With rising antisemitism, Jews have to decide to stay or move abroad- opinion

In his article titled “To stay or not to stay?” Jonathan Lieberman makes the case that “leaving the place where their families have lived for generations, contributing to the cultural, political, and economic fabric, would not only mean abandoning their heritage but also conceding to the forces of hatred and extremism” (The Jerusalem Post, November 22).

He goes on to say that “many argue that standing firm against antisemitism sends a powerful message that bigotry will not dictate their lives.” And while there is certainly something to be said for that kind of logic, how does a London Jew respond when he receives a flyer on his doorstep that says, “Zionists: Leave Britain or be slaughtered?” 

The question then becomes, is it worth fighting to stay in a country where you’re not wanted – to the point of receiving chilling death threats? Even assuming that the police will protect their Jewish population and acknowledging that the mayor has taken a public stand against this kind of threatening vitriol by saying, “he is sickened by the rise in antisemitism in the city and has no place in London,” the question remains.

While it’s true that the best way ignorant antisemites are going to be persuaded is by directly engaging with local Jews and becoming acquainted with who they are, rather than assuming the worst, are they even willing and open enough to agree to meet, speak, and listen?

Probably not, because it is so much easier to remain uninformed, holding on to the ever-growing trendy viewpoint that Jews are the real villains, a characterization which serves to vindicate all others from whatever corrupt evils they espouse, committed, or would like to commit.

It is that one “different” group that is crucial to single out as those without whom the world would be a better place. However, Europe, minus its Jewish population, would then need a new scapegoat to, once again, exonerate all the ills that would invariably come its way. Who would end up filling that vacancy?

For now, however, it is a place taken up by the Jews of that continent. How long will they be willing to play the victims, who must always look over their shoulders to make sure that someone isn’t ready to unexpectedly pounce on them, making good on their promise to slaughter them?

Concept of home

For most of us, the concept of home represents a feeling of belonging, acceptance, stability, all things familiar, and a comforting sense of safety and tranquility – the ultimate fuzzy and soft bathrobe and slippers we all slip into when wanting to be wrapped in secure and loving warmth, only rivaled by a mother’s womb.

But when one’s native land turns on them, revealing a deep and profound hatred and disgust for their presence in a country whose welcome mat has shredded, no longer amenable to hosting the likes of people who thought they’d successfully managed to integrate into the society which they view as their own, perhaps it’s time to rethink and reconsider a new mantle under where those home fires should burn!

Shocking as it may sound, a new generation has risen up, taking notice of the Jews, among them, as being foreigners and not homegrown. It has been slowly fomenting but went full throttle once a suitable catalyst entered the picture.

October 7

That catalyst materialized on October 7, a day that should have been marked by great societal sympathy and empathetic support for the great injustice of a spontaneous savage massacre. But rather than horrifying the public, it almost instantly turned into a justified attack for daring to populate a land believed to have been wrongly appropriated to the Jewish people.

From that point, the narrative stuck and only grew wider, garnering the backing of uneducated and uninformed individuals who desperately needed to pin the blame on someone other than the ones who perpetrated the killing, torture, and kidnapping of innocents.

Evil was exchanged for good with the help of clever marketing labels such as “freedom fighters,” who are righteously taking back what had been stolen from them.

The need to examine such fallacious claims went unchallenged because, in the year 2024, investigative research and reporting are superfluous when an entire peer group accepts an edgy, subversive version of victimhood. After all, who knows better than them?

It’s the reason that hundreds of thousands could be instantly mobilized to protest the manufactured plight of Palestinians while Israelis were mourning the slaughter of entire families in their southern communities. The topsy-turvy events took root, exponentially growing to become the popular narrative that continues to fuel the notion that Jews are unwelcomed citizens who need to be purged from the continent.

That is what the local Jewish community is up against. Those who firmly believe that leaving their nation of birth is a sort of capitulation, representing a concession to the haters, will have to figure out how to undo that type of ignorant and visceral abhorrence that was birthed in blindness and will have almost no chance of enlightenment.

Consequently, Jews who choose to remain in the countries that are rejecting them by threatening their well-being, homes, careers, families, and places of worship should take a long, hard look at what they hope to eradicate by refusing to leave.

It’s very likely that no matter how hard they try to win over an uninformed generation, they will simply be fighting a futile and dangerous battle in the naïve belief that the mutual respect of their neighbors is attainable. It isn’t.

Instead, they should consider the blessing of life in a haven for our people, the place where, as Lieberman puts it, “Jews are the majority, and their culture, religion, and heritage are central to the state. Israel represents the fulfillment of Jewish self-determination, no longer a marginalized group.”

So, for those looking for that one place that they can call home, accompanied with the comfortable fuzzy robe and slippers, they need not look any further because that place is here – the Land of Israel – the homeland where you will never outwear your welcome.

The writer is a former Jerusalem elementary and middle school principal. She is also the author of Mistake-Proof Parenting, available on Amazon, based on the time-tested wisdom found in the Book of Proverbs.