History is Rhyming Again

Avi Abelow

Montreal Kosher Restaurant Burned in Suspected Arson

Recently, I walked through two beautiful European cities with ancient Jewish histories.t

Today, both communities are only a shadow of what they once were.

Their synagogues still stand.

Hardly any Jews remain.

Their stories are remembered.

But the Jewish communities themselves have largely disappeared.

In one community, one of the remaining local Jews was visibly upset to see me walking around publicly wearing my kippah. “Why stand out?” he said. “That can instigate an incident.” And this was in a place with no open Jew-hating antisemitism. It made me so sad. He wasn’t afraid for me, as he explained to me, he was afraid for himself because he would have to deal with the potential consequences.

Christians can walk freely with their symbols. Muslims can do the same. But for Jews, the impulse to hide outward signs of identity is treated as natural.

No. That is not natural, and it should never be normalized. Yes, in places of open hostility it may be necessary for safety, but that very necessity is the clearest proof that those places are not truly home, no matter how deep the sense of belonging or patriotism. Yet, too many Jews cling to a false belief that those places are “home”.

That makes me personally sad. I had a wonderful childhood in New York City, and yes, America felt like home. But growing up, I always knew it was only a temporary stepping stone in our family’s long history as “wandering Jews.” I was blessed to have U.S. citizenship, yet as a child I already understood that Israel was our only true home.

For over 2,000 years, that has been the story of Jewish life in exile. We built communities, contributed to the societies around us, flourished for generations, and eventually faced persecution, expulsion, or worse.

Today, history is beginning that rhythm once again.

A Jewish restaurant in Montreal was just totally burned down, with an arsonist caught on camera causing the fire, in what looks like a blatant Jew-hating antisemitic attack that thankfully the Montreal authorities are investigating as a hate crime.

Across North America, Europe, Australia, and elsewhere, Jew-hating antisemitic attacks continue to rise. Jewish schools require security. In many places the security apparatus has Synagogues today resembling fortresses. Many Jews have begun hiding Jewish symbols in public. Just a few years ago, none of this was necessary. Today, the warning signs are unmistakable. History is clearly repeating itself before our very eyes.

And yet, at precisely this historic moment, when Jewish communities should be discussing the lessons of Jewish history and encouraging Jews to return home to Israel, the dream our ancestors prayed and sang about for nearly 2,000 years, so much of the conversation in the Jewish community is instead being consumed by almost daily headline news of another despicable modern blood libel:

So-called “settler violence.”

The timing is astonishing.

The Jewish State of Israel has miraculously survived a seven-front war that was planned to destroy us. A war that has still not ended, against an evil jihadist enemy that still must be defeated.

Our enemies failed.

Our economy remains among the strongest in the world.

The Jewish people are witnessing one of the greatest periods of national revival in our history.

This should be inspiring Jews everywhere.

Instead, headlines repeatedly portray the Jews living in Judea and Samaria, the biblical heartland of our people, as the problem of the region preventing peace.

It is as though the world is expected to forget the evil we witnessed on October 7, when jihadi terrorists livestreamed their evil Muslim atrocities, proudly called their parents to boast that they had murdered Jews, and celebrated the slaughter of innocent men, women, children, and the elderly.

Rather than keeping the world’s attention focused on the jihadi Islam that produces such barbarism, and that still threatens us, the global media narrative has redirected toward condemning the very Jews forced to live under that constant jihadi threat.

Of course, when individual Jews commit crimes, they should be investigated and prosecuted. No civilized society should tolerate criminal violence.

But there is a profound difference between condemning actual crimes and promoting a false narrative that portrays hundreds of thousands of Israeli Jews as uniquely violent, the obstacles to peace, while blatantly ignoring the absolute daily evil of jihadi Muslims.

That narrative deserves scrutiny.

Recently, Leah Ahroni made a powerful post analyzing the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) database of “settler violence” attacks, after the Israeli Regavim organization obtained the UN spreadsheet and examined it. According to that analysis, the UN database contains 8,332 incidents between January 2016 and April 2023 categorized as involving Israeli settlers.

However, after careful analysis, Regavim found out that a majority of the entries do not represent attacks, and don’t even include Jewish settlers. It reports that the UN database includes:

* Jihadi attacks on Israelis!

* Incidents in Jerusalem unrelated to settlements.

* Temple Mount visits and clashes involving Israeli security forces.

* Alleged trespassing on disputed land.

* Government infrastructure projects.

* Property complaints and incidents without physical injury.

After excluding those categories, the analysis concludes that only about 10% of the original entries remain as potential cases directly fitting the narrative of settler violence. It further argues that even within that remainder are mutual clashes, incidents attributed to security forces rather than civilians, and cases in which jihadis attacking Israelis were shot in self-defense.

The UN’s own data highlights that there is no “Settler violence”, rather a manipulation of data points to push a blood libel against the Jews. Now we al know why the UN won’t officially release this data.

Once again, it is clear that international institutions have an open anti-Israel, Jew-hating antisemitic agenda.

While Jews are being attacked in Montreal, New York, London, Paris, Sydney, Toronto, and other Western cities simply for being Jews, once again the international conversation is redirected toward allegations of “settler violence.”

Why?

Because if the world’s attention remains fixed on Israel and the Jews as the bad guys, it is diverted away from the jihadi ideology driving so much of the violence growing across the West against Jews, and non-Jews.

The international narrative must recalibrate to: “The Jews are the problem.”

That narrative allows for a deflection from the jihadi Muslims who have attacked Israelis, massacred civilians, murdered Jews around the world, and are carrying out or inspiring attacks against non-Jews in cities across the West.

But even beyond this specific exposure lies a larger question.

Why are so many Jewish organizations and media outlets spending so much energy amplifying accusations against fellow Jews living in our ancestral homeland, on the frontline for the whole Jewish people and freedom-loving world, while giving comparatively little attention to the historic opportunity before the Jewish people?

Every day, Jews in the Diaspora are reminded that Jew-hating antisemitism did not disappear. It merely adapted.

Meanwhile, Israel stands as the strongest Jewish nation since biblical times.

For two millennia, Jews concluded every Passover Seder and Yom Kippur with the words:

“Next year in Jerusalem.”

Generation after generation prayed for the privilege we now possess.

Today, that prayer is no longer symbolic.

It is an airline ticket. Yes, there are challenges, but they can be overcome.

Our ancestors dreamed of living in a sovereign Jewish state.

We have that state.

They dreamed of rebuilding Jewish life in our ancestral homeland.

We are doing it.

They dreamed that Jews would once again walk proudly through Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the Galilee, and the Negev as free people.

That dream has become reality.

Instead of allowing ourselves to be consumed by narratives that divide Jews from one another, let us remember the larger story.

The greatest response to rising Jew-hating antisemitism is not fear or investing in security for the community.

It is aliyah.

It is returning home.

It is strengthening Jewish identity where Jewish identity is in the rocks, the air, and the national calendar.

It is building Jewish families in the most natural atmosphere where Jewish pride is absorbed via osmosis.

It is supporting the miracle of the State of Israel by being a part of that miracle.

History is speaking to us once again.

The question is whether we are willing to listen.

If Jewish history has taught us anything, why are we not inspiring more Jews to come home? Not out of fear for the inevitable but out of longing to return home.

That is the conversation Jewish leaders and organizations should be having. That is the conversation our media should be encouraging. And that is the historic opportunity before our generation.

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