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Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Silence in the Face of Antisemitism Is a Choice — It's Time to Choose Differently
I've spent the last few days asking myself the same question: How did we get here? How did we reach a point where antisemitism is so thoroughly normalized that it barely registers? Earlier this month, I sat in the Capitol Building on Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) and found myself reflecting on a painful truth: Since October 7, we've watched similar patterns that preceded the Holocaust begin to repeat. Synagogues defaced. Jewish students assaulted. Blood-libel conspiracy theories spread, such as the age-old trope that Jews operate in secret cabals that control world events. Jews being falsely blamed for all the world's evils. Antisemitic slogans — like 'Jews run the media' and 'Globalize the Intifada' — are broadcast through bullhorns. And each time, just as before, the overwhelming response has been silence. Attacks, slurs, threats, and vandalism targeted explicitly at Jews were met not with outrage, but with rationalization, dismissal, complacency, denial, misinformation, or some deranged distortion of history. I sat and reflected, watching as the last remaining Holocaust survivors walked into our Capitol 80 years after the end of the Holocaust. Abraham Foxman spoke about his experience as a survivor, a living reminder of what happens when complacency goes unchecked. Then he uttered words that shook me: 'Silence is a choice.' We're not absolved of our moral responsibility to ensure 'never again' by turning away: Saying nothing is also an active choice. As a lifelong activist, I've learned the importance of drawing lines — clear boundaries that define what culture will and will not tolerate. Since October 7th, I have searched endlessly for that line as it pertains to Jews. Is there a limit to the overt antisemitism that my peers and friends would tolerate? Was anything ever going to cross the boundary when they wouldn't choose silence? I watched every boundary be crossed, over and over. Still silence. If someone had told me two years ago that Kanye West would release a song called 'Heil Hitler,' in which he repeatedly did a Nazi salute in a music video distributed around the world — and the dominant cultural reaction would range from detachment to casual amusement — I wouldn't have believed it. That Adolf Hitler, the architect of the systematic genocide of six million Jews, could be publicly lauded by a global celebrity without immediate and widespread condemnation? Impossible. It's like the most surreal test of how far people would let this virulent, incessant Jew-hate spread. And still, silence. But this isn't about Kanye West (as much as he might wish it were). It's about a society that encounters a song called 'Heil Hitler' and chooses not to care. What was once confined to backrooms and fringe forums is now broadcast in the open — and the response is a collective shrug. The hate is horrifying, yes. But it's the detachment, the complacency, that allows it to flourish. People treat silence as neutrality. But Abe is right: Silence is a choice. The Holocaust didn't begin with gas chambers. It began with silence, with yellow stars and Jewish professors quietly dismissed. And with neighbors watching passively as it all happened — each one grasping for a reason that made the horrors a little easier to justify. That same silence reverberated during the pogroms in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as Jewish families were attacked and no one intervened. It echoed when Jewish communities were cleansed out of all the countries in the Middle East from where they originated. And it echoed again, painfully, after October 7th, when Jewish women were raped, mutilated, and murdered — and many of the loudest feminist voices fell silent. Some remain silent still. Maybe 'believe women' didn't mean Jewish women? Antisemitism doesn't go away. It's a virus with a long memory. As I write this, my phone buzzes: Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, two staffers for the Israeli embassy, have been murdered by terrorists. Their deaths are not theoretical. They're the tangible consequences of a culture that dismisses antisemitism until it turns violent. This is the intifada being globalized. The hateful rhetoric of these mobs turned into action. Sarah and Yaron's murderer yelled 'Free Palestine' — the same words used to harass and target Jews outside of cancer hospitals, libraries, synagogues, and their homes. I keep asking myself how this hate became so mainstream, but I know the answer. It's something Jews have always known: Antisemitism doesn't go away. It's a virus with a long memory. It mutates and reemerges with each new generation. In an age where we're finally having honest conversations about the systemic racism and misogyny embedded in our culture, where we're being asked to examine our own complicity, our inherited biases, the subconscious ways we perpetuate harm, I'm asking: Can you extend that same lens to antisemitism? And if your knee-jerk reaction is, 'I'm not antisemitic,' or to recite some historical narrative, can you look inward and ask yourself how age-old conspiracy theories about Jews have, just maybe, seeped into your worldview? How assumptions about Jewish power, wealth, loyalty, and identity might be coloring your reactions, or lack thereof? For years, I have been trying to teach — with compassion and patience — what antisemitism is, with the genuine hope and belief that if people only knew, they would learn and change. And yet, despite the collective understanding that hate speech should be defined by how it's received and not intended, I am gaslit over and over by the very people that echoed those sentiments for every other marginalized group — by the idea that the very real hate and trauma that we know to be antisemitic is, in fact, not. I don't want to live in a world where 'Heil Hitler' is a trend, Or where a couple is gunned down on the streets of D.C. for attending a Jewish event (which happened to be about raising money for aid to Gaza). I don't want to live in a world where women are raped on video by terrorists, and families are stolen out of their beds, and the response is 'Yeah, but…' I don't want my children to live in a world where Jewish suffering is dismissed. Because that's exactly what led to the Holocaust. I want to believe we're better than that. So please: If you're reading this, don't choose silence. Listen to our stories and our experiences, and teach your children about them. Call hate what it is, and refuse to let a hate anthem become a cultural moment. We do know how we got here, because it's happened before. And we know how this story ends: With people like Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky (z'l) murdered, days after the world scrolls mindlessly past a song praising a genocidal dictator. Your silence is a decision; your silence is antisemitism. So if indeed you're not antisemitic, then make a different choice. Mandana Dayani is an Iranian-born attorney, business leader, human rights activist, and co-founder of I Am A Voter, a national, nonpartisan civic engagement organization; she most recently served as President of Archewell, the media and philanthropic organization founded by Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. In January 2025, President Joe Biden appointed her to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council's Board of Trustees; a vocal advocate against antisemitism, Mandana recently addressed the United Nations Special Session on Sexual Violence on October 7, and her video condemning Hamas has been viewed over 50 million times. The post Silence in the Face of Antisemitism Is a Choice — It's Time to Choose Differently appeared first on Katie Couric Media.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Holocaust Remembrance Day in Florida bill sent to Gov. DeSantis. What it would mean
A day before the 80th anniversary of the death of Adolf Hitler, Florida lawmakers unanimously passed a bill to declare Jan. 27 as Holocaust Remembrance Day. The measure is meant to combat a rising trend in antisemitism and attacks on Jewish people. 'Over the past few years, Florida has actually seen over 1,200 reported incidents of antisemitic harassment, propaganda, vandalism, assaults, extremist events, terroristic plots and even murders right here in our Sunshine State,' said Democratic Rep. Debra Tendrich, D-Lake Worth. Hate crimes against Jews in the United States rose by about 11% in 35 cities in 2024, according to Brian Levin, a research analyst from the Crime and Justice Research Alliance and professor emeritus at California State University, San Bernardino. In November 2005, the United Nations General Assembly designated that date — which is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, one of the most infamous Nazi concentration camps — as International Holocast Remembrance Day and urged every member state to honor the 6 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism. There are currently 27 legal holidays, nine paid holidays and 35 special observances in Florida statutes, according to an analysis of the bill. The most recent new addition was Tuskegee Airmen Commemoration Day, added in 2024 and first observed this year to honor the first Black military aviators in what wasn't yet the U.S. Air Force. SB 356 says, "In honor of the millions of victims killed in the Holocaust, the Governor shall annually proclaim January 27 to be 'Holocaust Remembrance Day,' which may be observed in the public schools of this state and by public exercise at the State Capitol and elsewhere as the Governor may designate." Schools are encouraged to provide instruction on that day of "harmful impacts of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism and the positive contributions of the Jewish 41 community to humanity." If the date lands on a weekend, Holocaust Remembrance Day may be observed in public schools on the following school day or another date chosen by each district's school board. The bill passed unanimously in the Senate on March 27 and in the House on April 29. While President Donald Trump did not issue a proclamation on Holocaust Remembrance Day in January, he did send a presidential delegation to attend the commemoration of the Auschwitz-Birkenau anniversary in Oświęcim, Poland. On April 23, Trump issued a proclamation on April 23 commemorating Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day, known as Yom HaShoah. "On Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, and during this week of solemn remembrance, we honor the blessed memories of the six million Jewish men, women, and children who were viciously slaughtered by the genocidal Nazi regime and their collaborators — one of the bleakest hours in human history," the proclamation read. The Trump administration and many Republicans have used antisemitism as the reason for cracking down on pro-Palestinian protests on college and university campuses, and the administrations that don't punish the students enough. Florida schools already have a Holocaust Education Week, the second week in November, which coincides with the anniversary of Kristallnacht on November 9-10, 1938. According to the Holocaust Memorial Museum, that was when Nazi leaders unleashed a series of programs against the Jewish population in Germany, including rounding up about 30,000 Jewish men and taking them to concentration camps for no other reason than because they were Jewish. They followed it with a demand for a $1 billion Reichsmark "atonement tax" and many anti-Jewish laws. Under state statute, Florida educators are required to incorporate lessons on the Holocaust, antisemitism, and the "systematic and state-sponsored annihilation of European Jews." January is Florida Jewish History Month. Established by former Gov. Jeb Bush in 2003, the month is a time to teach and celebrate the contributions of Floridian Jews to the state. If signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the bill would take effect July 1, 2025, with the first observance held Jany. 27, 2026. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida Holocaust Remembrance Day may include schools instruction
Miami Herald
28-04-2025
- General
- Miami Herald
Miami Jewish community marks Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day
Hundreds of members of Miami's Jewish community and its allies gathered in Miami Beach to commemorate Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day on Sunday night. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the largest and deadliest Nazi concentration camp, ending a horrific chapter in human history. All in all, six million European Jews and people from other minorities were killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust. The program, held at Temple Emanuel-El and organized by the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach, remembered the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust and honored the legacy of the dwindling number of survivors. The event showcased stories from survivors and from second, third and fourth-generation descendants who are continuing to educate the next generation on the consequences of hate. Currently, there are about 220,800 Holocaust survivors living in 90 countries around the world, with half residing in Israel and about 18 percent in North America, according to a new report from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, also referred to as the Claims Conference. The vast majority, 96 percent, are 'child survivors' who were born after 1928 and more than 1,400 Holocaust survivors are estimated to over 100 years old. Nearly 50 percent of all Holocaust survivors will pass away within the next 6 years, while 70 percent will pass away within 10 years, according to the report. As Holocaust survivors continue to age and pass away, events like the one at Temple Emanu-El become even more important, allowing the stories of survival to live on. This story was produced with financial support from Trish and Dan Bell and from donors comprising the South Florida Jewish and Muslim Communities, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.
Spectator
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
Nike's ‘Never again' slogan is a disgrace
Fifty-six thousand runners completing the London Marathon yesterday may well have gasped the words 'never again' as they staggered across the finish line. I have never been a runner, but I imagine that even those who willingly endure the 26.2-mile ordeal must feel not only a profound sense of accomplishment but also, at the very least, a fleeting pang of regret. Yet when I saw the Nike advertisement – hoisted from a crane like an executed Iranian dissident, swaying precariously in front of that modern-day emblem of our capital city, the London Eye – bearing the slogan 'Never again. Until next year,' my mind immediately traveled to darker places. What, I wondered, has a running race to do with the Holocaust? Only last week, my essay commemorating Yom HaShoah, the Jewish Holocaust memorial day, was published in these pages.
Miami Herald
28-04-2025
- General
- Miami Herald
Holocaust survivors' stories preserved through AI
Hana Ivashkov has told the tale of escaping Lithuania several times, but as she recounted it on Sunday, she said she could still feel chills on her arms. Ivashkov, 96, was 11 years old when she rode what she said was the last train from Lithuania to Russia in 1941. Her train was bombed by German soldiers and her family walked for over ten days to reach Russia. After stops in Serbia and Kazakhstan and an eventual return to Lithuania after World War II, Ivashkov arrived in Las Vegas in 1980. "I'm talking to let people know," Ivashov said as she sat at a table at Congregation Ner Tamid in Henderson on Sunday, where she was one of 20 Holocaust survivors encouraged to share their stories to younger generations. The event was to commemorate Yom HaShoah, the day the Jewish community memorializes Holocaust victims, which was marked this year from Wednesday evening through Thursday. Afterwards, Holocaust educator Stephen Smith had a conversation with a hologram of Pinchas Gutter, who survived the Holocaust. Smith hopes that through using artificial intelligence, future generations will be able to have conversations with holocaust survivors past their death. "Each year, as we mark this day, we find ourselves one step farther from the events of the Holocaust - but also one step closer to a moment when no survivors will remain to tell the story themselves," Rabbi Sanford Akselrad told the congregation. Survivors' testimonies Jackie Beer, 85, kept her story quiet for years. It wasn't until a few years ago that she was finally moved to share her story. "Nobody should ever forget. We're it. We're the last generation," Beer said. Beer was born in Ukraine to a mother who was murdered eight months later. She was raised in five orphanages and came to Las Vegas when she was 11 years old. She later worked as a dancer on the Strip, where she said she was one of two Jewish dancers at the time. These days, Beer wears her Star of David necklace proudly. But sometimes, she said, she hides it beneath her clothing and clips it closer to her heart. "I don't want to cause trouble," she said. The number of antisemitic assaults, acts of vandalism and campus-related incidents in Nevada increased in 2024, according to a recent audit from the Anti-Defamation League. In February, the American Jewish Committee published a report which it said showed an "alarming" increase in antisemitism. Holocaust survivor hologram Sunday's event closed with Smith's presentation about the use of artificial intelligence to facilitate conversations with Holocaust survivors, even after their death. The project was conceived of by Smith's wife, Heather Maio, who wanted her grandchildren to be able to have the same type of personal conversation with Holocaust survivors that she was able to have. "I am most hopeful that the world is going to be a better place than the one I lived in," Gutter's hologram told the congregation. ___ Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
