My disgust grows daily — not just at antisemites, but at us Jews. I'm tired of reading about Jewish victims. One-sided attacks. No resistance. No one fighting back. Antisemites love a Jewish victim. A dead Jew is even better — just ask Europe. We've become the punching bag for every ignorant coward having a bad day, and somehow that's become our identity: history's eternal victim.
Look at Israelis. They live under constant, existential, life-threatening violence — and they are not victims. They are warriors. They train, they fight, they push back hard, and anyone foolish enough to test them will not go home bragging. They will go home humbled — if they go home at all. That is what strength looks like. Now look at us here and in the diaspora. What do we have? Twelve thousand Jewish organizations worldwide dedicated to fighting antisemitism — and antisemitism is rising. The ADL writes letters. The AJC hosts cocktail parties. Federations commission surveys. Our leadership fundraises, files reports, and in the US quietly supports a political party that increasingly takes us for granted without a word of pushback. These organizations exist to protect us. What are they actually doing? When 100 antisemitic agitators showed up at that synagogue this week in Mamdani's NYC, did the ADL put out a call — every Jew, show up, stand together, show them who we are? No. Nothing. No call to action. No show of solidarity or strength. It never even occurred to them.
We are not to blame for the violence against us. That must be said clearly. The hate belongs entirely to those who commit it, enable it, and look the other way. But we are responsible for our response to it — and right now, that response is failing us. We are weak in defending ourselves individually. We are weak in defending ourselves as a community. And we have leadership that is weaker still. That has to change. Words, surveys, and fundraising dinners are not a defense! Strength is a defense! Unity is a defense! Showing up — visibly, loudly, and together — is is a defense! We've been history's victims long enough. It's time to decide we're done. We are not helpless. We are not weak by nature. We have been led to believe we are — by timid organizations more concerned with their donor lists than our safety, by a culture that confused silence with dignity, and by the false comfort of believing that if we just explained ourselves well enough, hate would eventually listen to reason. It won't. It never has. So stop explaining. Start fighting. With your voice — speak loudly, speak first, speak without apology. With your presence — show up in numbers that cannot be dismissed. With your fists — train, prepare, protect yourself and protect each other. With your guts — do the hard thing, the uncomfortable thing, the thing the ADL would send a cautious memo about. And with your bravery — the deep, earned, ancestral bravery of a people who have survived everything and are still here. We are still here. Now act like it
Agree and I add to call out self-hating Jews. I call them worse than Kapos. They will know who we mean or they will look it up. Kapos knew they there were buying time before being murdered as all other Jews. No more being polite to traitors. I will include Jews in visible and what they think are powerful positions; they are not. They’re harming all of us by doing the dirty work for antisemites.
Mandy "mamaloschen " patinkin and wife think they are the moral voice of Judaism denouncing the Israell devastation in Gaza. After Iran conducted its war of choice without imminent threat.....the Israelis are the aggressors and the criminals. So guess he's a "kapo." He's just one notable example. Jon Stewart comes to mind too, his screaching how does anyone find that guy funny?
In Canada, our useless leadership signals that the old "hush-hush,or they will hate us" attitude should be our mantra. They already hate us, so what do we have to lose? The Jewish communities as a whole especially the establishment Jews, frown on anyone not following this mantra, as many are living in total denial until something happens to them personally or their children. This passivity and refusal to do anything, including suing universities, and using Shomrim, especially in the bigger cities, while at the same time they are thanking the police who are acting as the bodyguards and buddies of the jihadists, has been incredibly frustrating. Many professionals including doctors have already fled the cesspool of hate, and others, including families, have made "escape plans", especially those who have children as there is becoming no hope for a better future on the horizon while the Liberals remain in power.
I couldn't agree more! Canadian Jewry and its pathetic weak leadership is proof of my premise
My wife's three daughters, her parents, and her entire extended family are living in Canada right now, and what I'm watching unfold is nothing short of a slow-motion catastrophe that the community itself is sleepwalking through.
Let's be blunt: Canada has always had a deep antisemitism problem — arguably one of the worst in the Western Hemisphere — and the Jewish establishment there has spent decades pretending otherwise. The "stay quiet, don't make waves, they'll leave us alone" strategy is not just ineffective — it's suicidal. They won't leave you alone. They never did. And the evidence is everywhere, yet the denial remains staggering.
Where is the aggressive legal assault on universities that have become incubators of open Jew-hatred? Where is the organized, unapologetic deployment of Shomrim in every major city? Where are the fists? Where is the political warfare against a Liberal government that has actively enabled this environment while Jewish leaders line up to shake their hands and say thank you?
Primarily the major diaspora organizations — ADL, AJC, the US federations — but honestly the critique extends to institutional Jewish leadership more broadly wherever you find the same pattern: fundraising and reports substituting for mobilization, and a preference for quiet influence over visible solidarity.
Twenty thousand Londoners marched against antisemitism. I was moved- it is not enough.
We are not fighting for good press. We are not fighting to be understood. We are fighting for our dignity. For our lives. For our history. For our children's future.
Marches matter. Letters matter. And they are not enough. They have never been enough.
We must fight back — visibly, unapologetically, with everything we have. We must make aggression costly. We must make our enemies think twice, and when they don't, make them feel it.
This is not about hate. It is about survival. And people who are fighting for their survival do not wait for permission. They do not write another letter. They do not commission another report.
They stand up. They organize. They push back hard.
I mostly agree, but you denigrate interfaith dialogue and education. It’s a mistake to solely rely on it, but they can plant doubts in people’s minds about the hate they’re hearing. They have the potential to slow down the spread of hate and to create allies.
You say lines must be drawn legally. There are orgs that are doing that by bringing lawsuits.
Lawsuits have their place but are way too slow to have the effect we need. We need a massive physical presence calling out the Jew haters. Standing outside their homes with signs, doxing them, arranging boycotts of those who employ them until they are terminated. There should be massive protests at Harvard and the other schools that tolerate Jew hate. Law suits??? Sounds like a good way to accomplish nothing.
There was one boycott I’m aware of. Huda Beauty was boycotted because of an antisemitic post by Huda Kattan on TikTok. The group StopAntisemitism tried to get Sephora to drop the brand. It had mixed success. We don’t have the numbers to be very effective.
Success isnt about actually changing behavior. It is making the world understand that we (and our allies) are charged up, angry, and unwilling to be passive victims any longer. As I said elsewhere. Mamdani should have a permanent crowd of people following him with Magen David signs chating shame Jew hater shame. Shifts should be organized.
Finally, finally thank you for elaborating on the obvious. If I see one more Jewish organization expressing “dismay “ over another Jew hatred attack, including shootings I fear for our community. Let’s start by every Jewish organization offering Krav Maga classes extensively throughout the community, then, enough with the platitudes. It makes me want to vomit.
I recommend, if you don’t already follow him, Adam Louis Klein, and movementagainstantizionism.org. He wisely terms the current iteration of Jew-hate “antizionism” (without the hyphen, as it is unrelated to early Jewish debates on the value of sovereignty) and differentiates it from “classical” antisemitism, in that the tropes have changed. You may see this as simply semantics, but it’s essential to defeating it.
I think that Adam's essays and substack posts are especially useful for anyone having to endure the mindless gibberish of academia. Adam has mastered the deconstructionist rhetoric and skillfully turns it on its head. It's a dirty job and he does it with consummate skill.
There are two types of antisemite. There are the leaders of these groups, they are the ones against whom the tactics you have put forth will work. The second group, by far the biggest btw, are idiots. They are followers, bone heads who have been convinced that this is the way to be popular and gain the interest of similarly situated romantic interests. To address this crowd, we should stress what I euphemistically call “meatheadization”. The more the followers are told that they are meat heads, the more they will eventually (everything takes a while when it comes to slow learners) begin to realize that they are being played for fools. Both approaches must be employed.
The only reactions to that approach which .I’ve experienced us to be insulted again. I’m u sure what the answer is to that, as some are unwilling rather than unable to understand
Man I will NEVER forget, among his many many transgressions since October 7, Charles Schumer doing not the things you rightly call for but instead explaining to the world's anti-semites that Jews aren't white. That we ARE victims so we should have our place in the hierarchy of sectional privilege. At that moment, well before he sold out Israel on the floor of the U.S. Senate, I knew Schumer was a traitor. We are not victims. We are a great people and warriors. And yes it is well past time to fight back. It sickens me that there aren't crowds of rowdy protestors following Mamdani around NYC calling him what he is, a loathsome Jew hater. We have to get in their faces and not let them do what they do in comfort.
Nachum, I want to commend you because this is one of the first articles I’ve read that doesn’t just whine about antisemitism, but actually talks about strategy and what can be done to fight it.
The problem is this: who is actually going to do these things? Who is going to create the slogans, the messaging, the unified strategy, and the coordinated response? That’s where the entire system breaks down.
We are trapped in what feels like a bloated Jewish swamp with no real accountability, no central leadership, and no outstanding figure capable of rallying grassroots Jews around a coherent modern strategy. Everything is fragmented, institutionalized, cautious, and removed from ordinary Jews.
I’ve personally argued for things like institutionalizing self-defense training for Jewish kids as part of yeshiva education. But who do you even bring ideas like that to? There is no real town hall for grassroots Jews. No serious mechanism for ordinary people to be heard. Most organizations seem far more focused on fundraising than listening.
That’s why your article is both encouraging and frustrating at the same time. I agree with many of your ideas. The real barrier is implementation. Who has the courage, influence, and leadership to actually put any of this into action?
Yes, you've nailed it. I ran around about 10 years ago trying to find allies interested in pulling together a coordinated, activist core. I approached several sympathetic journalists and public figures who acknowledged the need for such a project, but who all pointed out that the Israeli government had no interest in supporting such an initiative. And if not them, then who? You've asked the big question: "Who has the courage, influence, and leadership to actually put any of this into action?" I remain hopeful that as more and more of us begin to understand what we're really up against, a movement will somehow take shape. At the moment, we have a growing number of talented writers and podcasters—but we still face a distinct shortage of Jabotinskys.
Sam, exactly. That’s what makes all of this so frustrating. We have intelligent writers, podcasters, analysts, and people sounding the alarm everywhere, but no unifying leadership capable of turning concern into an organized movement with strategy, discipline, messaging, and direction.
And I think your point about the Israeli government is very important. If the government itself has no interest in building that kind of coordinated activist infrastructure, then the vacuum just remains.
You’re right — what we seem to have is a shortage of Jabotinskys, and honestly, even Meir Kahanes before Kahane became too extreme. Agree with him or not, he projected clarity, urgency, confidence, and the idea that Jews had a right to defend themselves unapologetically. Today we have endless commentary and institutional caution, but very few people capable of mobilizing grassroots Jews into an actual movement.
The American philosopher L.L. Whyte once quipped, "In the contest between instinctual ruthlessness and an effete, moribund tradition, the gods of history show no hesitation." Now that we're thoroughly civilized, we can't even turn to the Jewish gangsters and hoodlums that made the streets safe for Jews in an earlier era. I think we share a common perception of what's missing. Perhaps something will emerge to fill the void. If so, please keep me on your rolodex ;)
Sam, “Rolodex”? That’s too modern for me. I still use the little black address book system 🙂.
But yes, I think we absolutely share the same perception of what’s missing. We have to hope that somewhere along the line another Jabotinsky — or even a Meir Kahane — emerges with the clarity, courage, and organizational ability to rally people into something serious and effective.
Until then, I guess we do what we can and fight the good fight in our own small ways.
Speaking of which, please support me and subscribe to my free Substack:
Thank you for giving us permission. I’m surprised how many of my Jewish friends don’t care or notice or on the side of Bernie and Mandani. They seem so blind to me.
B. Sanders is the Polish American communist atheist from Vermont ....he made his "aliyah" to all white Vermont to champion people of color. Not Illinois, not Brooklyn, Not Jackson....Burlington. NOthing Jewish about B. Sanders.
Based on my own experience, I can state that—despite all the obvious and unmistakable stupidity displayed by Jew-haters and "Palestine" enthusiasts—one should never rule out the possibility of engaging in substantive debate, exchanging arguments, or challenging their largely insane assertions.
A significant portion of these individuals are very young people, and surely everyone can recall from their own lives the various follies they subscribed to in their youth.
Indeed, it is crucial to present oneself in a convincing and commanding manner; "more sophisticated" discussions—those with greater depth—become possible only after one has managed to breach or at least scratch the surface.
Frequently, one encounters hermetic, utterly absurd, and demonstrably false "certainties"—delivered with absolute conviction—simply because these individuals are entirely unaccustomed to seeking information outside their own bubble, encountering dissent, or engaging in genuine debate.
Even though the vast majority—as is typical of fascists—present a rigid, aggressive, and impenetrable front, a closer look reveals that things are often far less clear-cut and uniform than they attempt to portray.
If everyone—wherever and whenever possible—delivers repeated "pinpricks" of dissent, it will eventually have an effect; however, this will not happen unless one acts with resolve, precision, and the necessary assertiveness.
These idiots simply do not understand any other language—a language of idiocy, incidentally, that is catered to in practically indistinguishable fashion by the "left-wing" (??? Hahaha) Polanskis and "right-wing" Carlsons of this world.
Pointing out—and demonstrating—just how little, if at all, the "Left" and the "Right" actually differ -and not just in this context—after all, fascists are fascists - creates a particularly effective form of disruptive agitation.
Propaganda is designed not to convince or persuade people, but to divide fracture and confuse. Only then are new ideologies imparted. Antizionism works the same way.
What needs to be illustrated is how this hateful work erodes the civil and human rights of a minority. It is shocking to me how hard this is proven to be, that a global population of 15 million has had its people attacked and murdered in the streets and had its places of worship burned, all the while the people committing those crimes literally marched and celebrated.
The real danger I see, particularly in the United States, is the election of people to public office that excuse and promote that behavior. This is the required work.
There are two fronts here, education and elections. The social histrionics, live and online, only serve to further confuse and disegulate.
Agree 100%. However, nothing can be achieved until the Iranians are totally defeated. The PR war had been lost by Israel. We must be patient. Once the world sees a peace they didn’t think possible, minds will change. I am sure. But right now, not so much. Until then” it’s our land Done explaining “
Israel should establish for Diaspora Jews of all ages a Jabotinsky style of Hybrid Tourism in Israel combining touring with serious lessons in self defense Krav Magna and firearms lessons. BirthRight 2.01 !! For those who cannot afford it, Miriam Adelson (God Bless her) and other wealthy Diaspora Jews will be willing to help out financially.
An excellent idea. I've run tours for Americans for the past 25 years that focus on cultural travel in Europe. I've flirted with the idea of doing something along the lines you suggest, but it would be suicidal for my present business. We survive by avoiding all political conversation so travelers thoroughly enjoy each other's company and no one knows how anyone else votes. But, if you get something started under a new umbrella and need assistance from someone who knows the travel business, I'd be more than happy to assist with your "Jabotinsky style of Hybrid Tourism in Israel."
Thank you for your absolutely needed article. We desperately need you in Canada, because we have the most incompetent, passive leadership in the Diaspora. Our so-called leadership continue to act as if it is the 1980s, where the old boys network chooses who become leaders, not for their competence and effectiveness, but because of friendships, whereby they assume writing opinion papers, having Holocaust education, which has been proven to be the worst failure to counter this new type of Jew hatred, thanking police who are acting as the bodyguards and buddies of the jihadists, and running to Carney, the Liberal PM, and profusely thanking him for giving 10 million dollars for security, in a country where the governing Liberal party, especially Carney, panders to the over 2 million Muslims the Liberals have brought in, over a decade, with little or not vetting, and yet coming from the most radical areas of the ME. Carney condones the open Jew hatred, and demonizes Israel continually, while silent during the Jew hunts, death threats, the shootings, arson, physical attacks, and vandalism, against Jews by Muslims and the Jew hating Progressives, signalling that the police should not do much of anything against the thousands of hate crimes committed since Oct. 7. as the judges and Attorney-Generals refuse to indict them and the charges are thrown out of the courts.
I work in the field of health care, and Jews are being excluded at every level at medical school admissions, medical school faculty hiring, medical school administrations, medical association leadership, medical journal editorial boards. Yet I don't see the American Jewish Medical Association doing anything concrete to challenge the obvious anti-semitic trends. There is a lot of handwringing and "oh noes" texting but they are not actively combatting the clear exclusionary activities.
reprint of my comment in TFP-
My disgust grows daily — not just at antisemites, but at us Jews. I'm tired of reading about Jewish victims. One-sided attacks. No resistance. No one fighting back. Antisemites love a Jewish victim. A dead Jew is even better — just ask Europe. We've become the punching bag for every ignorant coward having a bad day, and somehow that's become our identity: history's eternal victim.
Look at Israelis. They live under constant, existential, life-threatening violence — and they are not victims. They are warriors. They train, they fight, they push back hard, and anyone foolish enough to test them will not go home bragging. They will go home humbled — if they go home at all. That is what strength looks like. Now look at us here and in the diaspora. What do we have? Twelve thousand Jewish organizations worldwide dedicated to fighting antisemitism — and antisemitism is rising. The ADL writes letters. The AJC hosts cocktail parties. Federations commission surveys. Our leadership fundraises, files reports, and in the US quietly supports a political party that increasingly takes us for granted without a word of pushback. These organizations exist to protect us. What are they actually doing? When 100 antisemitic agitators showed up at that synagogue this week in Mamdani's NYC, did the ADL put out a call — every Jew, show up, stand together, show them who we are? No. Nothing. No call to action. No show of solidarity or strength. It never even occurred to them.
We are not to blame for the violence against us. That must be said clearly. The hate belongs entirely to those who commit it, enable it, and look the other way. But we are responsible for our response to it — and right now, that response is failing us. We are weak in defending ourselves individually. We are weak in defending ourselves as a community. And we have leadership that is weaker still. That has to change. Words, surveys, and fundraising dinners are not a defense! Strength is a defense! Unity is a defense! Showing up — visibly, loudly, and together — is is a defense! We've been history's victims long enough. It's time to decide we're done. We are not helpless. We are not weak by nature. We have been led to believe we are — by timid organizations more concerned with their donor lists than our safety, by a culture that confused silence with dignity, and by the false comfort of believing that if we just explained ourselves well enough, hate would eventually listen to reason. It won't. It never has. So stop explaining. Start fighting. With your voice — speak loudly, speak first, speak without apology. With your presence — show up in numbers that cannot be dismissed. With your fists — train, prepare, protect yourself and protect each other. With your guts — do the hard thing, the uncomfortable thing, the thing the ADL would send a cautious memo about. And with your bravery — the deep, earned, ancestral bravery of a people who have survived everything and are still here. We are still here. Now act like it
Agree and I add to call out self-hating Jews. I call them worse than Kapos. They will know who we mean or they will look it up. Kapos knew they there were buying time before being murdered as all other Jews. No more being polite to traitors. I will include Jews in visible and what they think are powerful positions; they are not. They’re harming all of us by doing the dirty work for antisemites.
Mandy "mamaloschen " patinkin and wife think they are the moral voice of Judaism denouncing the Israell devastation in Gaza. After Iran conducted its war of choice without imminent threat.....the Israelis are the aggressors and the criminals. So guess he's a "kapo." He's just one notable example. Jon Stewart comes to mind too, his screaching how does anyone find that guy funny?
In Canada, our useless leadership signals that the old "hush-hush,or they will hate us" attitude should be our mantra. They already hate us, so what do we have to lose? The Jewish communities as a whole especially the establishment Jews, frown on anyone not following this mantra, as many are living in total denial until something happens to them personally or their children. This passivity and refusal to do anything, including suing universities, and using Shomrim, especially in the bigger cities, while at the same time they are thanking the police who are acting as the bodyguards and buddies of the jihadists, has been incredibly frustrating. Many professionals including doctors have already fled the cesspool of hate, and others, including families, have made "escape plans", especially those who have children as there is becoming no hope for a better future on the horizon while the Liberals remain in power.
I couldn't agree more! Canadian Jewry and its pathetic weak leadership is proof of my premise
My wife's three daughters, her parents, and her entire extended family are living in Canada right now, and what I'm watching unfold is nothing short of a slow-motion catastrophe that the community itself is sleepwalking through.
Let's be blunt: Canada has always had a deep antisemitism problem — arguably one of the worst in the Western Hemisphere — and the Jewish establishment there has spent decades pretending otherwise. The "stay quiet, don't make waves, they'll leave us alone" strategy is not just ineffective — it's suicidal. They won't leave you alone. They never did. And the evidence is everywhere, yet the denial remains staggering.
Where is the aggressive legal assault on universities that have become incubators of open Jew-hatred? Where is the organized, unapologetic deployment of Shomrim in every major city? Where are the fists? Where is the political warfare against a Liberal government that has actively enabled this environment while Jewish leaders line up to shake their hands and say thank you?
Just to clarify who you mean by “our leaders”? And I’m in the U.K., if that makes any difference
Primarily the major diaspora organizations — ADL, AJC, the US federations — but honestly the critique extends to institutional Jewish leadership more broadly wherever you find the same pattern: fundraising and reports substituting for mobilization, and a preference for quiet influence over visible solidarity.
Twenty thousand Londoners marched against antisemitism. I was moved- it is not enough.
We are not fighting for good press. We are not fighting to be understood. We are fighting for our dignity. For our lives. For our history. For our children's future.
Marches matter. Letters matter. And they are not enough. They have never been enough.
We must fight back — visibly, unapologetically, with everything we have. We must make aggression costly. We must make our enemies think twice, and when they don't, make them feel it.
This is not about hate. It is about survival. And people who are fighting for their survival do not wait for permission. They do not write another letter. They do not commission another report.
They stand up. They organize. They push back hard.
That is what this moment demands.
I mostly agree, but you denigrate interfaith dialogue and education. It’s a mistake to solely rely on it, but they can plant doubts in people’s minds about the hate they’re hearing. They have the potential to slow down the spread of hate and to create allies.
You say lines must be drawn legally. There are orgs that are doing that by bringing lawsuits.
Lawsuits have their place but are way too slow to have the effect we need. We need a massive physical presence calling out the Jew haters. Standing outside their homes with signs, doxing them, arranging boycotts of those who employ them until they are terminated. There should be massive protests at Harvard and the other schools that tolerate Jew hate. Law suits??? Sounds like a good way to accomplish nothing.
There was one boycott I’m aware of. Huda Beauty was boycotted because of an antisemitic post by Huda Kattan on TikTok. The group StopAntisemitism tried to get Sephora to drop the brand. It had mixed success. We don’t have the numbers to be very effective.
Success isnt about actually changing behavior. It is making the world understand that we (and our allies) are charged up, angry, and unwilling to be passive victims any longer. As I said elsewhere. Mamdani should have a permanent crowd of people following him with Magen David signs chating shame Jew hater shame. Shifts should be organized.
Successful lawsuits would have to include "judges" not being antisemitic. I´m far from being convinced that they are in general or even majority.
Finally, finally thank you for elaborating on the obvious. If I see one more Jewish organization expressing “dismay “ over another Jew hatred attack, including shootings I fear for our community. Let’s start by every Jewish organization offering Krav Maga classes extensively throughout the community, then, enough with the platitudes. It makes me want to vomit.
Good for you, I'm also tired of the Jews who are "dismayed."
I recommend, if you don’t already follow him, Adam Louis Klein, and movementagainstantizionism.org. He wisely terms the current iteration of Jew-hate “antizionism” (without the hyphen, as it is unrelated to early Jewish debates on the value of sovereignty) and differentiates it from “classical” antisemitism, in that the tropes have changed. You may see this as simply semantics, but it’s essential to defeating it.
I think that Adam's essays and substack posts are especially useful for anyone having to endure the mindless gibberish of academia. Adam has mastered the deconstructionist rhetoric and skillfully turns it on its head. It's a dirty job and he does it with consummate skill.
He may well be one of the hardest working fighters in the defense of Jews in the world today and his clarity gives me hope!
There are two types of antisemite. There are the leaders of these groups, they are the ones against whom the tactics you have put forth will work. The second group, by far the biggest btw, are idiots. They are followers, bone heads who have been convinced that this is the way to be popular and gain the interest of similarly situated romantic interests. To address this crowd, we should stress what I euphemistically call “meatheadization”. The more the followers are told that they are meat heads, the more they will eventually (everything takes a while when it comes to slow learners) begin to realize that they are being played for fools. Both approaches must be employed.
The only reactions to that approach which .I’ve experienced us to be insulted again. I’m u sure what the answer is to that, as some are unwilling rather than unable to understand
Absolutely!
I cringe every time I hear Jewish people say that antisemitism is lack of education or that they don’t know us. Stop 🛑 this nonsense!!
Fabulous article and my sentiments exactly!!!!! I have been hard hitting since October 7, 2023!!! Very well said!!!
Man I will NEVER forget, among his many many transgressions since October 7, Charles Schumer doing not the things you rightly call for but instead explaining to the world's anti-semites that Jews aren't white. That we ARE victims so we should have our place in the hierarchy of sectional privilege. At that moment, well before he sold out Israel on the floor of the U.S. Senate, I knew Schumer was a traitor. We are not victims. We are a great people and warriors. And yes it is well past time to fight back. It sickens me that there aren't crowds of rowdy protestors following Mamdani around NYC calling him what he is, a loathsome Jew hater. We have to get in their faces and not let them do what they do in comfort.
Schumer would sell out his grandmother to get a couple votes for Democrats. He's pathetic. Democrats lie, lie, and lie some more.
Nachum, I want to commend you because this is one of the first articles I’ve read that doesn’t just whine about antisemitism, but actually talks about strategy and what can be done to fight it.
The problem is this: who is actually going to do these things? Who is going to create the slogans, the messaging, the unified strategy, and the coordinated response? That’s where the entire system breaks down.
We are trapped in what feels like a bloated Jewish swamp with no real accountability, no central leadership, and no outstanding figure capable of rallying grassroots Jews around a coherent modern strategy. Everything is fragmented, institutionalized, cautious, and removed from ordinary Jews.
I’ve personally argued for things like institutionalizing self-defense training for Jewish kids as part of yeshiva education. But who do you even bring ideas like that to? There is no real town hall for grassroots Jews. No serious mechanism for ordinary people to be heard. Most organizations seem far more focused on fundraising than listening.
That’s why your article is both encouraging and frustrating at the same time. I agree with many of your ideas. The real barrier is implementation. Who has the courage, influence, and leadership to actually put any of this into action?
Yes, you've nailed it. I ran around about 10 years ago trying to find allies interested in pulling together a coordinated, activist core. I approached several sympathetic journalists and public figures who acknowledged the need for such a project, but who all pointed out that the Israeli government had no interest in supporting such an initiative. And if not them, then who? You've asked the big question: "Who has the courage, influence, and leadership to actually put any of this into action?" I remain hopeful that as more and more of us begin to understand what we're really up against, a movement will somehow take shape. At the moment, we have a growing number of talented writers and podcasters—but we still face a distinct shortage of Jabotinskys.
Sam, exactly. That’s what makes all of this so frustrating. We have intelligent writers, podcasters, analysts, and people sounding the alarm everywhere, but no unifying leadership capable of turning concern into an organized movement with strategy, discipline, messaging, and direction.
And I think your point about the Israeli government is very important. If the government itself has no interest in building that kind of coordinated activist infrastructure, then the vacuum just remains.
You’re right — what we seem to have is a shortage of Jabotinskys, and honestly, even Meir Kahanes before Kahane became too extreme. Agree with him or not, he projected clarity, urgency, confidence, and the idea that Jews had a right to defend themselves unapologetically. Today we have endless commentary and institutional caution, but very few people capable of mobilizing grassroots Jews into an actual movement.
The American philosopher L.L. Whyte once quipped, "In the contest between instinctual ruthlessness and an effete, moribund tradition, the gods of history show no hesitation." Now that we're thoroughly civilized, we can't even turn to the Jewish gangsters and hoodlums that made the streets safe for Jews in an earlier era. I think we share a common perception of what's missing. Perhaps something will emerge to fill the void. If so, please keep me on your rolodex ;)
Sam, “Rolodex”? That’s too modern for me. I still use the little black address book system 🙂.
But yes, I think we absolutely share the same perception of what’s missing. We have to hope that somewhere along the line another Jabotinsky — or even a Meir Kahane — emerges with the clarity, courage, and organizational ability to rally people into something serious and effective.
Until then, I guess we do what we can and fight the good fight in our own small ways.
Speaking of which, please support me and subscribe to my free Substack:
fredericktatala.substack.com Be well and stay safe.
Thank you for giving us permission. I’m surprised how many of my Jewish friends don’t care or notice or on the side of Bernie and Mandani. They seem so blind to me.
They are lost. Any Jew that would support Mamdani or Sanders is a Jew by birth only.
B. Sanders is the Polish American communist atheist from Vermont ....he made his "aliyah" to all white Vermont to champion people of color. Not Illinois, not Brooklyn, Not Jackson....Burlington. NOthing Jewish about B. Sanders.
Based on my own experience, I can state that—despite all the obvious and unmistakable stupidity displayed by Jew-haters and "Palestine" enthusiasts—one should never rule out the possibility of engaging in substantive debate, exchanging arguments, or challenging their largely insane assertions.
A significant portion of these individuals are very young people, and surely everyone can recall from their own lives the various follies they subscribed to in their youth.
Indeed, it is crucial to present oneself in a convincing and commanding manner; "more sophisticated" discussions—those with greater depth—become possible only after one has managed to breach or at least scratch the surface.
Frequently, one encounters hermetic, utterly absurd, and demonstrably false "certainties"—delivered with absolute conviction—simply because these individuals are entirely unaccustomed to seeking information outside their own bubble, encountering dissent, or engaging in genuine debate.
Even though the vast majority—as is typical of fascists—present a rigid, aggressive, and impenetrable front, a closer look reveals that things are often far less clear-cut and uniform than they attempt to portray.
If everyone—wherever and whenever possible—delivers repeated "pinpricks" of dissent, it will eventually have an effect; however, this will not happen unless one acts with resolve, precision, and the necessary assertiveness.
These idiots simply do not understand any other language—a language of idiocy, incidentally, that is catered to in practically indistinguishable fashion by the "left-wing" (??? Hahaha) Polanskis and "right-wing" Carlsons of this world.
Pointing out—and demonstrating—just how little, if at all, the "Left" and the "Right" actually differ -and not just in this context—after all, fascists are fascists - creates a particularly effective form of disruptive agitation.
There is a risk here.
Propaganda is designed not to convince or persuade people, but to divide fracture and confuse. Only then are new ideologies imparted. Antizionism works the same way.
What needs to be illustrated is how this hateful work erodes the civil and human rights of a minority. It is shocking to me how hard this is proven to be, that a global population of 15 million has had its people attacked and murdered in the streets and had its places of worship burned, all the while the people committing those crimes literally marched and celebrated.
The real danger I see, particularly in the United States, is the election of people to public office that excuse and promote that behavior. This is the required work.
There are two fronts here, education and elections. The social histrionics, live and online, only serve to further confuse and disegulate.
Agree 100%. However, nothing can be achieved until the Iranians are totally defeated. The PR war had been lost by Israel. We must be patient. Once the world sees a peace they didn’t think possible, minds will change. I am sure. But right now, not so much. Until then” it’s our land Done explaining “
Excellent article
Israel should establish for Diaspora Jews of all ages a Jabotinsky style of Hybrid Tourism in Israel combining touring with serious lessons in self defense Krav Magna and firearms lessons. BirthRight 2.01 !! For those who cannot afford it, Miriam Adelson (God Bless her) and other wealthy Diaspora Jews will be willing to help out financially.
An excellent idea. I've run tours for Americans for the past 25 years that focus on cultural travel in Europe. I've flirted with the idea of doing something along the lines you suggest, but it would be suicidal for my present business. We survive by avoiding all political conversation so travelers thoroughly enjoy each other's company and no one knows how anyone else votes. But, if you get something started under a new umbrella and need assistance from someone who knows the travel business, I'd be more than happy to assist with your "Jabotinsky style of Hybrid Tourism in Israel."
Thank you for your absolutely needed article. We desperately need you in Canada, because we have the most incompetent, passive leadership in the Diaspora. Our so-called leadership continue to act as if it is the 1980s, where the old boys network chooses who become leaders, not for their competence and effectiveness, but because of friendships, whereby they assume writing opinion papers, having Holocaust education, which has been proven to be the worst failure to counter this new type of Jew hatred, thanking police who are acting as the bodyguards and buddies of the jihadists, and running to Carney, the Liberal PM, and profusely thanking him for giving 10 million dollars for security, in a country where the governing Liberal party, especially Carney, panders to the over 2 million Muslims the Liberals have brought in, over a decade, with little or not vetting, and yet coming from the most radical areas of the ME. Carney condones the open Jew hatred, and demonizes Israel continually, while silent during the Jew hunts, death threats, the shootings, arson, physical attacks, and vandalism, against Jews by Muslims and the Jew hating Progressives, signalling that the police should not do much of anything against the thousands of hate crimes committed since Oct. 7. as the judges and Attorney-Generals refuse to indict them and the charges are thrown out of the courts.
I work in the field of health care, and Jews are being excluded at every level at medical school admissions, medical school faculty hiring, medical school administrations, medical association leadership, medical journal editorial boards. Yet I don't see the American Jewish Medical Association doing anything concrete to challenge the obvious anti-semitic trends. There is a lot of handwringing and "oh noes" texting but they are not actively combatting the clear exclusionary activities.