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Every Young Person Can Be a Building Block for Peace in Israel and Beyond
Antisemitism is rising in America, both in our everyday interactions and online. The anti-Jewish discourse and violent incidents we have witnessed have been horrifying, and I, for my part, refuse to sit on the sidelines.
I am a senior at The Dalton School in New York City, where I lead the Jewish Culture Club. After October 7th, I was determined to prevent the events in Israel and Gaza from stoking tensions at my school. I reached out to my Muslim peers and had meaningful conversations to foster the need for interfaith coexistence.
It worked.
Every participant was able to share something that they learned from the interfaith session, and Dalton has so far been spared the violence and animosity that have characterized too many disagreements about the conflict in New York City and across the country.
My commitment to civil discourse led me to join the American Jewish Committee (AJC)’s Leaders for Tomorrow (LFT) program and participate in its advocacy summit. Last month, I traveled to Washington, D.C., with 180 high school students from all over the country who are passionate about supporting Israel and combating antisemitism.
During the summit, I attended a panel on Muslim-Jewish dialogue and coexistence that mirrored the dialogue at my high school, which reinforced my conviction that these conversations are the building blocks of peace. Israel isn’t going anywhere, and neither are the Palestinians. Dialogue and coexistence are the only way forward for our two peoples — in the Middle East and around the world.
We also discussed the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The key word here is future. Patience, dialogue, intercommunal respect, empathy, and education are how we can create a positive, peaceful future for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
I want to elaborate more on one of those tenets: education.
A common denominator of much, though not all, antisemitism is misinformation and ignorance — whether willful or unintentional. For example, many of those who chant “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free,” are doing so in support of Palestinian statehood without realizing that they are calling for the elimination of Israel, or echoing a rallying cry of terrorist groups like Hamas. Many of these people can’t name what river or sea they are referring to. But, one study showed that once some protesters learned more about the region and what this chant really meant, they regretted saying it.
We hear from many of those who are taking Hamas’ side in this conflict that they are doing so because they believe they are standing for the “little guy,” when in fact they are signaling their support for an internationally recognized terror organization that wants to destroy the world’s one Jewish state and calls explicitly for the murder of the world’s Jews.
These troubling assertions and attitudes, and so much contemporary antisemitism, are manifestations of ignorance not only about Israel, Hamas, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but fundamentally about Jews and our history, traditions, and beliefs.
There is no silver bullet to rid the world of antisemitism completely, but education can go a long way towards its diminishment.
There is so much that we can do. I want to encourage fellow high schoolers to engage in difficult conversations and to reach out across communities and partisan lines. Yes, it is challenging, but I cannot emphasize enough the importance of advocacy.
According to AJC’s recently released State of Antisemitism in America 2023 Report, 36% of young American Jews (between 18 and 29) said they were the personal target of antisemitism last year (compared to 22% over age 30). Standing up for ourselves — including by reaching out to our elected representatives and voicing our concerns — is not just imperative but our right and duty. Every voice matters, and these officials are meant to represent all of us, even young people not eligible to vote.
Reflecting on my experiences, I am reminded of the importance of empathy, understanding, and dialogue in fostering peace. There is so much work ahead, but armed with knowledge, compassion, and patience I am ready to embrace the journey — and I hope you are too.
Rex Popick is a senior at The Dalton School, an independent, co-educational day school (K-12) located in New York City.
The post Every Young Person Can Be a Building Block for Peace in Israel and Beyond first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Tourists Stranded in Israel as Sirens Sound, Missiles Fly, Planes Grounded
FILE PHOTO: A worker at Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel sits at the arrivals terminal as all flights from and to the airport are indicated cancel, following an Israeli attack on Iran. June 13, 2025 Photo: REUTERS/Tomer Appelbaum
Woken by air raid sirens, hurrying to bomb shelters, scouring travel sites for escape routes — thousands of tourists in Israel have found their holiday plans upended by the country’s conflict with Iran.
Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran in the early hours of Friday, shutting down the national airspace and telling people to remain where they were as the arch Middle East foes traded deadly blows.
The violence has left around 40,000 tourists blocked in Israel, according to the Ministry of Tourism. Airlines are cancelling flights until further notice, leaving travelers to decide whether to wait it out or seek costly detours through neighboring countries.
Justin Joyner, from California, is on holiday in Jerusalem with his father John, who lives in Nevada, and his son. They had expected some possible disruption, with Israel locked in a months-long conflict against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
But, like most locals, they did not foresee a whole new war.
“We didn’t expect Israel to attack Iran. That is a completely different level of escalation,” Joyner said from his hotel in East Jerusalem, which, for the past two nights, has seen Iranian ballistic missiles flash overhead like a rain of meteorites.
“It’s unsettling to feel the shockwaves of intercepted missiles above you, and to take your family down to a bomb shelter. That’s just something we don’t think about in America,” he said.
Dr. Greer Glazer, who lives in Cleveland and was in Jerusalem for a nursing training program, faces a race down 10 flights of stairs in her hotel to reach the shelter when sirens sound — as they have done regularly since Friday night.
“I feel safe,” she said, “but waking from a dead sleep and running to the safe room, that’s been the hardest. My family is scared to death … They think it’s 24/7 destruction, but it’s not like that.”
THE JORDAN ROUTE
Glazer had been due to return home on June 29, but is looking to bring forward her departure. The easiest exit route is via land crossings into neighboring Jordan and then a flight out of Amman airport which has been operating in daylight hours.
Israeli media reported that the transgender US influencer Caitlyn Jenner, who only flew into Israel on Thursday for Tel Aviv’s since-canceled Gay Pride Parade, had left through Jordan.
Hours earlier, she had been photographed drinking a glass of red wine in a bomb shelter. “What an incredible way it has been to celebrate Shabbat,” she wrote on X.
Not everyone is rushing to leave.
Karen Tuhrim is visiting from London to see her daughter, who lives in Tel Aviv. “Within two days of being here, Israel attacked Iran. So now I’m stuck,” she said.
Unlike Jerusalem, Tel Aviv has taken direct hits from the Iranian missiles and Tuhrim has had to dip in and out of her hotel’s shelter. But she said she felt safe and was happy to be near her daughter.
“For me, personally, at the moment, I feel better being here than in London, watching it all on the news, knowing my daughter is here. So, for now, we’re good.”
Israel’s Ministry of Tourism has set up a round-the-clock virtual help desk in English and Hebrew for stranded travelers.
But for anyone stuck here, all the museums are closed until further notice, entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem is barred to non-residents and many shops remain shuttered.
“The streets and shops are empty,” said Jerusalem resident Anwar Abu Lafi, who saw no quick end to the gloom.
“People are yearning for a break, to find something good in this existing darkness. We are deluding ourselves into thinking that the future will be better,” he said.
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4 Killed by Missile in Arab Town of Tamra, Including a Mother and Her Two Daughters
Illustrative: A Magen David Adom ambulance. Photo: David King via Wikimedia Commons.
i24 News – In the early hours of Sunday morning, the Arab town of Tamra in northern Israel was struck by an Iranian missile, tragically claiming the lives of four women from the same family, including a mother and her two daughters, aged 13 and 20.
The missile caused severe damage, nearly collapsing the three- to four-story building where they lived.
Emergency services responded quickly, evacuating 14 injured individuals and providing care for eight others suffering from shock at Rambam Hospital in Haifa.
Despite the devastation, the community and first responders showed remarkable resilience and solidarity, working tirelessly to assist those affected.
Eli Bin, director general of Magen David Adom, described the scene as one of severe destruction but praised the swift and professional response of rescue teams. Paramedic Adnan Abu Rumi, one of the first on site, emphasized the dedication of emergency personnel in managing the crisis.
Residents like Hamudi, who was injured but survived, shared heartfelt accounts of the sudden impact, underscoring the strength of families and neighbors coming together in difficult times.
The post 4 Killed by Missile in Arab Town of Tamra, Including a Mother and Her Two Daughters first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Trump Sees Peace Between Iran and Israel Soon, Eyes Putin Role
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Photo: Reuters/Maxim Shemetov
Despite evidence that the conflict between Israel and Iran is escalating, US President Donald Trump expressed optimism on Sunday that peace would come soon and cited the possibility that Russia’s Vladimir Putin could help.
In a social media post, Trump said there were many unspecified meetings about the issue happening and encouraged the two countries to make a deal. And in an interview with ABC News, he said he was open to Putin, whose forces invaded Ukraine and who has resisted Trump’s attempts to broker a ceasefire with Kyiv, serving as a mediator.
Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on each other overnight into Sunday, killing scores.
“Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social site. “We will have PEACE, soon, between Israel and Iran! Many calls and meetings now taking place.”
Trump did not offer any details about the meetings or evidence of progress toward peace. His assertion contradicted comments by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said on Saturday that Israel’s campaign against Iran would intensify.
A White House spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on how Trump and the White House were working to de-escalate the situation in the Middle East.
Trump told ABC News that Iran wanted to make a deal and indicated something like the Israel strikes would accelerate that. “Something like this had to happen because I think even from both sides, but something like this had to happen. They want to talk, and they will be talking,” Trump said, according to ABC reporter Rachel Scott. “May have forced a deal to go quicker, actually.”
The United States has engaged in talks with Iran about its nuclear program and Trump has told reporters previously that the talks were going well. But another round of discussions scheduled for Sunday in Oman was canceled after the Israeli and Iranian strikes.
Trump said he and Putin had discussed the situation in the Middle East on Saturday in a call that focused more on that conflict than the Russian war in Ukraine.
“He is ready. He called me about it,” Trump said about Putin serving as a mediator, according to Scott. “We had a long talk about it. We talked about this more than his situation. This is something I believe is going to get resolved.”
Trump, who portrays himself as a peacemaker and has drawn criticism from his political base for not being able to prevent the Israel-Iran conflict, cited other disputes that he took responsibility for solving, including between India and Pakistan, and lamented not receiving more praise for doing so.
“I do a lot, and never get credit for anything, but that’s OK, the PEOPLE understand. MAKE THE MIDDLE EAST GREAT AGAIN!” he wrote on Truth Social.
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