As the tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas holds and Israeli hostages trickle out of war-torn Gaza, acts of antisemitism continue to make headlines around the world. Just within the first two weeks of February 2025, several such incidents of anti-Israel and Islamist extremism occurred:
In Sydney, Australia, two hospital nurses, one wearing a hijab, were recorded on video saying they had killed or were planning to kill Israeli patients. In Villach, Austria, a Syrian man professing allegiance to the Islamic State went on a stabbing rampage, killing a 14-year-old boy. In Munich, Germany, an Afghan man with Islamic extremist motives rammed his car into a crowd of people, injuring several. An interview with a Jewish student at Goethe University in Frankfurt, published February 14, details her continued harassment by other students, including stalking, online and physical harassment, and threats of rape and beheading. She is the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor whose image has been circulated on social media with captions such as “This person thinks it’s perfectly fine to kill Palestinian babies because their grandparents survived the Holocaust.”
In the U.S., at the February 11 Los Angeles premiere of Captain America: Brave New World, anti-Israel protestors gathered to decry the inclusion of an Israeli superhero in the film, Sabra, played by Israeli actress Shira Hass. Despite the fact that Disney softened the character from her comic book roots as a Mossad agent, protestors still accused Disney of genocide and declared “Sabra has got to go.” The following day, the UCLA chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine was suspended for demonstrating outside a UC regent’s home and vandalizing it with paintings of red handprints, a symbol widely seen as a nod to the slaughter of Jews.
Sadly, none of this is new. Adam Milstein, a Los Angeles-based venture philanthropist who has been active in the Jewish nonprofit space for over 25 years, writes tirelessly about the antisemitic nature of so-called pro-Palestinian protests. He has continuously sounded the alarm on the dangers of the Islamo-leftist alliance, an alliance between Islamist extremists and Western progressives that seeks to denigrate and delegitimize the Jewish state, relying on well-worn but always threatening antisemitic tropes.
Milstein’s background in Jewish philanthropy, and his upbringing in Israel, give him a clear picture of the sticky cultural landscape Jews around the world find themselves in. He is the co-founder of the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation, which since 2000 has supported a network of organizations dedicated to strengthening American values, supporting the U.S.-Israel alliance and combating hatred and bigotry in all forms. He is also a founding member of the Israel American Council, which since 2007 has fostered an engaged and dedicated Israeli-American community. Milstein now serves as board member and Chair Emeritus.
In an article for The Jerusalem Post in June 2024, Milstein unpacked the antisemitism at the heart of many of the anti-Israel rallies that have occurred since Hamas’ brutal terrorist attack against Israel on October 7. More than six months later, his analysis still rings true. He notes that while these protests claim they are merely pro-Palestinian, they are often “drenched in antisemitic rhetoric, anti-Jewish venom, or stereotypical tropes.” The phrase “from the river to the sea” is ubiquitous at these demonstrations, and while some argue it is merely a phrase in support of Palestinian self-determination, it is, like the red handprints, widely regarded to mean “the complete annihilation of the Jewish state,” says Milstein.
On February 15, a rabid anti-Israel protest was held in London, one of its biggest since October 7, according to organizers of Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Proving Milstein’s point, chants of “Zionist pig” were hurled at counter-protestors, members of the organization Stop the Hate. Also heard was “Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews, the army of Muhammed will return,” yet another phrase that references a historical mass execution of Jews and thus represents a clear threat. One man made a Nazi salute before being arrested by police, but others engaged in similar Nazi slurs.
The London protest is the perfect example of what Milstein explores in his article. The use of a Nazi salute and the reference to the Khaybar massacre encapsulate how “[a]nti-Israel activists regularly and shamefully use Jewish historical trauma
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The London protest is the perfect example of what Milstein explores in his article. The use of a Nazi salute and the reference to the Khaybar massacre encapsulate how “[a]nti-Israel activists regularly and shamefully use Jewish historical trauma to their advantage.” The Holocaust is a frequent tool employed by these protestors. “Antisemitic activists use the memory of the Holocaust for the purpose of painting its victim, the Jewish people, as the ‘new’ oppressor in the form of Israel,” often calling Zionists the new Nazis.
The accusation of genocide is also highly fashionable amongst the anti-Israel activist class. After her daughter, a Columbia student, was arrested at the university’s illegal anti-Israel encampment, Representative Ilhan Omar stated “we should not have to tolerate antisemitism or bigotry for all Jewish students, whether they’re pro-genocide or anti-genocide.” An exceedingly underhanded comment, her assumption that some Jewish students are “pro-genocide” obfuscates any message of tolerance she intended. “Obfuscating and appropriating Jewish history is a tactic that comes directly from the playbook of terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah,” Milstein says.
Like Omar, “[a]ntisemitic protestors choose their words strategically.” Chanting “from the river to the sea” gives protestors much more cover than simply chanting “destroy Israel,” which is, Milstein argues, what they really mean. “They all use different words and creative framing, but the end goal is clear — to isolate and eradicate the Jewish State, as well as the Jewish people worldwide.” At the end of his article, Milstein quotes George Orwell:
The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns, as it were, instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink.To Milstein, the insincerity and bad faith in which many of anti-Israel protestors operate reveals their true purpose — to terrorize Jews everywhere. His extensive advocacy work through various platforms demonstrates his commitment to combating this insidious form of hatred that threatens not just Jewish communities but democratic values worldwide.
