JNS.org – In an interview with The Jerusalem Post on Aug. 28, Yonathan Arfi, the head of the French Jewish umbrella body Crif, complained that most of his fellow citizens have an understanding of antisemitism that is rooted in the memory of the Second World War. The indelible association of Nazism with Jew-hatred, Arfi argued, prevents today’s generations from perceiving antisemitism as a live and current threat to the Jewish communities in their midst.

Given that Arfi represents a community that has endured a 200% increase in antisemitic outrages since Jan. 1, his views on this matter deserve to be taken seriously. And on one level, he is right. Antisemitic skinheads are still out there, but right now, they don’t represent the greatest threat to Jewish communities. Nonetheless, because they are seen as the true inheritors of the ideology behind the Holocaust, casual observers are blinded to the reality that today’s antisemites aren’t overly concerned with shaving their heads, wearing keffiyehs instead of swastikas and chanting “From the River to the Sea” instead of “Sieg Heil.” As a result of these optics, the pro-Hamas solidarity movement that has mushroomed in Western countries since the Oct. 7 atrocities is not, in the eyes of many, targeting Jews per se, but rather ideas and symbols—Zionism, the State of Israel—that can be denounced in the language of anti-colonialism, and not for their connections to Judaism.

If there is a logic here, it might perhaps be explained along these lines: Just as opposing the Vietnam War in the 1970s didn’t necessarily mean opposition to the existence of America and Americans, so opposing Israel’s defensive war in Gaza in the 2020s doesn’t mean that you’re an antisemite of the Nazi eliminationist variety. This view is bolstered by the fact that the pro-Hamas movement presents itself as a rainbow coalition of different ethnicities, religions and lifestyles that couches its rhetoric within general appeals to equality and human rights.

Because of that perception, I think it’s a mistake to focus this debate solely on the matter of presentation. The fact remains that we are dealing with an upsurge of antisemitism unprecedented in scale and venom since the Holocaust. And much of what we are witnessing echoes the Nazi period, particularly before the implementation of the mass extermination policy at the turn of the 1940s. Indeed, these echoes are a big part of the reason why there is so much ominous thinking among Jewish communities about where all this is heading.

Of course, there are significant differences between then and now, the most obvious being that during the Nazi era, antisemitism was a state-driven policy, whereas today it’s a civil society phenomenon in Western countries. Still, there are two overlaps that are worth pointing out.

Firstly, while Western governments aren’t actively discriminating against their Jewish populations, many of them are feeding antisemitic sentiments. This is certainly true of those countries in the European Union, such as Spain and the Republic of Ireland, which have pushed for unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state and advocated for sanctions against members of the current Israeli government. These politicians have essentially blessed the notion that Israel is a rogue state committing war crimes and therefore deserving of anger—anger that all too often gets directed at Jewish communities. As Arfi pointed out, “We all live with the idea that some people consider Jews to be legitimate targets for a battle happening 4,000 kilometers away.”

Secondly, many of the tactics and methods supported by the Hamas acolytes mirror the anti-Jewish measures introduced by the Nazi regime. A particularly shocking example emerged last week when the ultra-left New Communist Party in Italy published a blacklist of institutions and individuals who “support or promote the Zionist state in Italy.” In essence, this was an electronic version of the Nazi boycott campaign of Jewish-owned stores and businesses in Germany during the 1930s that helped give rise to the Holocaust a few years later.

In tandem with that is the rewriting of Jewish history and the caricaturing of Jewish theology. Social-media platforms like X (Twitter) and Instagram have been flooded with content that mocks the link between the land of Israel and the Jewish people, casting Israelis as Ashkenazi colonists who have willfully stolen Arab territories. The feed of Richard Medhurst—an Anglo-Syrian propagandist whose unhinged ravings are published by Iran’s Press TV and Russia’s RT—is replete with disparaging references to Ashkenazi Jews, to give one example. Medhurst’s co-thinkers, like Scott Ritter, an American former U.N. weapons inspector and convicted pedophile, and Mary Kostakidis, an Australian reporter who has enthusiastically embraced Medhurst’s own hatred of Zionism, form a reliable echo chamber for this theme and others, such as the slander that Jewish “chosenness”—a purely religious notion about the Jewish relationship with God—is actually an ideology of racial and national superiority. All these outpourings are designed to make their audiences despise all Jews, everywhere; in Israel, where they occupy and persecute the “indigenous” Palestinian Arabs, and outside, where the vast majority of Jews who support Israel, and have family and friends there, are framed as inherently suspect.

As I’ve argued before—and here is the link between the antisemitism of the last century and that in this one—anti-Zionism has morphed into “antizionism.” Freed from its hyphen, what remains is an ornate, multi-layered conspiracy theory with pretensions to be a revelatory, liberating and compelling explanation for why the world is in a rotten state.

For that reason, I think we can now reasonably speak of the “Nazification” of anti-Zionism. As the Nazi newspaper Der Stürmer, citing the German historian Heinrich von Treitschke, declared from its masthead: “The Jews are our misfortune.” For their inheritors, it’s the “Zionists” who play the same nefarious role, but for all intents and purposes, there is no practical distinction between these two categories. If we are to educate non-Jews about the evils of antisemitism, we are obliged to demonstrate its consistencies across different historical periods. The core message is, after all, evolving in the same way as the trajectory of antisemitism through the ages: You have no right to live among us as Zionists; you have no right to live among us; you have no right to live.

The post The Nazification of Anti-Zionism first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

JNS.org – The Israel Defense Forces is engaged in significant counterterrorism operations in northern Samaria, targeting terrorist activities in areas like Jenin and Tulkarm. According to IDF International Spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, these operations are part of a broader effort to address the ongoing and escalating terror threats in Judea and Samaria.

Speaking to journalists via video call on Wednesday, Shoshani emphasized the persistent nature of the threat, noting that “terror in Judea and Samaria is not something new, it is not a new threat.” He explained that even before Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, terror attacks had claimed the lives of over 30 Israelis in 2023 alone. The terror threat has only intensified since Oct. 7, with numerous deadly attacks being carried out against Israeli civilians and security forces.

Shoshani highlighted two recent attacks as examples of the violence emanating from Judea and Samaria. One involved the murder of Gideon Peri, a 35-year-old Israeli civilian who was killed on Aug. 18 by a Palestinian worker in an industrial park that was supposed to foster Israeli-Palestinian cooperation, said Shoshani. The second attack saw the murder of 23-year-old Israeli civilian Yonatan Deutsch on Aug. 11 in a drive-by shooting in the Jordan Valley. These incidents are part of a broader pattern of Palestinian violence in recent months, he said.

The IDF has identified a systematic strategy by Iran to arm and support terrorist groups in seven fronts across the Middle East, including in Judea and Samaria, Shoshani stated. He pointed out that Iran has been actively smuggling weapons and explosives into the region to be used in terror attacks against Israeli civilians. This strategy, he said, is part of Iran’s broader goal to destabilize the region and support terrorist activities against Israel.

In response to these threats, the IDF has been conducting targeted operations to remove immediate terror threats in real time. Shoshani noted that these operations are not new and have been ongoing for the past 11 months as part of Israel’s effort to ensure the stability of the area.

“We need to operate to remove terror threats, immediate terror threats in real time all across our arenas, to make sure that attacks against civilians that can kill our civilians do not happen,” he said.

Shoshani provided detailed information on the operations currently underway in Jenin and Tulkarm. In these areas, the IDF has observed a significant rise in terrorist activity over the past year, with over 150 shooting and explosive attacks originating there, he said. He emphasized that these operations are being conducted in a precise and targeted manner, with the goal of eliminating terrorist infrastructure while minimizing harm to civilians.

The IDF’s operations in Tulkarem have already resulted in the elimination of three armed terrorists who posed an immediate threat to security forces. In Jenin, two additional armed terrorists were eliminated, and five wanted suspects were apprehended. The IDF also confiscated weapons, including M16 rifles and ammunition, and dismantled explosives that had been planted under roads in the area.

Shoshani also highlighted the broader strategy employed by terrorists in Judea and Samaria, which includes the planting of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) under roads and in civilian areas. These IEDs pose a severe threat to both Israeli forces and Palestinian civilians, as they cause extensive damage to infrastructure and disrupt daily life in these areas. The IDF has been working to expose and dismantle these explosives to prevent further casualties.

In addition to the operations in Jenin and Tulkarem, the IDF’s regional brigades conducted a smaller counterterrorism operation in the Far’a area of the Jordan Valley. During this operation, an aircraft struck and eliminated four armed terrorists who posed a threat to Israeli forces. Weapons were confiscated, and explosives were dismantled in this area as well.

Shoshani stressed the importance of these operations in preventing future terror attacks. “We will continue operating in a focused, targeted counterterrorism operations to stop the threat of terror against our civilians in all arenas,” he said.

The operations in Judea and Samaria are part of Israel’s broader strategy to address the multi-front war it faces. Shoshani noted that the IDF’s approach has been shaped by the lessons learned from the Oct. 7 massacre, emphasizing the need for real-time action to prevent terror attacks.

Fire exchanges between IDF forces and terrorist groups in Jenin and Tulkarem have occurred in recent days, he noted.

Joe Truzman, a Senior Research Analyst at the Washington D.C. Foundation for Defense of Democracy’s Long War Journal, stated on Wednesday that, “Iran-backed terrorist groups have gained a significant foothold in the West Bank over the last three years.” He explained that with Iran’s support, “weapons have flooded the West Bank, including some arms that are considered advanced.”

Truzman noted that “around 2020, Iran eyed an opportunity in the West Bank to foment chaos.” The combination of a weak Palestinian Authority and deteriorating relations with Israel created a vacuum that Iran exploited to bolster terror groups in the region, he argued.

“There are more than two dozen branches established by Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades in the West Bank,” Truzman added, pointing out that these groups operate extensively, particularly in the northern areas of Judea and Samaria.

The post IDF West Bank Op Needed to ‘Remove Immediate Terror Threats’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

JNS.org – Are you into the TV show “American Idols?” Do you enjoy watching all that talent on television? What about other “idols?”

In this week’s Torah reading, Re’eh, Moses warns the Jewish people not to follow the pagan ways of the Canaanite nations when they inherit the Land of Israel. There is to be zero tolerance for idolatry and paganism. Those nations practiced the most outrageous forms of idolatry, including child sacrifice and other depravities. The great Torah scholar Rashi quotes Rabbi Akiva as saying he’d witnessed a pagan man tie up his own father and then unleash a pack of wild dogs who killed the father. Such was the norm in that ancient pagan society. The Israelites were taught repeatedly not to learn from them in any way.

The Torah offers three examples of how people may be swayed and seduced into idolatry.

The first is by listening to a false prophet. Such a charismatic individual may lure people away from Jewish values, charming them and tempting them to embrace an idolatrous path.

The second is when a family member or friend incites, instigates or persuades others to practice idolatry.

The third example is when an entire city is overcome by temptation and swept up into practicing idolatry. This is called a “wayward city,” when a whole town has gone astray and engages in paganism.

The whole thing sounds rather ancient and archaic. People today are not into idolatry. I don’t know of anyone who is tempted to go out and buy a statue and get on his or her knees to bow down to it. But there are still lots of “idols” out there that we may be tempted to worship.

For instance, even today we have false prophets—powerful and charismatic spiritual leaders who command the obedience of many followers. We’ve even read or heard about the tragic outcomes of some of these strange cults where a magnetic personality led his people to disaster or mass suicide.

We’ve seen family members and the wrong kind of friends mislead individuals and drag them down to the depths of despair and desperation.

And today we’ve even seen entire communities, cities, and sometimes even whole countries, being swept up in a strange ideology that is different and dangerous.

So, I was wondering, of these three examples, which do you think is the hardest to resist?

For people who lack self-esteem and are easily influenced by others, perhaps the first two situations may be the most difficult to resist. Yet I imagine that for most of us, it is the third scenario, where an entire city is caught up in paganism, that may be the most difficult of all to resist.

Why?

Because it’s one thing to resist a powerful, charismatic individual or a few friends who want to tempt you into doing something you know is wrong, but to reject what your whole town is doing takes unusual strength of character.

When everyone else is doing something, most people just follow the herd. If everyone else says “Yes,” who am I to say “No?” I don’t want to be different. People don’t enjoy standing out in a crowd and being looked at as funny or peculiar. Who wants to stick out like a sore thumb? No one!

A person may think, “Well, if everyone else is bowing down to those idols it must be OK. So, why shouldn’t I?”

What about worshipping idols of stage and screen? Are you a “Swifty?” Who do you “follow?” Today, we are blessed with a host of self-appointed celebrities who have absolutely nothing of significance to offer other than an attractive face. And yet they have millions of followers!

To me, the biggest “idolatry” of all is to follow the norm.

What is the “norm?”

Is getting divorced “normal?” If so many others are doing it, then why shouldn’t I? Why should I work at my marriage? It’s too hard. I’ll just get divorced. After all, it’s “normal.”

If the standard business practice in my industry is to bribe your way to get that big order, then why shouldn’t I do it as well?

And if the norm in my school is to cheat on exams, then why shouldn’t I? Everyone else is.

And if the norm in my community is that Shabbat ends on Friday night and Saturday is for golf or the hairdresser, then why must I be a religious fanatic?

Or if the norm in my community is to keep a kosher home but to eat out at non-kosher restaurants, then who am I to be “holier than thou?”

So the story of the wayward city gone astray reminds us that the “norm” is not necessarily “normal.” In fact, normal may just be another word for average or mediocre. Why be normal? Swim upstream, go against the current and be a mensch. Celebrate your individuality! Why be average? Be exceptional! Be special!

When ungodly, immoral or any other unwise behavior is “normalized,” then we mustn’t be normal. We must stand out with pride and principle. Who knows? Others may follow our lead.

The post Idol Worship and the Trouble with ‘Normal’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.