There is no place for anti-Semitism or anti-Muslim hate when it comes to Middle East conflict

We can't lose our humanity

My late Palestinian father would always tell me: “We can’t bring the Middle East conflict to the United States.” My father--born in a small village known as Battir, Palestine (now the West Bank) and who came to the United States as a refugee in his early 20’s—did not mean ignore the issue. I can assure you that we had endless energetic conversations about the conflict—especially when my Palestinian cousins visited. What he meant was that the violence and anger of that region should not come to our soil.

But heartbreakingly that is what we are seeing play out now after the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas. Since the brutal terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7 that killed approximately 1400 Israelis—including children-- and the Israeli military response that has killed thousands of Palestinians in Gaza—including children-- there has been a startling uptick in anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bigotry.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) recently said it had received nearly 800 complaints of incidents of hate directed against Muslims driven by bias against Palestinians and Arabs since the violence erupted October 7--the highest level since 2015. While the Anti-Defamation League reported a nearly 400 percent spike in US anti-Semitic incidents overall since October 7.

Just a few alarming examples include the defacing of Jewish synagogues with hateful language and threats against Jewish students on college campuses. A particularly jarring incident at Cornell University included threats to “shoot up" and stab Jews on the campus that led to the arrest Tuesday of 21 year-old Cornell University student, Patrick Dai.  

For Arab and Muslim Americans, the backlash is reminiscent of the months after 9/11 where hate and physical attacks directed against our community skyrocketed. In recent weeks, Muslim American college students wearing hijabs have been harassed and Arab Americans have reported increased discrimination.

There have been physical attacks as well such in New York City where two men--who had been waving Israeli flags-- were recently arrested for being part of group that jumped out of their cars screaming anti-Palestinian comments and then assaulting young Arab Americans walking on the sidewalk in Brooklyn.

The most heartbreaking and horrific incident though occurred two weeks ago when 6-year-old Muslim American child Wadea Al-Fayoume was killed by an older white man who had spewed anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hate before stabbing the child to death. As the killer’s wife told the police after the arrest, he "listens to conservative talk radio on a regular basis" and became obsessed with the war between Hamas and Israel.

This should not be the daily life for Muslims, Jews or Arab Americans of any faith. Yet the future is even more worrisome for all three groups given the testimony Tuesday of FBI Director Christopher Wray before the US Senate. The FBI head shared concerns that some will “draw inspiration from the events in the Middle East to carry out attacks against Americans going about their daily lives” that could lead to “domestic violent extremists targeting Jewish or Muslim communities.”

A portion of the hate being directed against these communities—as experts note-are from bigots who will exploit the Middle East conflict to justify anti-Semitism or anti-Muslim hate. In fact, even before the current war began in October, there was already an appalling spike in anti-Semitic incidents in our country. As the Anti-Defamation League reported in March, 2022 saw the highest number of antisemitic incidents in the United States since the organization began keeping track in 1979.

Some of this spike can be tied to the despicable normalizing of anti-Semitism by  the right in American politics. The most visible events include the antisemites at the 2017 Charlottesville’s “Unite the right” rally who chanted “Jews will not replace us,” that led to the infamous comment by Donald Trump that there “very fine people” on both sides of that protest.  And GOP Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar in early 2022 speaking before an organization headed by Holocaust denier, white supremacist  Nick Fuentes who had in the past praised Hitler. (Fuentes would later dine with Trump in November 2022 at Mar-a-Lago along with Trump’s close friend Ye—formerly Kanye West—but Trump would deny knowing who Fuentes was despite the uproar just months before in connection with Greene and Gosar.)

But there is no denying that the current conflict has done exactly what my late father warned against and that is bring the ugliness of the Middle East conflict to US soil. And as the media reports detail, some of that hate is from people who believe they are helping win support for their cause.

To those advocating for Palestinian human rights, it’s not only morally repugnant to traffic in the hatred of Jews, but you are also hurting the very cause you are advocating for by making a human rights campaign appear to be hate-filled. Those supporting Palestinian Christians and Muslims should not conflate the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as being representative of Jews worldwide. I can assure you that is not true—as we see firsthand from Jewish American groups vocally calling for a ceasefire in the Middle East and who have long championed Palestinian human rights.

There are, however, some who appear to equate any criticism of Israeli policy as somehow being anti-Semitic. Those people are simply trying to silence debate—that must be rejected. We are all adults. We know the difference between criticizing the policies of the Netanyahu administration versus anti-Jewish hate.  In a time when Jewish Americans are facing real threats, diluting the meaning of the term anti-Semitism is dangerous.

To those who seek to defend Israel by spewing hate of Muslims and Arabs, you too are undermining your own cause.  For example, GOP Rep Brian Mast’s despicable comment on the House floor Wednesday saying “innocent Palestinian civilians” is like saying “innocent Nazi Civilians,” rightfully sparked a backlash and erased whatever message he was trying to make about the need to defend Israel.

Each of us can play a role in combatting hate. Call it out when see it on social media or hear it from people you work with or socialize with. 

It is vital that we don’t lose our humanity. A Palestinian child being killed is just as wrong and painful as when an Israeli child is killed.  That, too, is a lesson from my late Palestinian father. And by following that message the hope is we can prevent any more of the ugliness and violence of the Middle East conflict from coming to our nation.

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