Feeling the Sting of Antisemitism as Hostility Rises Toward Jews

I recently scanned Facebook notifications while on a long-overdue family vacation, hoping to catch up on the latest events or thoughts expressed across my network of FB friends. Much to my horror – and supreme disappointment – I spotted a deeply offensive meme posted by a distant cousin of mine. It was a dagger to my heart and soul.

At the top was a photo of Adolph Hitler, arm stretched in a heil salute with the caption, “we are the master race,” while just below it was a photo of Benjamin Netanyahu, arm also extended to look like the same gesture, with the caption, “we are God’s chosen people.” Underneath both images is the unspeakably vile message: “what’s the difference?”

Not only is this patently antisemitic and pure propaganda, it’s also intellectually dishonest. There’s no moral equivalency. Not even close. Hitler’s hateful rhetoric was couched in Aryanism – an ideology of racial supremacy arguing that Nazi Germany was entitled to rule the rest of humanity. The world forgets that along with an estimated six million who were put to death in the Holocaust, an equal number of targeted “undesirables” – from gypsies and people of color to homosexuals and the disabled – met the exact same fate.

In addressing the second part of that meme, a brief history lesson is in order. The “chosen people” label is an Old Testament reference that simply explains Israelites being chosen for a higher purpose in life, which was to spread the word of God.
However, antisemites have long misconstrued this phrase to mean that Jews believe they are superior to all others. And now critics of Israel are falsely claiming that the government is carrying out genocide against the Palestinian people. When placed within the context of this outrageous meme, rational and empathetic thinkers will arrive at the same conclusion: it’s the latest manifestation of Jew hatred, which in recent years has been normalized through a distorted and manipulative misreading of world history.

Jewish history spans nearly 6,000 years, while Christianity reflects our secular calendar (2025) and the Muslim faith has been around roughly 1,400 years. All three religions stake a claim to Jerusalem, though Jews were obviously the first to live on that land, whose earliest known name was Canaan. Historians say the Roman emperor Hadrian renamed the region “Palestine” to erase the Jewish connection to the land. 

Israel also has been referred to as Zion, which is there the term Zionist comes from – a word that has become weaponized and is widely considered by Jews to be the latest form of antisemitism. Zionism is a movement that emerged in the late 19th century, though it is rooted much earlier in Jewish history and religious beliefs. It supports the self-determination of Jews and their right to a national homeland where they can freely live and develop their culture and identity. 

The United Nations agreed with this assessment (and so did the League of Nations before it), sanctioning the creation of Israel three years after the end of World War II as a safe haven for Jews around the world. But then in 1975 and much to the horror of the Jewish State, the U.N. passed a resolution equating Zionism with racism. The fact is, Israel has been a bastion of freedom in a democracy desert for 77 years. Jews, Christians, Muslims, members of other faiths and non-believers alike live across the Jewish State.

I couldn’t believe that my cousin of all people, whose father was Christian but mother was Jewish (which according to a traditional view among Jews makes him truly Jewish) could post such rubbish. His mother and maternal grandfather, both of whom I loved and adored, would roll over in their respective graves knowing an offspring was capable of consuming such damaging and hateful propaganda.

While not a fan of unfriending people on social media over political differences, I felt this instance was different and took action. I also did the same to a Facebook friend who defended a post demonizing Zionists. These were hostile acts aimed at my very identity. Now mind you, I’m not particularly observant. I was raised in the Reform branch of Judaism and currently serve on the board of directors for a Humanistic synagogue, the newest branch that attracts many Jews who consider themselves atheists or agnostics. Joining up was a means to an end: the easiest path for my son to experience a Bar Mitzvah without the benefit of a Jewish education.

But my level of observance isn’t the issue. Seeing and then processing this meme was a spiritual violation – wrong on multiple levels. Innocent Palestinians sadly arrived at this untenable situation by electing a known terrorist organization in 2006 whose charter advocates driving Jews from the Jordan River into the Red Sea, full stop.

These leaders are not, nor ever have been, the freedom fighters they’re often portrayed to be in mainstream media, which has been relentlessly critical of the Israeli government in a vacuum as the Jewish state continues to lose a propaganda war that has been waged against since its 1948 establishment. And they’ve manipulated public opinion by using Palestinians as human shields in battle and more recently to exploit the distribution of aid that is largely not reaching its targeted audience through stealing and price gouging.

Israelis naively believed they could live peacefully side by side after pulling out of Gaza – until, of course, they no longer could. The October 7, 2023 surprise attack on Israel and the atrocities that followed – the worst committed against Jews since the Holocaust – is evidence of that fact.

Being Jewish today feels shaky when walls are caving in all around us, though not like the popular biblical reference to Jericho whose collapsed walls enabled the Israelites to conquer the city – symbolizing the power of faith, obedience and God's intervention in seemingly impossible situations.

We’re targets of antisemites on both the left and right sides of the political aisle, young and old voices, across the world who continue to commit unspeakable acts of violence against Jews or spew their hate. A one-sided view of Israel has indoctrinated young people, seeding the next generation of antisemites.
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It’s shameful what’s going on and easy to become despondent if you’re a proud Jew like I am, but we’ve been here before and have survived countless pogroms and religious crusades. All we can do is double down on our faith and believe that this hostility will eventually subside, we will again thrive as a people in Israel and the diaspora and continue to help make the world a better place.