Don’t be fooled. The attacks on Jews in Amsterdam were not spontaneous or uncalculated. They were organized and precise. In Amsterdam, WhatsApp was used to coordinate with Arab taxi drivers and antisemites throughout the city to identify and locate Israelis and other Jews for targeted attacks. Copycat attacks and other local assaults cannot be called simple hate crimes that some hooligans are committing against Jews and Jewish-owned businesses. The rise of Islamism, which doesn’t have to correlate with Islamophobia, has driven a tsunami of coordinated antisemitic assaults on Jews, everywhere.

The crisis is complex and multiplying. These assaults are about deep Jew-hatred, which is a dangerous symptom of the most recent war in the Middle East, but not just this war. It has been exacerbated by Iran proxies for years, not only in the Middle East, but also by its proxies and sleeper cells in the U.S. and Europe. Hating and assaulting Jews are their goals in addition to sharing their fanaticism with fellow thugs.

In the last few weeks, Noa Tishby and Bret Stephens, both guests of Beth Israel and the community, spoke to the issue. In different words, they made it clear that, unfortunately, what JVP (Jewish Voices for Peace) and IfNotNow thought was a “woke” response to the war in the Middle East has gone horribly wrong. Their woke fight against Israel’s policies to protect its land and people after October 7th has added fuel to the war against Jews and Judaism around the world, and emboldened Jew-haters, antisemites, and Iran proxies everywhere, including college campuses. Their myopic view of Israel and Jewish history has painted them into a corner where their energy has been rendered useless against age-old tropes against Jews. Just when we need Jews to stand up and speak out for Jews, they’re missing in action. Everyone has complaints about Israel’s policies in the Middle East; it’s natural to disagree, but it’s not natural for Jews on the left or right, in times of crisis, to be against their own people. It only gives oxygen to pogroms in places like Amsterdam, Sweden, and across Europe.

In addition, we’re in the period between the U.S. election and the inauguration in January. A familiar but still unknown presidential administration will be sworn into office. Now it’s time for Jewish Americans and their allies to press our government to make an example of Jew-haters and attackers—wherever they come from and wherever they strike—with hate crime laws, significant fines, and other severe consequences. Our country is polarized politically, but it doesn’t have to be set against its own citizens, whether they’re Jewish or not. The fabric of America hasn’t changed, but for those who never learned or respected it, it must be taught and defended at the highest levels.

We are not a passive generation of Jews. We are aggressive advocates of the rights and privileges of all Americans. When it comes to protecting those rights, it always begins at home. We start with our families and communities. It doesn’t end until every American is afforded the aspirations provided us as free people in a free land. Don’t let anyone steal those rights from you, not by deception or force, and don’t hesitate to call on authorities at every level to identify enemies of our longstanding relationship to this great nation and to our future as proud Americans.

The news headlines look grim, but they will be replaced when we create news stories about fewer acts of Jew-hatred and greater examples of American Jewish pride and dignity.

L’Shalom,