What do these have in common?
(1) Elderly Jews in Boulder Colorado sprayed with flaming gasoline
(2) A young D.C. Jewish couple stalked and murdered with multiple shots in their backs as they crawled away
(3) Pennsylvania governor’s home invaded, burning down the room where the governor, who is Jewish, just hosted Passover Seder
Each attacker shouted “Free Palestine!”
As a rabbi on the UC Santa Barbara campus from 2009-2023, I felt like a canary in a coal mine. “Globalize the intifada,” “From the River to the Sea,” “Zionism equals Genocide,” and other catch-phrases promoted on college campuses became culturally acceptable, poisoning the minds of a generation of progressive activists. We warned that words demonizing Jews, Zionists, and Israelis would inevitably have fatal consequences. The anti-Semitic violence we are witnessing is as chilling as it is unsurprising.
Now we must:
• Work in common cause with liberals, conservatives, moderates, and any ally who will stand up with us. We can’t afford the luxury of litmus tests to only choose allies of our own preferred political persuasion.
• Call out and litigate strongly against those who would harm us.
• Clamp down on violent inciting speech before it leads to actual violence.
When balancing the right to personal safety and the right to free expression, our right to live must take precedence over those who incite violence through incendiary, hateful speech.
Anti-Semitic violence will not help Palestinians, and unchecked anti-Semitism brings down our entire society. Pennsylvania, D.C., and Boulder must be a wakeup call. Before it’s too late.
Rabbi Evan Goodman is chair of the Jewish Community Relations Council, Jewish Federation of Greater Santa Barbara.
