DENVER — I feel squishy and weird writing this. But I feel that I have to.
I've been silently sad and angry. I feel lonely. I’m anxious, I’m scared, and I’m not able to fully concentrate on my work and social life.
More than anything, I feel alone as a Jew.
And yeah, I can hear you.
Dude, what are you talking about? That’s all that’s on the news, it seems like everyone’s got your back.
Yeah … sort of.
For 97% of you, this is an unusually horrible thing on the news. And watching body bags stack up in towns, videos of partygoers getting mowed down, photos of blood stains from toddlers, elderly people getting marched off as hostages … it’s horrible. You can only watch so much of it without wanting to throw up. I get it. Trust me.
When you’re talking about a group of 16 million people worldwide (and less than 6 million in the U.S.), we need your explicit, full-throated support. Especially when you consider some of the not-so-fringe garbage that’s making the rounds on the internet.
I can’t help but think that pro-Palestinian marches right now aren’t really about Palestinians having their own state. By the way, most Israelis and Jews in other countries agree that Palestinians should have their own state. These marches strike me as being about hatred for Israel, and anti-Semitism.
There are pro-Palestinian marches around the world either implicating or directly saying that Israel deserved it because of the occupation of the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza. Some of those “protesters” chanted “gas the Jews” at one exceptionally nasty event in Australia. A Scottish soccer team with an Israeli player unveiled a huge pro-Palestinian banner on Saturday.
But it’s not just overseas.
When asked whether he condemned the murder of Israeli women and children here in Colorado, a state representative responded by saying “I already said no.” Legislative leaders issued a fairly strong condemnation but didn’t offer any punishment beyond that.
I can’t help but think that if that state representative said that after 9/11, that he’d be gone.
Or, on the flipside, I also think that if France, the United Kingdom, or anywhere in the Western world experienced a fraction of that Genghis Khan-level of horror that Israel saw on Saturday, you’d have messages of love and support everywhere.
As I write this on Wednesday, none of the local sports teams I root for have posted any messages of support for the victims of the terrorist attack. None of the 10 most-followed individual Instagram accounts in the world have, either.
There are 16 million Jews worldwide, or about 0.2% of the global population. There aren’t many of us, which is the main reason I’m speaking out.
I also want to say that I feel awful for the people in Gaza. There are so many people dying and suffering there that did absolutely nothing wrong. They are absolutely victims.
Lots of you know that I’m the grandson of Holocaust survivors, and as squishy as it feels writing this, I don’t believe that I have a choice. My great-grandparents were killed because they were Jewish, and at least 1,200 people on Saturday were killed for the same reason.
"Corny" public social media posts count exponentially more right now. They matter. Passivity from non-Jews is the way Hamas and hatred win, so I’d ask you to act in your own tiny way.
Reach out to your Jewish friends. Text them. Call them. I’m sure there are others out that are quietly suffering as well.
Love to you all, Chris.
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