Antisemitism isn't an abstract issue, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt says in 'State of Hate' speech

The perpetrators of the worst antisemitic massacre since the Holocaust are not only not condemned, but celebrated, in a post-October 7 world, Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt charged in his “State of Hate” address Wednesday, at the organization’s two-day “Never is Now” summit in New York, where thousands gathered for the world’s largest conference on antisemitism.

Greenblatt framed his remarks around what the Jewish community looks like in an October 8th world.

“We now live in an October 8 world where we’ve endured the pain of the distressing and horrifying events over the past 151 days,” Greenblatt said.

“The world of October 8th is one in which the perpetrators of the worst antisemitic massacres since the Holocaust are celebrated as heroes, not just in Ramallah, or Beirut, but in London, and New York and on campuses like Harvard and Columbia,” Greenblatt said.

Greenblatt said an October 8 world is one in which prayers for the safety of hostages – men, women and children, and the elderly – are met with vile hate speech and moral confusion.

And the world of October 8 is one of an unprecedented surge of antisemitism all over the planet, Greenblatt said.

ADL research shows there have been 3,291 reported antisemitic incidents in the US in the three months after October 7.

“Antisemitism isn’t just an abstract issue, this is a real-life threat to our lives, to Jewish life in America and again to Jews around the world. Yes, it could happen here. Because it is,” Greenblatt said. “Never is now, because if we don’t insist on it, the consequences could be devastating.”

The Jewish community needs to be clear about the threats it faces and have the determination to face them, Greenblatt added. The Jewish community’s opponents have worked tirelessly to mussy the message and gaslight people about what’s happening, he said.

Greenblatt: Anti-Zionism is antisemitism

Greenblatt received applause when he said it must be clear that anti-Zionism is antisemitism.

Anti-Zionism is not having a problem with a set of actions by the Israeli government or protesting the policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Greenblatt said, and anti-Zionism doesn’t mean supporting Palestinian human rights or being upset about the conflict in Gaza.

“Anti-Zionism – plain and simple – means that Jews alone, among all the peoples of the world, do not deserve self-determination in their homeland,” Greenblatt said.

“Today, in our October the eighth world, American Jews and Americans of all kinds, they’re hearing with their ears, and they’re seeing with their own eyes, the hollow claim of those who purport to be anti-Zionist, but not antisemites,” he said.

Attacking Jews in America or anywhere for that matter doesn’t make someone a decolonizer, freedom fighter or a progressive, Greenblatt said, it makes them a bigot.

Greenblatt played a video message from Israeli President Isaac Herzog, in which he praised President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ policies supporting Israel and the Jewish community.

Greenblatt concluded his remarks saying the time for complacency is over.

“We can’t assume that American Jewish life will continue to be a comfortable one. Unless we do something now. Unless we transform ourselves, from observers to activists, from onlookers to advocates,” Greenblatt said. “Our community has accomplished so much in this country and contributed so much to the common good. No one can take that away from us, and it’s time we stopped letting them think that they can do so.”