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These are not isolated events. These recent high-profile incidents are part of the ongoing trend blurring the line between political expression and calls for violence and even death against Jews. They echo the violent rhetoric and the dehumanization of Jews, Zionists and Israelis that is becoming widely accepted in mainstream cultural and political arenas.
Musician Endorses Violence: ‘Death, death to the IDF’
A British punk band led a crowd of thousands in chanting: “Death, death to the IDF.” The performance was broadcast live to millions on Britian’s BBC and met with cheers from a packed audience. The chant, amplified over speakers and video feeds, was not spontaneous – it was part of his planned performance.
Bob Vylan ended the profanity-laced anti-Israel performance screaming: “From the river to the sea, Palestine must be, will be, inshallah [God willing in Arabic], it will be free.” A Palestinian state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea equates to the destruction of Israel. The performance attracted new followers for the band on social media.
UK police launched an investigation to determine whether any of these comments amounted to a criminal offence. The U.S. State Dept. responded by revoking Bob Vylan’s visa for his upcoming 26-stop tour. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau: “Foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country.”
The IDF, Israeli Defense Forces, stands between the world’s largest Jewish community and its enemies. The recent daring airstrikes carried out by the Israeli and American air forces set back Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Iranian leaders repeatedly have called for Israel’s destruction, and death to America. Iran-backed Hamas terrorists brutally murdered more than 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023. They raped women and men, burnt families alive in their homes and kidnapped more than 200 Israelis – including corpses – to Gaza. The IDF has defended Israel from existential crises and terror threats for 77 years.
NYC Mayoral Candidate Refuses to Condemn ‘Globalize the Intifada’
Zohran Mamdani was asked three times on Meet the Press to condemn the phrase “Globalize the Intifada.” He refused each time. The Intifada refers to repeated terror attacks against innocent Israeli civilians in the past – including fatal shooting attacks, and bombings of busses, malls and even an assault at a Passover seder. At anti-Israel rallies across America and around the world, the phrase has appeared on signs, flyers and banners. The Democratic nominee stated he would not disavow the expression, calling it a matter of interpretation.
Days earlier, Mamdani compared the phrase to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising – when Jews fought back against the Nazis in Poland. The U.S. Holocaust Museum condemned him for “exploiting the uprising to sanitize a phrase that is offensive to survivors and used to attack and murder Jews.”
In a 2017 rap video, he referenced “My love to the Holy Land Five.” They were five men convicted by a federal jury of sending $12 million to Hamas. The charismatic politician also co-founded Bowdoin College’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter in Maine. The national SJP organization recently threatened to kill Americans and Israelis over Iran, vowing – “The alternative to leaving vertically is leaving horizontally.” Despite his stated commitment to address antisemitism and other acts of hate in NY, Mamdani refuses to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and criticized Israel just a day after the Oct. 7 massacre.
Rhetoric with Consequences: Real-World Violence
A terrorist shot and killed two Israeli embassy staffers outside a Jewish event in the nation’s capital in May. Two weeks later, another terrorist hurled firebombs at Jews walking in support of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. Karen Diamond, 82, died from her injuries. Both attackers claimed they were acting for a “Free Palestine.” The Secure Community Network called Diamond’s “senseless death another painful reminder of the unprecedented threat environment the Jewish community faces in North America.” This reminder comes days after FEMA announced $94 million in security funds for Jewish groups.
There have been many other attacks and incidents over the past few years – many are under-reported or never make headlines. Recent instances include a hazardous substances engineer charged with supporting Islamic State and threatening to kill Jews. The 33-year-old man recently arrested by the FBI stated that the “day will come when the head of every evil, dirty Jew and their slaves, the cross worshippers, will have their heads plucked like a chicken.” He conducted surveillance on a Stockton, CA, synagogue and planned on killing a worshipper he thought was an Israeli soldier.
An American Jewish rock musician’s performance was cancelled because he posted a statement supporting Israel on Oct. 7. A few weeks ago in Portugal, a vicious plot by anti-Israel activists was uncovered. They intended to use syringes with chemicals to poison and kill Israelis and Jews attending a music festival.
Why Anti-Israel Chants are Dangerous: ‘Permission for violence against Jews’
“Globalize the Intifada” is a viral slogan calling for violence against Israel and Jews around the world. CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations William Daroff: “I am very concerned about the normalization of the hatred of Jews in America. Among the battle cries of those who seek to murder Jews is to ‘globalize the intifada.’ It’s deeply concerning that Mamdani spreads this message, and rationalizes, minimizes and denies the dangers to the Jewish people.” Democratic U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand echoed Daroff: “When you use a word like ‘intifada’ to many Jewish Americans and Jewish New Yorkers, that means you are permissive for violence against Jews.”
Other common anti-Israel chants invoked at rallies across America and around the world include, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” – a cry for destroying the entire Jewish state. A Palestinian state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea means the elimination of the State of Israel. During Israel’s War of Independence, the head of the Muslim Brotherhood – the parent organization of Hamas – called for Arabs to “drive the Jews into the sea.” “From the river” is another iteration of this phrase – adopted by Hamas – that also can mean the ethnic cleansing of Jews from the Land of Israel.
“Resistance by any means necessary” often is used to justify violence against Israelis – not only in Israel, but Jews around the world. It can signal support for terrorism and target Jews simply for supporting Israel – or for being Jewish. Synagogues, Jewish-owned restaurants and visibly Jewish individuals have been attacked in broad daylight. Their so-called ‘crime’ was belonging to a people, not a policy. This is collective blame masquerading as political protest.
Standing up to dangerous rhetoric requires informed, principled action …
Canada’s First Indigenous Appellate Court Justice: ‘Israel is an indigenous triumph’
Retired Canadian Judge, Harry LaForme, recently delivered a speech in Tel Aviv:
We are gathered here today in the homeland of the Indigenous Jewish people. The Jewish people’s history is obvious – it goes back at least 4,000 years, and I don’t understand Canada’s reluctance to recognize this.
As an Anishinaabe [indigenous Canadian] Zionist, I am being made to feel unwelcome on my Treaty Lands by anti-Israel treaty violators who self-describe as part of the current colonial settler regime that marginalizes and oppresses Indigenous peoples – me. They should examine the illogic of their own activities on my ancestral and Treaty Lands.
I can identify with the horrors that the Jewish people went through constantly. Canada’s residential school system destroyed the lives of 150,000 people. We have unmarked graves that we’re still trying to find. Just like Oct. 7 – it is forgotten. Our histories are different, but there are so many similarities in terms of the emotional impact and intergenerational trauma. Any Indigenous person and non-Indigenous Canadian aware of our shared history should shudder to hear – “There’s only one solution, intifada revolution” – chanted on our streets. The term, in all its iterations, is offensive, hateful and racist.
After Oct. 7, I observed how in Canada, Anishinaabe culture and traditions were being appropriated by anti-Israel demonstrators to justify the unjustifiable. I am deeply troubled by the expressions of hatred against Jews and Zionists, and the willful, disappointing and overt ignorance, fueled by misinformation coming from educational institutions and broader society.
These words are used to assert revolutionary violence “by any means necessary.” I unequivocally reject these assertions and any allyship with those who hold such views. I know what settler colonialism looks like. I’ve lived under its thumb. We’re looking for land back and the right to govern that land. We’re not asking you to get out of the country, but let us govern our reserves. That’s true reconciliation.
Click to read the full Times of Israel story.
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This content is developed by The Focus Project in partnership with MERCAZ USA. The Focus Project distributes weekly news and talking points on timely issues concerning Israel and the Jewish people, including antisemitism, anti-Zionism and the delegitimization of Israel. It represents a consensus view across a spectrum of major American Jewish organizations. MERCAZ USA recognizes and respects the diversity of views on these issues among its readers and the community at large.