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My Family Fled Anti-Jewish Persecution; Now I See It on My College Campus
When I was a child, being Jewish was cool. Hanukkah had eight nights, instead of one day for Christmas. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur were days I was able to skip school. Friends would tell me, “I wish I was Jewish.”
I don’t think they would say that now.
Both sides of my family immigrated to the United States so they could enjoy religious and cultural freedom without fear of persecution. In the 1700s, relatives from my mother’s side gave up their freedom to become indentured servants in America, so that they could escape persecution in England and comfortably practice their religion.
My great grandfather on my father’s side, after receiving a tip from a non-Jewish friend about the rise of the Nazis, left Poland with his family, and made the treacherous journey to seek refuge in the Jewish homeland. They came to Tel Aviv, and my grandfather grew up in the state of Israel. Eventually, my grandparents moved to New York so that they could raise their children in a place where they didn’t have to defend their existence as Jews against those trying to destroy our Jewish homeland. They found solace in New York, where my family became part of a tight-knit Jewish community.
My mom converted to Judaism in her early twenties before marrying my American Israeli dad. She related to the spiritual aspects of Judaism and its values, and wanted to raise my brother and me in a Jewish home.
Because they could practice Judaism proudly and safely, my parents thought that my brother and I would grow up in safety as a Jewish American.
But they were wrong.
In high school, I noticed that the “cool” part of my identity began to distance me from my peers. My friends — who previously claimed that they loved latkes — drew swastikas on the wall of our math class. They said nothing when a group of students in our JROTC program started a neo-Nazi chapter, publicly singling out Jewish students on Instagram.
I watched as these same students, who had once supported my Jewish identity and celebrated it with me, rejected me as soon as it became the social norm to do so.
I watched them sit silently when there was a shooting at the Chabad of Poway synagogue in my hometown of San Diego. They turned their backs on discrimination against Jews, and were silent as I watched the repercussions of their inaction grow — including armed guards at my synagogue, and fear for our lives as those who want to practice our religion publicly.
As I started college at UC Davis, I hoped for a better climate for Jewish people. My peers seemed so determined to stand up against hate directed towards minorities. They showed tolerance towards everyone’s world views, taking into account the definitions each group set for themselves, avoiding stereotypes, and carefully defining hateful words and actions by how they impacted the recipients.
Until those hurtful words came for the Jews.
My campus has become two places for me. First, the Jewish community at UC Davis has brought me closer to my Jewish identity. I can walk to Hillel and find comfort as a Jew. I have friends who, while not Jewish themselves, have been tireless in their dedication to understanding my culture and religion, and have stood by my side without hesitation since October 7. My Jewish community showed up in the hundreds to a vigil for our Jewish brothers and sisters in Israel after the biggest pogrom against Jewish people since the Holocaust.
Yet there is the other side of UC Davis that makes me wonder why the families I descend from thought we would be safe here. Within a week after the October 7 massacre, in front of the Student Senate and approximately 50 radical protesters, Jewish students relayed our most vulnerable feelings about our families being under attack, and about girls my age being sexually assaulted. While we mourned and expressed our grief, the protestors laughed and gas-lit us, denied our Jewish pain and history, and downplayed the violence our community had not seen since the Holocaust — when, in fact, it was that kind of antisemitism that eventually led to the Holocaust in Europe.
Far too many of my peers didn’t say anything in response to their Jewish friends crying for support. Doors were shut in our faces, and closed to our perspective. As we listened to former friends chanting, “We don’t want no Jewish state,” Jewish students learned and felt the fear that our families had come to America to protect us from.
After a month, I hoped the trend would move on, just like every movement tends to. But the protests got worse. I began avoiding sections of campus. I would self-censor and only have conversations about Jewish life within the walls of Hillel, where I felt safe behind the secured doors. I felt, and still feel, a sword digging into my heart, every day, turned by the hand of a society that fails to recognize how its normalization of antisemitism has led to a war-zone on college campuses.
On my college campus, my peers and I are yelled at, flipped off, and physically kicked and pushed for being Jewish and standing with our ancestral homeland. While many of our peers call for people to not even speak to me, I cry out for anyone to even consider my voice.
I’m left to wonder, am I safe as a Jew in America?
The post My Family Fled Anti-Jewish Persecution; Now I See It on My College Campus first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Trump Says He Told Israel’s Netanyahu Not to Act Against Iran
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold a joint press conference in the East Room at the White House in Washington, US, Feb/ 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Leah Millis
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week not to take actions that could disrupt nuclear talks with Iran.
“I told him this would be inappropriate to do right now because we’re very close to a solution now,” Trump told reporters gathered in the Oval Office. “That could change at any moment.”
Israel earlier rejected a report in the New York Times that Netanyahu has been threatening to disrupt talks on a nuclear deal between the United States and Iran by striking Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities.
Citing officials briefed on the situation, the newspaper said Israeli officials were concerned that Trump was so eager to reach a deal with Iran that he would allow Tehran to keep its nuclear enrichment facilities, a red line for Israel.
Israel was particularly concerned about the possibility of any interim deal that would allow Iran to maintain its nuclear facilities for months or even years while a final agreement was reached, the paper reported.
US officials were concerned Israel could decide to strike Iran with little warning and said US intelligence estimated that Israel could mount an attack on Iran in as little as seven hours, the paper reported.
Netanyahu’s office issued a statement in response to the article which said simply: “Fake news.”
The New York Times said it stood by the report.
“The New York Times reporting on this matter is thorough and based on discussions with people directly familiar with the matter. We remain confident in what we published,” a spokesperson said in an email.
The paper said Netanyahu’s minister of strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, and David Barnea, head of the foreign intelligence agency Mossad, met Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff in Rome on Friday.
The two then traveled to Washington for a meeting on Monday with CIA director John Ratcliffe, before Dermer met Witkoff again on Tuesday.
One of the main sticking points in the talks between US and Iranian officials has been US insistence that Iran give up its nuclear enrichment facilities, a demand Iran rejects.
On Monday, US Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem said she had a “very candid conversation” with Netanyahu on the negotiations with Iran.
She said she told the Israeli prime minister that Trump had asked her to convey “how important it is that we stay united and let this process play out.”
Trump bypassed Israel on his trip to the Middle East this month and has made policy announcements that have shaken Israel‘s assumptions about its relations with the US.
Netanyahu has dismissed speculation about a falling out with the US administration, while Trump has also brushed off any suggestion of a break.
The post Trump Says He Told Israel’s Netanyahu Not to Act Against Iran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Antisemitism Spike Is Top Concern in Survey of Global Jewish Population
Israeli President Isaac Herzog looks on during a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, not pictured, in Washington, DC, on Oct. 25, 2022. Photo: Stefani Reynolds/Pool via REUTERS
A study polling more than 10,000 Jews across the world that was released on Wednesday by Voice of the People shows that worries about rising antisemitism now dominate lists of community challenges across demographics.
Working together with the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency for Israel, the group led by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, the findings of the report will inform a council of 150 Jewish leaders from around the world.
“This is not just a data set — it’s a global Jewish reality check,” Shirel Dagan-Levy, CEO of Voice of the People, said in a statement. She added that the survey shows “a community that is hurting, but also more united than ever in its desire to stand tall, protect its heritage, and shape a stronger, safer future.”
Researchers focused on identifying what Jews saw as leading problems in their communities. Top responses included rising antisemitism (76 percent agreeing), Israel-diaspora relations (56 percent), Jewish-non-Jewish relations (49 percent), polarization within the Jewish world (49 percent), and preserving Jewish culture and heritage (46 percent).
“Antisemitism surging to unprecedented levels since Oct. 7 was the top concern by a wide margin,” Voice of the People said in a press release. “Respondents cited personal experiences of hate speech, exclusion, and discrimination — particularly in schools, universities, and on social media. Many reported suppressing their Jewish identity in public out of fear. The level of concern cut across age, geography, and level of observance.”
Neta Danciger, chief marketing and product officer of Voice of the People, added that “to truly hear the voices of our global Jewish community, we had to meet them where they are — online, across continents, and across generations.” She continued, “By combining the reach of digital and social media with a rigorous, community-driven survey model, we were able to capture authentic, real-time insights that reflect not only the challenges Jews face today, but also the resilience and unity that define our future.”
On connections between Israel and diaspora Jewish communities, researchers found a mix of results, both that some younger diaspora Jews felt greater distance from Israel while others felt a surge of emotional connection.
Nearly half of Jews described greater feelings of alienation from some non-Jewish spaces, particularly those of a progressive ideological orientation, due to what Voice of the People described as “misinformation, anti-Israel rhetoric, and ignorance about Jewish history” being “key drivers of mistrust and social isolation.”
As concerned as Jews were with those outside of their community, equal numbers also saw the internal divisions among politics, ideology, and generations as a problem in need of attention.
The survey noted some of these differences according to age.
Gen Z (82 percent) and millennials (81 percent) most identified antisemitism as a top problem. “Younger respondents expressed acute distress over hostility in social and digital spaces, with many reporting a sense of betrayal from progressive allies and a struggle to safely and confidently express their Jewish identity. Campus-based antisemitism and social media harassment were cited frequently,” Voice of the People stated.
Members of Generation X in particular (78 percent) tended to hide public expressions of their Jewish identity to avoid antisemitism while Baby Boomers and Silent Generation respondents (68 each) focused their concerns on “the future of Israel, Jewish continuity, and a sense that historical cycles of persecution may be repeating,” according to Voice of the People.
Researchers also identified geographic trends.
Jews in Israel (89 percent) said they felt strong concerns for Jews in the diaspora, seeing rising antisemitism as a threat to the collective Jewish future.
In the United States, respondents (78 percent) described failures of institutions to offer support, especially in academic and professional settings, while in the United Kingdom, 81 percent said they felt a need to conceal their Jewish identity in public.
Of those living in France, 73 percent said they worried about antisemitic rhetoric, public hostility, and misinformation.
For Jews in Argentina (87 percent) and Mexico (84 percent) concerns about rising antisemitism went alongside a greater sense of pride in their Jewish identity.
Majorities in South Africa (75 percent) and in Australia (65 percent) supported education, solidarity, and local activism to counter antisemitism.
The survey also offered respondents the opportunity to provide open-ended answers to questions such as “How have recent events impacted your sense of Jewish identity and community?”
One person quoted in the report answered that “it has made me more acutely aware of antisemitism and that very few people or communities care about what happens to us except us.”
The post Antisemitism Spike Is Top Concern in Survey of Global Jewish Population first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Global Leaders Sound Alarm on Surge of Antisemitism at IHRA Conference
British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis speaking at the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) conference in Jerusalem on May 27, 2025. Photo: Screenshot
British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis warned that anti-Zionism has become “the new antisemitism,” amid mounting global concern over a surge in antisemitic incidents and anti-Jewish hate crimes
Speaking at the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) conference in Jerusalem on Tuesday evening, Mirvis asserted that anti-Zionism is increasingly being weaponized to mask anti-Jewish sentiment, disguised as legitimate political criticism of Israel.
Hosted by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, the annual IHRA conference — held last year in the United Kingdom — began with a moment of silence honoring the two Israeli embassy staffers murdered in Washington, DC last week.
IHRA is an intergovernmental organization comprising dozens of countries dedicated to combating antisemitism and promoting Holocaust research and education. In 2016, IHRA adopted a “working definition” of antisemitism which in the ensuing years has been widely accepted by Jewish groups and lawmakers across the political spectrum. It is now used by hundreds of governing institutions, including the US State Department, European Union, and United Nations.
In his speech, Mirvis emphasized Jerusalem’s vital role as both Israel’s capital and the enduring spiritual and cultural center of Jewish identity and faith.
“For Jews, the very presence of Almighty God is manifest here in this holy city more than in any other place on earth. And God gave this city and this land to the Jewish people for all time,” Mirvis said during the two-day conference.
“Israel is not just a geopolitical reality for the Jewish people. It is far more than that. It’s the center of our Jewish religion,” the Jewish leader continued. “So therefore, if you are anti-Zionist, you are also anti-Jewish. But more than that, you’re anti-Judaism, and your animosity affects the very wellbeing of Jews right around the world.”
“Anti-Zionism is the new antisemitism”
The Chief Rabbi addresses the opening of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Conference in Jerusalem for parliamentarians and government representatives from around the world. pic.twitter.com/ecu08YlR1r
— Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis (@chiefrabbi) May 28, 2025
Since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, anti-Israel activism has sparked a rise in antisemitic incidents. In this context, longstanding antisemitic stereotypes are increasingly being directed at Israel, with the term “Zionist” weaponized to mask deep-rooted antisemitic tropes under the pretense of legitimate political critique.
At the same event, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a speech, calling on European leaders to resist the growing demonization of the Jewish state.
Anti-Israel protesters in European countries “are basically challenging Western civilization [and] free societies as we understand them,” Netanyahu said. Many of these leaders “want to control the rampant attacks that are then directed at them for having relations with Israel, for having contact with it.”
“What you try to do is try to corral your victim when in fact, your countries are the victim. Because what is being done is an attempt to deny Israel, and in fact all free societies the ability to fight these barbarians,” the Israeli leader continued.
“Don’t succumb to the vilification, don’t succumb to this complete aversion of morality,” Netanyahu said. “I urge you to fight antisemitism not only because it’s right. I urge you to fight antisemitism because it will save you.”
During his speech, Netanyahu also warned that Israel is fighting “not merely a seven-front war [against Iran-backed proxies in the Middle East], but an eight-front war,” describing it as a broader struggle of “civilization against barbarism.”
“The most important thing you have to do in fighting antisemitism is to stand up and not be cowered,” the Israeli premier continued. “Do not be afraid to speak up. Speak up, stand up for the truth, stand up for the Jewish people, stand up for civilization.”
During the conference, Saar also delivered a speech in which he condemned international leaders and governments seeking to impose an arms embargo on Israel.
“If these initiatives will be successful, Israel will simply be eliminated,” the top Israeli diplomat said. “There will be another Holocaust – this time on the soil of the Land of Israel.”
“The ancient desire to eliminate the Jewish people has become stronger. It has become a plan of action for our enemies,” he continued.
Noting that 80 years have passed since the Holocaust, Saar emphasized IHRA’s vital role in “safeguarding and passing on the stories and lessons of the Holocaust to future generations.”
The post Global Leaders Sound Alarm on Surge of Antisemitism at IHRA Conference first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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