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For Jews, Not A Great Spring (So Far)
Joshua Namm, May 04, 2026
"Doing what I do for a living, given my lifelong passion for the
Jewish community, and just being a Jew – I am, in no way, even
remotely, a stranger to antisemitism.
"So when we
observed Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) last month, even I was
surprised at how surprised I was at the relentlessness of Jew hatred
spewed online that day.
"It is way too easy to view
antisemitic activity on social media as being detached from our lives,
and not a serious indication of anything real, because it is online,
less personal and also because (so the story goes) social media isn’t
the “real world.”
"That is obviously ridiculous
because for two decades now social media has been growing in influence,
and now isn’t just effectively the “town square,” but is the place where
most Americans get some, or most, of their news. So, to just dismiss it as some kind of remote cesspool of stupidity, divorced from the real world is dangerous and foolish.
"So,
for me at least, seeing the tidal wave of antisemitism in my social
feeds on Yom Hashoah was a real indication that we are losing the
battle. It seems obvious that what you constantly see on social media
reflects real world attitudes, and at the same time, its ubiquity gives
people tacit social permission to translate online attitudes into real
world behavior.
"And as if to make the point that
social media attitudes, and real world behavior are one in the same: the
last few weeks have been some of the worst in recent history in terms
of the indications that we are quickly heading into the world endured by
our grandparents and great grandparents (and remembered by the people
still with us who experienced that period first hand), vs the supposed
“golden age” of American Jewish life.
"It culminated in the stabbing attack
of two Jews outside of a synagogue in Golders Green, London. That was
preceded by two months of targeted attacks on the Jewish community.
"At a Yom Hashoah event at Auschwitz, Sylvan Adams, President of the World Jewish Congress – Israel Region, said “I believed that the post-Holocaust slogan of ‘Never Again’ truly meant never again, well, I was wrong.”
"That
realization is heartbreaking. I also hope that it is becoming more
widespread because we have been in denial for too long, and denial
should have ended permanently on October 7, 2023. But it hasn’t at our
own peril, and the events of the last few weeks alone should make that
case (again).
"Let’s start in New York City, formerly the most Jewish city in the world outside of Israel - in both population and culture.
"At the beginning of April, New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced that over half of all hate crimes in New York were committed against Jews in the first quarter of this year.
"A
Jewish owned café, Goldstruck, had its windows smashed twice in March,
which were the second and third such incidents this year. According to a
story in the Jerusalem Post:
“The United Jewish Appeal Federation of Greater Toronto and Conservative Party
deputy leader Melissa Lantsman said that a Star of David had been
painted on the location of the chain’s future branch last month.”
"Worldwide, a study
released by Tel Aviv University revealed that more Jews were murdered
in antisemitic attacks in the Diaspora than at any time during the
previous three decades. Twenty Jews were murdered in 2025, the worst
year since 1994 when the bombing of a Jewish community center in
Argentina killed 85 people and wounded over 300.
"We
can’t forget either that while that number included the deadly shooting
in Bondi Beach, it is a miracle that more people were not murdered given
that violence against Jews has been rising steadily again over the last
year. Even in countries where there was a decrease in overall
antisemitic incidents, physical assaults against Jews rose.
"Just a few recent examples:
"A surge of antisemitism in France included the dousing of a kosher restaurant in Paris in February.
"During March, in London four Hatzalah (a Jewish volunteer emergency medical service) vehicles were torched in Golders Green, long a very Jewish London neighborhood. On April 15, two masked men attempted
to firebomb a synagogue also in London. On April 17, again in London,
there was an arson attack on the former offices of a Jewish charity. On
April 18, there was another attempted arson attack on a London synagogue. Ten people have been arrested
so far and police are claiming that seven of those people were plotting
a new attack against, they believe, another Jewish institution. Lastly,
there was also a suspected drone attack on the Israeli embassy in London.
"All of that was on the heels of a study
conducted by the British Union of Jewish Students which found that
(predictably) attitudes toward Jewish students are absolutely atrocious.
It found that 1 in 5 students would not be open to having a Jewish
roommate. While “half of students (49%) have seen Hamas and Hezbollah
glorified on campus, and 47% have seen the October 7th attacks
justified.” While 23% of all students admit to seeing behavior targeting
Jewish students specifically. Half have heard slogans and chants
glorifying Hamas. One in six students believe that glorifying Hamas is
protected free speech in a nation where people have been arrested for
criticizing Islam and carrying Israeli flags. Lastly, 26% say that they
have strained relationships with Jewish students. In one case “a flat of
non-Jewish students shared on social media that they had “only one rule
- no Zios in the flat.”
"In the United States, the political climate continues to be increasingly anti-Jewish.
"In
Maine, it is clear that Graham Platner, a man with a Nazi tattoo, will
win the Democratic nomination for the Senate. Midway through April,
Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren campaigned with Platner calling him “my kind of man.” She also trivialized his praise of Hamas.
"Progressives
like Warren are quick to deem anyone on the right a “Nazi,” but they
will campaign and raise money for actual Nazi sympathizers if they sense
any political gain at all.
"A man with actual integrity, Pennsylvania democrat John Fetterman, acknowledged that the Platner candidacy proves (once again) that the democrats have a serious antisemitism problem.
"Not
to be outdone, Vice President J.D. Vance, obviously a Republican, when
asked at a Turning Point USA conference who he would recommend young
people listen to for guidance, he recommended podcaster Theo Von, who
once referred to the imaginary “genocide” in Gaza.
"Meanwhile in Michigan, another Jew hating Senate candidate, Abdul El-Sayed (Does anyone remember 9/11?), said at an April campaign stop that it’s “critical” that democrats embrace influencer Hasan Piker.
"Piker once said that “America deserved 9/11,” and has repeatedly criticized Israel and defended Hamas. He once stated
that Hamas terrorists are “one thousand times better than Israel.” (In a
laughable example of how chic hating Jews has become - GQ magazine once called Piker “the hottest left-wing commentator online”)
"Al-Sayed,
along with Michigan’s Democratic leaders, is backing Amir Makled for
Michigan’s Board of Regents. Makled is replacing Jordan Acker, both
Jewish and pro-Israel. According to the Times of Israel,
Makled “deleted posts that included retweets of far-right antisemitic
conspiracy theorist Candace Owens; memes and cartoons with antisemitic
connotations; and references to former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah
as a “martyr” after he was killed by Israeli strikes in 2024.”
"That
means that the University of Michigan will be getting even worse in
terms of campus attitudes toward Jews. But even more important, in
Michigan the Board of Regents is a political entity – and it was
Democrats who nominated Amir Makled.
"In more campus news, it was reported that Qatar dictated how Northwestern University reacted in the wake of the October 7 attacks. According to reporting in the Algemeiner:
“Details
described Qatari efforts to prevent the university from censuring
faculty member Khaled Al-Hroub, who had denied that Hamas members had
committed rape. The report also emphasizes that faculty affiliated with Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine “played a significant role in legitimizing and amplifying antisemitism on college campuses.
"The same story included news that Ivy League schools are lowering the numbers of Jews on campus:
“New
research has now shown how Harvard, Yale, Penn, and Columbia have
systematically reduced the percentages of Jewish students in the past
decades. Harvard reduced its Jewish population from approximately 25% in
2004 to the current low of 7%. Analysis of Columbia suggests the number
was reduced from approximately 19% in 2004 to 9% today. Dramatic
reductions in the number of white students admitted are also apparent.”
"Meanwhile a judge decided
that Columbia can neither expel nor discipline those pro-Hamas students
who occupied a campus building (and kidnapped an employee) in the wake
of October 7.
"And in fact, a March Pew survey
conducted in March demonstrated that 60% of Americans hold an
unfavorable view of Israel. The breakdown was 80% of Democrats and 41%
of Republicans. The following month (April) almost every Senate Democrat
voted on two motions,
one to block the sale of bulldozers to Israel and the other to block
the sales of much needed arms. Every Republican who voted, voted against
the bill.
"At the same time, a majority of
right-wing conspiracists claim that Israel dragged Donald Trump into the
current war against Iran. Democrats are beginning to echo that lie as
well, beginning with former Vice-President Kamala Harris who claimed in April that Trump “entered a war, got pulled into it by Bibi Netanyahu.”
"At the end of April, California democrat Eric Derek Tran, a Congressman, met with, keffiyeh clad Hussam Ayloush, and other representatives from council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
"Ayloush
said in November 2023 (the month after the attacks of 10/7) “Israel
should be attacked…You want to pick up arms and defend your people and
your land, that is a legitimate right."
"CAIR is long known for extreme Islamist rhetoric.
"After 10/7, Nihad Awad, its executive director, blatantly stated that “Israel does not have a right to defend itself.”
"He meant Jews.
"The
Tran meeting was for something called “”Muslim Advocacy Day” (because
they need it), and CAIR was instrumental in Tran’s victory over a
pro-Israel republican. (Hence the meeting)
"Tran’s statement was completely predictable:
“Proud
to welcome folks from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
for an important conversation about fighting Islamophobia and defending
civil rights for every member of our community,”
"So
once again, during a historic global rise in antisemitism, imaginary
“Islamophobia” is invoked again to bolster the moral relativism argument
(favored by leftists), to bolster the continuing dismissal of
real-world violence against Jews (and to mainstream Islam in the West).
"This is nothing new though on the democrat side. I wrote about
Joe Biden’s disgraceful, super-cozy, relationship with CAIR over two
years ago. Even that was just one in a alarmingly endless line of
examples.
"Like most months: I can go on.
"On
a personal note, my Facebook feed was attacked last month because of a
picture I posted of a car in San Diego with a bumper sticker reading
“Israel did 9/11.” The post was public, but with no tags – meaning that
there was no obvious way for strangers to view it.
"A
few days before that I was targeted by a user who spewed Jew hatred in
the comments of dozens of my posts. I don’t know if those two things are
connected. But Instagram (also owned by Facebook) has declined to deem
the comments antisemitic.
"Facebook itself reacted by
not banning or censoring the offenders, but by taking down my post,
while claiming that I had violated their terms. They also took down
several of my comments rebutting the lie, and limited my activity on
Facebook, while temporarily shutting down my ability to use Messenger.
Essentially, I was punished for alerting people to antisemitism offline.
"I
must finally be gaining some traction because I had dozens of strangers
tracking me down to spew their venom, an honor usually reserved for far
more prominent Jews in our community. My Facebook analytics showed a
426% increase in activity with 87,404 views. It sickens me that this is
what gets people going.
"Since October 7, Jew hatred
has exploded and my perception is that most of us still ignore it,
hoping that the clock will turn back to October 6, 2023.
"As
I’ve said before: it is terrifying that we still don’t seem to
understand that ensuring never again requires that we start becoming far
more active in this fight (and it IS a fight). But we can’t even seem
to universally agree on the need to take action, let alone actually do
the things that must be done.
"Time is ticking: it’s
our choice if it ticks backwards to 1938 or forward to a new era of
Jewish greatness and exceptionalism. We know what the world would choose
for us. We need to embrace our destiny as Jews and move forward
fearlessly, proudly and unapologetically.
"Never be afraid. Never give up.
"Am Yisrael Chai."
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A shortened version of this article appeared originally in my monthly column for Orange County Jewish Life.
Joshua Namm
is a longtime Jewish community pro, former editor and current columnist
for Orange County Jewish Life, passionate Israel advocate, and
co-founder/co-CEO of Moptu, a unique social platform designed specifically for article sharing, and dedicated to the principle of free speech.
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