The British Jewish community is now in fear, grieves, and enrages as a result of a sharp rise in violent racist incidents, which raises questions for leaders about how urgently necessary the situation is.
In Colorado, a guy set fire to a group with a wooden flame during a protest in support of Jewish captives, injuring 12 people. Only a month prior, an incendiary burned the Pennsylvania governor’s home, which is the home of governor David Gore, in a Jewish museum in Washington, D.C. Hebrew journalist Josh Shapiro was sleeping on Passover’s first night with his family.
Authorities reported that in both Colorado and Washington, people involved in the incidents yelled” Free Palestine” during the events. Afterwards, the person in charge of the fire in Pennsylvania claimed that it was retaliation for Jewish actions against Palestinians.  ,
” It is certainly horrible that it is happening with great speed today”, said Stephen Kahn, senior pastor at Congregation Beth Israel in Scottsdale, Arizona. We’re certainly in a great place, they say.
Kahn, who was ordained in 1995, considered how considerably the world has changed.
” This wouldn’t have even cracked the top 20 things to worry about again next”, he said. We believed hatred had ended. America had been so kind to the Hebrew people.
The rising crime across the country, showing up in unexpected ways, has increased concerns among some American Immigrants. Being ostensibly Israeli in people is becoming increasingly dangerous due to the situation.
As Jews become more isolated,” I’ve lost all my companions.”
Alexandra Ward, a 37-year-old mother of two in a Maryland district of Washington, D. C., said she is greatly concerned for her daughter’s safety at her Israeli school.
” I’ve been more meticulous since the D.C. shooting,” I said. Any Israeli organization, in my opinion, is now a goal, she said. ” This isn’t the America we thought we knew. Being a Jew is a terrifying experience.
Ward claimed that she has stopped attending big Jewish meetings and has considered purchasing a gun for security. When she took a weapon health school, she noticed every man there was Hebrew.
” Everyone in that group was Jewish,” said one teacher. It was occupied. It’s just really scary”, she said, though she finally decided not to purchase a tool. I may rethink if things keep going this way.
Caitlin, 41, claimed that her Washington, D.C. neighborhood has been frequently targeted by racist graffiti and flyers and that her last name was requested because of safety concerns.
” I don’t use my Israeli star again”, she said, referring to her collar. ” My mom and I decided against going to service a few weeks ago. It sounded risky.
Caitlin claimed that anti-Israel demonstrations have evolved into someone even frightening.
” I’ve lost all my companions, like all my buddies, because they’re all just — they’ve completely gone the different way”, she explained. How is it possible to have a friend who demands your suicide?
Some members of the Jewish community are staunchly opposed to the Jewish president’s actions in Gaza, but they are finding it difficult to distinguish themselves from the social blame. Mara, a 27-year-old nonprofit organization employee in Washington, D. C., said it’s been hard to see anti-Zionism haze into hatred.
” I think since October 7, I’ve found it really hard to sort of form of separate hatred from extra Zionism, and I think there are a lot of discussions about Israel that kind of connect the two,” she said. As an American Jew, I believe that I care deeply about the safety of my Jewish neighborhood in the United States. And I think a major part of us being healthy is not always coordinating ourselves with Israel”.
A group of people asking for actions:” Where is the outrage?”
There is a great deal of stress in the community over the lack of public anger in response to the latest violent influx of antisemitism, according to Susan Shankman, top priest of the Washington Hebrew Congregation.
” I think that many in the Jewish society are asking, where is the anger”? philosophically, Chandman asked. Our values call for us to speak out against anger, and we do this whenever it occurs in any other party. We regularly speak out against such hatred and violence, and we stand with some at those times, and it does not think at this moment as though that exact sympathy is being returned”.
According to Shankman, who is in charge of one of the country’s largest reform congregations, there is never a solution to hate, violence, or terrorism.  ,
” I do believe that it’s up to communities making this decision that we won’t tolerate hate and the way to confront it is not through more hate and anger and bigotry and violence”, she explained.  ,
A fall 2024 survey by the American Jewish Committee found that 93 % of American Jews view antisemitism as at least a moderate issue, and nearly a quarter reported hearing an antisemitic remark in the past year. Two percent of them claimed to have been physically abused.
The extensive protest movement opposing the conflict in Gaza has made it difficult to separate criticism of Israel’s government, or even its existence, from outright animosity toward the Jewish people. Critics argue chants such as “globalize the Intifada”  , amount to barely disguised incitements to violence against Jewish communities. The slogan” From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” has been sung at demonstrations all over the nation and around the world, which Jews interpret as a call for the destruction of Israel.  ,
The Anti-Defamation League’s most recent report found that 58 % of antisemitic incidents in the U. S. had direct ties to Israel-related themes, the first time that figure has crossed the halfway mark.
calls for a national response, saying” We need the money now.”
Ron Halber, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, is urging Congress to significantly increase funding for the federal government’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program, increasing the budget by$ 1 billion in response to rising threats. The program, administered by FEMA, funds security upgrades for vulnerable nonprofit institutions, including synagogues.
However, in March 2024, the program’s budget was cut by$ 30.5 %, dropping from$ 305 million to$ 274.5 million, despite a sharp rise in antisemitic attacks. The recent Boulder shooting as a stark illustration of the urgency, according to Halber.
” This person who committed this act of terrorism in Boulder was able to walk right into the crowd, and they obviously had no security, because they were just a group of people who were getting together for a peaceful walk”, Halber said. ” Those days are over, I believe,” she said. I believe that most Jewish organizations need to think before gathering in public. There has to be some security, and we have to have the ability to get this money quickly”.
He emphasized the need for more flexibility in the grant application and additional funds for operating expenses, such as hiring guards. Smaller or informal Jewish groups, he noted, often don’t qualify for or can’t navigate the application process.
According to Halber,” they need to make the program more flexible, add significant funding, and get the money out the door quickly.” It shouldn’t necessitate months and months of waiting. We need the money now”.
defining the boundary between hate and criticism
Political leaders must more clearly condemn rhetoric that veers into incitement, according to Jonathan, a Jewish young professional in Washington, D.C. He emphasized the need to distinguish between legitimate criticism of Israel and rhetoric that promotes hate or glorifies violence.  ,
It’s one thing to be concerned about the children of Gaza, who, regrettably, have suffered significant collateral damage as a result of the attacks in Israel on October 7, but it’s another to use code words like “free Palestine” and “globalize the Intifada,” he said.
He called for federal action to investigate groups that promote or justify terrorism and revoke their tax-exempt status if necessary.
” These organizations that are promoting hate do not deserve tax-exempt status,” he said,” there should be a refocus.” Freedom of speech is extremely important, but we are allowing coded language to be used to support terrorism, which is unacceptable.
Rabbi Kahn agreed that the solution will require coordinated leadership from both within and outside the Jewish community.  ,
He claimed that the events in Boulder and what occurred in Washington DC are “evidence of a society where Jews and non-Jews can only be stopped by political leadership, Jewish leadership, and our non-Jewish friends.”
According to Halber, Jews are not the only ones who have to bear the cost of combating antisemitism.  ,
” It’s the job of non-Jews not to hate us. Non-Jewish elected officials have the responsibility of rejecting antisemitism when it occurs. Other faith organizations have the responsibility to reject it, as do clergy, labor leaders, and business leaders.
Hope in the next generation
Rabbi Shankman said she sees hope in the upcoming generation of American Jews despite the darkness.
She mentionedB’tselem Elohim, the idea that every person is created in the image of God, at a recent Bat Mitzvah and confirmation ceremony where teenagers proudly wore Jewish symbols.
” In this moment, they’re not backing down, they’re stepping up”, she said.
BOULDER SUSPECT CHARGED WITH FEDERAL HATE CRIME FOR TARGETING” ZIONIST GROUP”
It is a theme that is deeply rooted in the Jewish diaspora, the unwavering strength of a people who have endured through displacement, hardship, and numerous attempts to eject them.
” That’s what we do as Jews. We come together, bond, and overcame rather than be afraid to go out, said Jonathan, the young Jewish D. C. professional. That’s what they’ve done for millennia, for thousands of years, and we’ve found ways to unite and acknowledge that we’re one people.
Rabbi Kahn encouraged the Jewish community to view simple expressions of identity, such as gathering together, wearing the Star of David, and embracing their heritage, as powerful forms of resistance against those who try to silence or intimidate them.
We defy those who” think they’re going to scare us into submission,” Kahn said.
