‘The Time to Stay Silent Was Over’

You may have noticed that since October 7, we’ve been posting comments from celebrities, like Mayim Bialik, Jerry Seinfeld, Amy Schumer and now Ben Stiller, below. I believe that these fellow Americans are giving us insight to what some of our Jewish neighbors – regular citizens like you and me – are thinking and feeling. We don’t have to agree with them. They do not represent all Jewish Americans. Yet, we should listen so we can begin to grasp the anger, fear, dismay, worry, and heartbreak many of our Jewish neighbors are feeling in this post-October 7 world.

These headlines are presented as a snapshot of what our Jewish neighbors are thinking and feeling and to provide data as you pray about these issues. CMJ USA does not necessarily agree with the opinions expressed in these articles.

📢 ‘The Time to Stay Silent Was Over’ (Tablet)

“On Oct. 7, I was giving my partner a tour of Washington, D.C., as I was doing a fellowship there. In one sudden moment, I started receiving a stream of messages from my friends at Hillel that Israel had been attacked. I was not very alarmed at first, as I knew Israel consistently received missiles from the Gaza Strip. I had no idea about the magnitude of the attack until I heard the news that several kibbutzes, including Kfar Aza, had been razed to the ground. I was devastated. I thought other people would be torn into pieces, like I was.

"To my confused horror, the next day there were people in front of the White House beating drums while holding signs that said, “Our resistance is not terrorism.” The following weeks of my life were some of the darkest, most dystopian weeks I have ever lived through.”

🤥 Blood Libels, Then and Now (Jewish Journal)

Medieval antisemites believed awful things about Jews, and that gave them license to do awful things to Jews

The 20th of Sivan was once a fast day that commemorated the first violent blood libel. “In 1144, 12-year-old William of Norwich was found murdered. In 1149, a Knight named Simon, on trial for murdering Eleazar, a wealthy Jew whom he owes money, claimed in his defense that Eleazar and the Jewish community had murdered William as an act of ritual murder. The defense won the case.

“A local monk, Thomas of Monmouth then published a book about the supposed “murder” of William of Norwich. He made the claim that Jews engage in the ritual murder of Christian children in order to return to Israel.”

📣Ben Stiller: Why I Can’t Stay Silent About the Suffering in Israel and Gaza (Time)

✡️ Oct. 7 is ‘deeply personal,’ says American actor Michael Rapaport (JNS)

The comedian has emerged as a leading voice for Israel in Hollywood at a time when many of his Jewish colleagues in the film industry have remained silent or politically neutral.

😖Holocaust museums condemn wave of hate against Jewish organizations (JNS)

“Hate crimes against American Jews have tripled since Hamas’ unprovoked terrorist attack,” the establishments state jointly.

⛺Jewish Camps Prepare for a Different Kind of Summer (Tablet)

In the aftermath of Oct. 7 and the war in Gaza, campers and staffers alike will be addressing Israel and antisemitism in new ways

🔻Vandals painted a red triangle on the home of a Jewish museum director. What does it mean? (Forward)

Hamas militants have used the symbol to mark targets. Who else has adopted it?

🪖They Criticized the Entebbe Rescue, Too (Jewish Journal)

The Soviet and Chinese governments denounced what they called “the Zionist aggression.” United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim charged that Israel had committed a “serious violation of the sovereignty” of Uganda. 

🇮🇱 7 ways Gen-Z will have to grapple with Zionism – if they care at all (Times of Israel)

How can American Jewry combat the anti-Israel movement without educating toward an intellectually honest, democratic Zionism?

✡️ With a new leader and revamped strategy, it’s a second coming for Jews for Jesus (JTA)

😞Former peace activist kidnapped by Hamas: ‘I don’t believe in peace’ (JNS)

Ada Sagi once learned Arabic to make friends with nearby Palestinians and taught others the language as a way to promote peace with Gaza.

🚫 Spiritual Affliction: The Left's Growing Anti-Semitism Problem (Kineti L'Tziyon)

🏨Noa Argamani’s and Anne Frank’s Secret Annexes (Jewish Journal)

Like Anne, Noa was secreted away in an apartment while a war raged outside, unsure if she would ever again be allowed to walk free.

🕎12 Tough Questions and Simple Answers About Israel (Jewish Journal)

I hope that all of you will use my answers as springboards for more formal and informal discussions clarifying where you agree – and where you disagree – with me, with Israel, with others.

🪦 Jewish gravestones vandalized at 2 Cincinnati cemeteries (Cincinnati.com)

An act of vandalism left 176 gravestones damaged in two West Side cemeteries.

"The destruction includes tombstones dating back to the late 1800s, many of which have been knocked over, with some cracked in half. Most of the gravestones have been pushed face down," the release states.

📳The messy truth behind a viral video showing violence around anti-Israel protest at an LA synagogue (Forward)

A lesson in media literacy for the age of WhatsApp and Instagram

Is Anti-Israel Rhetoric Becoming More Extreme? (compiled by Jewish Journal)

Protestors outside an exhibit in memory of the victims of the Nova party chanted “Long Live October 7th,” prompting Joe Biden to call out this kind of escalating anti-Zionist rhetoric.

• Not About Israel
  Rafael Medoff, Jewish Journal: “It’s antisemitic even if the protesters aren’t saying the words “We are against Jewish people” (which is how Rep. Ilhan Omar has defined antisemitism). It’s antisemitic even if demonstrators are not calling for the murder of every Jew in the world.”
  
  
• Not Very Subtle 
  Matthew Schultz, Dispatches from the Promised Land: “They didn’t use cutesy rhyming riddles like “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” They skipped the vague but threatening slogans like “by any means necessary.”
   
  It’s clear now. To whatever extent there is a non-antisemitic pro-Palestine protest movement, it has been completely hijacked by those who hate Jews and want us dead.
  
  
• Not Getting Attention 
  Rich Lowry, Boston Herald: “…there’s not the same sense of national crisis as there’d be if white supremacists were showing up all over the country and agitating against Jews and vandalizing property. Can you imagine the headlines and nightly news reports? Nor is there the same overwhelming media drumbeat condemning anyone associated with the protesters or their worldview.”

How Is Israeli Society Holding Up After Nine Months? (compiled by Jewish Journal)

• Feeling Rudderless 
  David Suissa, Jewish Journal: “…this is the grim reality of today’s Israel: an extraordinary population led by less than ordinary men.”
  
  
• Feeling Responsibility 
  Amichai Attali, YNET: “The mutual responsibility for which Israelis are known – which have reached new heights since October 7– is unmatched anywhere else. “
  
  
• Feeling Unified 
  Leo Dee, Jerusalem Post: “The Jewish people are more unified today than any other nation in the world, primarily because of the Torah and our system of Jewish education.

Thumbnail photo by Luke B via Flickr (cc) is illustrative of the antisemitic rhetoric at many rallies protesting the Israel-Gaza War.