The firebombing of a rally for Israeli hostages in Boulder, the shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington, DC, and the arson at Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s home on the first night of Passover were devastating acts of political violence that have struck fear into the hearts of Jews across the United States. In each case, the perpetrators targeted Jews with deadly force to protest the government of Israel’s actions, establishing a clear pattern: Jewish Americans are less safe to participate as Jews in American society. This is antisemitism in action.
This is not a matter of politics or policy. These attacks used the language of resistance and liberation to justify their brutality – but nothing can justify senseless, hateful violence against innocent people.
All elected officials, and all citizens, wherever they find themselves on the political spectrum, should speak out against antisemitism, against all forms of hatred and bigotry, and against political violence. We should collectively work to ensure that people of diverse faiths, backgrounds, and views can participate in our society and our democracy without having to fear for our safety. Our safety will be found in solidarity with one another.
We need our elected leaders – in consultation with a wide spectrum of American Jews – to take responsible action to combat antisemitism and protect our community. The last thing we need is for politicians to sensationalize our pain to promote anti-democratic policies. These tragedies must not be exploited to undercut democratic freedoms and institutions that keep American Jews safe. We must not allow demagogues to unjustly silence critics of Israel and the war in Gaza, to weaponize fear in order to deport immigrants, arrest student activists, or crack down on free speech and assembly. To do so is to cheapen the real suffering of victims while demonizing those engaged in legitimate political discourse.
This is a time for careful distinctions, not broad generalizations. We must accurately identify what is and isn’t antisemitic, so that antisemitism can be properly confronted.. Equally important is distinguishing between legitimate political criticism and genuinely inciteful rhetoric, recognizing that some terms and slogans may be difficult, challenging, or even inaccurate without representing a call to violence. Failing to make these distinctions risks both eroding civil liberties and undermining efforts to address genuine threats of antisemitism and violence.
The president should be taking a whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach to tackling antisemitism – instead of putting in place a travel ban that impacts those who had nothing to do with these attacks, and exploiting this violence to further his own political agenda. He should work with Congress on measures that would help provide immediate safety to our community. These could include fully funding the FEMA Nonprofit Security Grant Program or working to implement one of the hundred recommendations in the National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism.
This crisis demands serious leadership, not cynical stunts and divisive policies that tear us apart while ignoring our true needs and values. Nothing less than the future of Jewish safety and American democracy hangs in the balance.
