Talk isn’t enough — fighting antisemitism takes action

The virulent surge in antisemitism following the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel has hit “tsunami” levels. And that’s just in New England.

That’s the assessment of Rob Fish, the Anti-Defamation League’s New England interim regional director.

As the Herald reported, ADL’s annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents recorded 623 such incidents in the New England region (except for Connecticut) last year — more than triple the 204 incidents in 2022.

“The numbers are simply stunning,” said Fish. “We have observed a significant rise of incidents, followed by a surge, followed now by a tsunami.”

Some can be chalked up to the usual suspects — craven haters of all things Jewish who strike anonymously, desecrating cemeteries and memorials and then slithering into the darkness.

It’s the new breed of haters that’s particularly shocking. They’re our children at college shouting support for Hamas and harassing Jewish students, neighbors tearing down posters of kidnapped Israelis, and politicians who perpetuate falsehoods about genocide and apartheid on the part of Israel.

Taken together, this rise in antisemitism has formed a malevolent cloud over our country.

University and political leaders serve tepid statements denouncing antisemitism, but without substantive action, little to nothing changes.

Fighting this hatred requires muscle, and new bipartisan legislation looks like it could deliver a much-needed dose.

The bill — S 4091 or the Countering Antisemitism Act — sponsored by Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada and Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, makes good inroads in addressing the problem.

Under the legislation, the president would appoint a federal coordinator to oversee efforts to counter domestic antisemitism and create an interagency task force to coordinate the implementation of federal strategies, according to a text of the bill shared with CNN.

The federal coordinator and the task force will also be required to conduct an analysis of antisemitism online. A senior official within the Department of Education to serve as an adviser on efforts to combat discrimination in higher education.

It would also establish May as “Jewish American Heritage Month” in federal law, according to the text.

We hope the efforts to fight Jewish hatred on college campuses include teaching students to separate fact from propaganda and introducing critical thinking to the curriculum. The Israel-Hamas war has proven a goldmine to those peddling falsehoods. Lack of fundamental knowledge of history and current world events sets up the chanting set to believe that Jews first stepped foot on Israeli land in 1948, or that the nation which includes Arab members of the Knesset practices apartheid.

To combat antisemitism, one must also combat ignorance.

“In America, we have the right to have a faith and to live that faith. No American should live in fear that they will be attacked simply because of their religious views. As the number of acts of antisemitism continues to rise, Jewish communities across the US deserve action to protect this basic freedom,” said Lankford.

Combating antisemitism is everyone’s fight.