blackout since Thursday, verification of such figures has been difficult.

Trump continued to urge Iranian protesters to “take over” institutions while speaking at an economic event in Detroit, Michigan on Tuesday.

“And by the way, to all Iranian patriots, keep protesting, take over your institutions, if possible, and save the name of the killers and the abusers that are abusing you; you’re being very badly abused if the numbers are right,” Trump said.

“They’ll pay a very big price, and I’ve canceled all meetings with the Iranian officials, until the senseless killing of protesters stops. And all I say to them is, help is on its way. You saw that,” he continued. “I put tariffs on anybody doing business with Iran just went into effect today. And I say, make Iran great again, you know, as a great country until these monsters came in and took it over.”

Iran has warned that any military action would be met with force in response.

“Let us be clear: in the case of an attack on Iran, the occupied territories [Israel] as well as all US bases and ships will be our legitimate target,” Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf told a crowd in Tehran’s Enqelab Square on Monday, adding that Iranians were fighting a four-front war: “economic war, psychological warfare, military war against the US and Israel, and today a war against terrorism.”

Following Trump’s social media post the following day, Iranian security chief Ali Larijani said on X that the US president and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were the “main killers” of the Iranian people.

Despite the protests, there have been few examples of fracture among the security forces and regime elites that could topple the clerical system, which has been in power since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. However, there are signs of Tehran fearing defections.

The Intelligence Organization of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an internationally designated terrorist group and a key force responsible for suppressing dissent, issued a statement on Friday castigating the protests as part of a “terrorist” plot orchestrated by the US and Israel to topple the regime. In a now-deleted section of the statement, the IRGC also warned that any “defiance, desertion, or disobedience” among the military would be met with “trial and decisive action.”

“The apparent removal of this language likely reflects concerns about triggering a panic, but it nevertheless exposes the depth of anxiety among regime officials,” wrote Janatan Sayeh, a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a think tank based in Washington, DC.

Meanwhile, the IRGC’s Intelligence Organization also said that it was “dealing with possible acts of abandonment,” similarly suggesting that some Iranian security forces may have already defected or that the regime is concerned about such a possibility.

A Kurdish human rights organization reported last week that the regime had arrested “dozens” of security officers in Kermanshah City who refused to fire on protesters.

“The regime may be framing protesters as ‘terrorists’ and linking them to the United States and Israel to increase security forces’ willingness to use lethal force against protesters and reduce the risk of defections,” the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote in a new analysis.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reportedly ordered the IRGC to take control of the crackdown in part due to fears of defections by the police and regular armed forces.

“He [Khamenei] is in closer contact with the IRGC than with the army or the police, because he believes the risk of IRGC defections is almost non-existent, whereas others have defected before,” a senior Iranian official told The Telegraph. “He has placed his fate in the hands of the IRGC.”

The Institute for the Study of War noted that the regular Iranian military “is generally less ideological and more representative of the Iranian population than the IRGC, which increases the risk that [army] members could defect.”

Defections could tip the scales in favor of the protesters. But even if the regime succeeds in stamping out the unrest, some observers argue the Islamist theocracy has no long-term future in Iran.

“I assume that we are now witnessing the final days and weeks of this regime,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday, adding that if it had to maintain power through violence, “it is effectively at its end.”

Germany, along with Britain, France, and Italy, all summoned Iranian ambassadors in protest over the crackdown, decrying what British Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper called the “brutal killing” of protesters.

Meanwhile, the European Union has indicated it will impose harsher sanctions on Iran in response to the repression of anti-government demonstrations.

“The rising number of casualties in Iran is horrifying. I unequivocally condemn the excessive use of force and continued restriction of freedom,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen posted on X. “Further sanctions on those responsible for the repression will be swiftly proposed.”

China and Russia, meanwhile, have backed the Iranian regime, warning against foreign “interference” in what officials described as Iran’s internal affairs.

Amid the unrest, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Al Jazeera that he and US envoy Steve Witkoff have been in contact.

Witkoff met Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah and a prominent voice in the Iranian opposition, this past weekend, Axios reported.