--- title: Why Can't More Americans Condemn Antisemitism? description: After the Oc. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the world has seen a dramatic increase in antisemitism. Why are people so quiet about it? canonical: https://time.com/6334279/rising-antisemitism-october-7-attack-essay/ author: Jonathan A. Greenblatt article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-11-13T12:10:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:50:46.152Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Why Can't More Americans Condemn Antisemitism? og:description: After the Oc. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the world has seen a dramatic increase in antisemitism. Why are people so quiet about it? og:url: https://time.com/6334279/rising-antisemitism-october-7-attack-essay/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6dcd7a11800d427c/698a4230b3fce305760caff6/GettyImages-1756675313.jpg?branch=production&width=1022&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1022 og:image:height: 575 og:image:alt: Columbia University Jewish Students og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Can't More Americans Condemn Antisemitism? twitter:description: After the Oc. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the world has seen a dramatic increase in antisemitism. Why are people so quiet about it? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6dcd7a11800d427c/698a4230b3fce305760caff6/GettyImages-1756675313.jpg?branch=production&width=1022&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # When Jews are Threatened, Why Can't Americans Condemn Antisemitism? > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=b8277e90-81ec-42b5-b6ca-b734deab684f&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Columbia University President Grilled in House Antisemitism Hearing [Watch (HLS stream): Columbia University President Grilled in House Antisemitism Hearing](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/oN97522B.m3u8) (3:11)  _Published 2024-04-17. The President of Columbia University took a stand against antisemitism Wednesday as she parried accusations from Republicans who see the New York campus as a hotbed of bias._ by [Jonathan A. Greenblatt](https://time.com/author/jonathan-a-greenblatt/) ## Jonathan A. Greenblatt Nov 13, 2023 12:10 PM UTC  (L-R) Eli Shmidman, Noa Fay , Yoni Kurtz and Jessica Brenner, Jewish students currently enrolled at Columbia University are pictured during press conference at the University Campus on October 30, 2023 to shed light on Columbia University failure to acknowledge and protect the Jewish students from acts of antisemitism. Accordingly to the students since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, Jewish students at Columbia have been subjected to dozens of anti-Semitic incidents on campus, including violence. (L-R) Eli Shmidman, Noa Fay , Yoni Kurtz and Jessica Brenner, Jewish students currently enrolled at Columbia University are pictured during press conference at the University Campus on October 30, 2023 to shed light on Columbia University failure to acknowledge and protect the Jewish students from acts of antisemitism. Accordingly to the students since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, Jewish students at Columbia have been subjected to dozens of anti-Semitic incidents on campus, including violence. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News- Getty Images by [Jonathan A. Greenblatt](https://time.com/author/jonathan-a-greenblatt/) ## Jonathan A. Greenblatt Nov 13, 2023 12:10 PM UTC My grandfather was from Germany, and he often shared stories with me about his beautiful town, Magdeburg, and what a tolerant place Germany was for Jews and its citizens—until one day it wasn’t. My wife and her family are from Iran, and she often says how Iran was a wonderful place for Jews—until one day it wasn’t. I don’t want to tell my future grandchildren that America was a flourishing home for Jews until one day—October 7, 2023—it wasn’t. After deep hate-fueled tragedies in recent years, like the murder of George Floyd, the Pulse nightclub massacre, the assault of Asian-Americans on our city streets, and the call for a Muslim ban, there was collective outrage. People from all walks of life locked arms and made it known that this extremism won’t be tolerated. In contrast, in the days following the[ brutal massacre](https://time.com/6321849/israel-attack/) of more than 1,200 men, women, and children in Israel, the worst violence committed against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, there was a noticeable silence. And now, we have an emboldened “movement” of people taking to the streets and [campuses](https://time.com/6333456/jewish-students-college-antisemitism-essay/) from coast to coast cheering on the Hamas terrorists, calling for the elimination of the Jewish state, and expressing outrage that Israel should want to do what the U.S., France, Britain, and other countries did when faced with a terrorist organization dedicated to killing its people—that is, eliminate the threat. We are experiencing a moral failure of our supposed friends and our so-called leaders. With some notable and appreciated exceptions, overall, standing up against hate is not as clear cut when it’s targeting Jews. What is driving this is nothing but old-fashioned antisemitism. Fueling it is a moral relativism that has seized much of our media, captured our universities, and overtaken so many pillars of our society. Even our most prestigious institutions seem incapable of calling out antisemitism with the same clarity and conviction that they bring to nearly every other social issue, conceivable grievance, and perceived microaggression. Or if they do condemn specific antisemitic acts, they often feel the need to add in a list of other forms of bigotry that they condemn at the same time. For example, the Stanford University President’s initial [statement ](https://news.stanford.edu/report/2023/10/09/president-saller-provost-martinez-middle-east-conflict/)on Israel, which didn’t even mention terrorism and his follow-up [statement](https://news.stanford.edu/report/2023/10/11/update-stanford-community/) which barely called out the growing antisemitism on the campus. By doing so, it reveals they don’t believe antisemitism is valid enough to condemn on its own. It sends the message, in the words of the British comedian and commentator David Baddiel, that “Jews don’t count.” Or take the glee in which people seem to have as they tear down [the ‘KIDNAPPED’ posters](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/31/nyregion/israel-gaza-kidnapped-poster-fight.html) publicizing those who have been abducted by Hamas. It shows how far people have fallen in their dehumanization of Jews—from grandmothers to babies—they don’t see them as victims of a horrific war crime. **_Read More:_** [**_It's Not Easy Being Jewish on American Campuses Today_**](https://time.com/6333456/jewish-students-college-antisemitism-essay/) Today, too many see it as trendy to root against the Jewish state and stand with the terrorist group Hamas. Too many believe this is the cause du jour and are happily hopping on board, chanting [slogans](https://www.instagram.com/p/Cy%5FUukGr1dU/) that may sound catchy, but are in fact deeply antisemitic. What they don’t appreciate is that their embrace of this rhetoric actually emboldens violent actors. In France, a [Jewish woman was stabbed](https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/2023-11-04/ty-article/french-police-hunt-suspect-in-stabbing-of-jewish-woman/0000018b-9bbd-d8a6-a38b-dfffed3a0000) and a swastika graffitied on her door. In Los Angeles, a [Jewish man was killed at a protest](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-dies-hitting-head-israel-palestinian-rallies-california-officials-rcna123942). In fact, [ADL’s latest data](https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/one-month-following-hamas-massacre-adl-documents-dramatic-surge-antisemitic) tracked a total of 832 antisemitic incidents in the U.S. during the one-month period following the Oct. 7 attack—a more than 315-percent increase in incidents of harassment, vandalism and assaults compared to the year prior, and an average of about 27 incidents _per day_. Globally, incidents of antisemitism are [reaching new levels](https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/global-antisemitic-incidents-wake-hamas-war-israel) with an [increase of 537 percent](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2023/nov/03/record-number-hate-incidents-british-jews-reported-hamas-attacks) in the U.K. and an increase of 961 percent in Brazil. Meanwhile, a [new national survey](https://www.adl.org/resources/report/americans-increasingly-aware-and-concerned-about-antisemitism) found that in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war about 70 percent of Americans view antisemitism as a “growing problem,” a significant increase from 49 percent who felt that way in 2022\. The ADL survey also found that 18 percent of Americans indicated they themselves had witnessed hatred of Jews manifested in their own communities, an increase from 13 percent in 2022. From the halls of high schools to the campuses of our universities, from the streets of Brooklyn to the suburbs of Los Angeles, Jewish Americans feel under threat. It is inexcusable, and it must end. That starts not with a cancel culture, but with a counsel culture. We need to engage and educate those who are naïve or misunderstand what is going on. In fact, this is part of our core mission at ADL to partner with schools, organizations, and communities to deliver anti-bias education. ### More From TIME But for those who glorify Hamas, celebrate the massacre of Jews, and continue to harass and intimidate, or for institutions that turn a blind eye or can’t bring themselves to clearly condemn antisemitism, we need a “consequence culture." We must hold them accountable. We must act because the Jewish experience teaches us that at some point the golden era can end. We don’t have the luxury to assume it’ll all work out. It didn’t work out for my grandfather in Germany, or my father-in-law in Iran. America is different, and we must fight to make sure it continues to be. ## Transcript Do you agree that this is an issue with a lack of enforcement when the policy of Columbia specifically stated on a on April 7th, April 5th said I want to make clear that it is absolutely unacceptable for any member of this community to promote the use of tear or violence and that you have no action no disciplinary action. Do you agree with how the university has handled this we have 4700 faculty of Columbia most of whom spend all of their time dedicated to teaching their students who are supporting and it's not just that case. Let me bring your attention to Muhammad Abdul who was hired after the October 7th terrorist attack against Israel. He on October 11th posted. Yes. I'm with Hamas and Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad. He also decried both reports accusing Arabs and Muslims of decapping to head decapitated heads of children and being rapists. We know Decapitations of babies of innocent Israeli citizens of seniors of women there were raped and yet Columbia hired this individual as a professor thought about hiring process work. Will you wear those statements before the hiring? I share with you your repugnance at those remarks. I completely understand that on my watch faculty who make remarks that crossed the line in terms of anti-Semitism. There will be consequences for the one who have either been taken out of the classroom or dismissed and his he one of those he will he will never work at Columbia again. So he has been terminated he has he has been terminated. He has been. Just terminated but his files will show that he will never work a Colombia again or calls to globalize the intifada acceptable at Columbia. So I should say yes or no answer please. I personally find it unacceptable. Our current rules have not specified that as not acceptable but we have sent a very clear message to our community that that kind of language is unacceptable and we are at in your statement also states that anti-Semitism includes efforts to rationalize or endorse the murder of Jews of the destruction of the state of Israel, and I'd like to submit for the record and article written by Professor Joseph Massad at the rationalizes the murder of Jews and the destruction of the state of Israel. Why is that Professor still teaching at Columbia? As I said, we have mechanisms in place where faculty cross the line we have done we have many cases and when we have any complaints from students saying they feel uncomfortable either. Are you sure he's still on the faculty. Is he still teaching? I'm not I'm not I don't want to miss Peak. 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