I couldn’t believe what was before me, as I attempted to walk into the U.S. Army Military Ball building. Protestors with megaphones screaming that people like me—Jewish Americans—deserved to die, be raped, held hostage, and be annihilated. The protestors threw red liquid, held up signs that would have made Nazis proud, and chanted over and over antisemitic rhetoric calling for the end of people like me.
In the 15+ years I’ve attended military balls, this was the first time I’d ever encountered protestors. This was the first time I’d ever felt unsafe. This was the first time I walked in the doors questioning the state of my country—a nation for which my family sacrificed everything for four consecutive generations through military service.
Like many American Jews, the events of October 7, 2023, changed my life forever. I couldn’t believe what had happened. Members of my synagogue who were at the kibbutz were murdered. A friend’s son was abducted. Another friend’s daughter was brutally raped until she died, and videos of this gruesome attack were broadcasted across multiple social media channels. “How could this have happened?” I asked, struggling to process the brutality and pure evil that had occurred in a country that I consider to be my second home.
The second shockwave came in the form of responses to the terrorist attacks of October 7th. People I had worked with in academia, including many self-proclaimed “feminists,” championed support of Hamas, along with the Palestinians and “aid” organizations that participated in the attacks. “Was I hearing them correctly?” I questioned. “Did they not see the brutal videos? How could they witness such breadth of horror and ‘support’ it?” Their hypocrisy was a complete betrayal of women.
In the months that followed, I have participated in the March for Israel and October 7th Remembrance events. Given that my expertise—cyber warfare and social media—were elements utilized to amplify the impacts of Hamas’ attack, I shared my insights with organizations, groups, and individuals, hoping to increase collective understanding of how technology was being weaponized to promote wide-scale antisemitism, and how it could subsequently be combatted in a way that promotes the safety of women.
The impacts of Hamas’ attack on Israel had many of the terrorist groups’ intended consequences. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), antisemitic hate crimes in 2023 reached an all-time high in the United States. Reports of Jewish students and faculty members at the U.S. colleges and universities being attacked surged. Internationally, Jews are being violently attacked as they attempt to participate in recreational activities, as we saw just a few months ago in Amsterdam. How, 80 years since the ending of the Holocaust, are we seeing this level of Jew hate not only occur but garner this much support?
I grew up in rural Mississippi, hearing stories from Holocaust refugees and the U.S. soldiers who liberated the Nazi concentration camps. As a child, I was shown photos of emaciated bodies, traced my fingers over the numbers tattooed on their forearms, and listened as they told the horrific stories that ended in immense strength and resilience. “Never again,” was their rallying cry. “Never again.” But, never again IS now. Egregious acts of antisemitism are currently happening all over our nation and world.
What would my Pop think of the protestors outside the military ball calling for the death of Jewish Americans? His generation made great strides for the safety of people across multiple countries—Europe, Israel, and the United States. Could he even wrap his mind around the level of blatant antisemitism that is currently visible as graffiti in our nation’s capital, in hateful rhetoric spewed in our collegiate classrooms, or in violent attacks on people like me with the sole “justification” being our existence as humans?
January 27th is International Holocaust Remembrance Day—a day designated to remember the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust. My family will light candles and attend a Remembrance event, as we always do; however, this year will be different, because Hamas remains a constant threat, 90 hostages—including multiple Americans, women, and small children—remain in the horrors of hell, and there will be protestors lined up outside the Remembrance Day event chanting for the erasure of people like me.
Hamas is a terror organization that has recruited supporters all across the globe to further their annihilation of Jews agenda. They stoke terror, commit heinous crimes against humanity, and (somehow) secured the backing of far-left organizations who have their own unethical agenda when it comes to the survivability of my people. It’s up to us to ensure “Never Again” remains a promise fulfilled. We must take action in countering the pervasive toxin of antisemitism and anti-Israel hate that has flooded our world.