To a growing number of anti-Israel activists, every Jewish person represents Israel — making Jews everywhere a convenient target for Israel’s actions in Gaza and beyond. No other nationality, ethnicity, or religion is subjected to this standard. Not Iranian Americans, Russian Americans, nor Chinese Americans. Only Jews.
The pattern is stark, documented, and spreading — from New York City subway cars to European hotel lobbies, from university campuses to the streets of American cities. And it is being met, with growing force, by a coalition of Jews and their allies who refuse to back down.
Everyday Jews Targeted for Simply Being Jewish
On a New York City subway, a 23-year-old Jewish nurse was choked by a stranger screaming antisemitic conspiracy theories linking Jews to violence in Gaza. She had no connection to any war or government. She was attacked for one reason alone: she is Jewish.
When the New York Knicks recently won the NBA championship, a conspiracy theory rapidly spread online claiming the title had been rigged — because the team’s star player, Jalen Brunson, is married to a Jewish woman. A genuine love story between high school sweethearts became twisted into a supposed example of hidden Jewish power and manipulation.
Pop superstar Taylor Swift faced backlash for attending a Knicks game alongside sisters from the American rock band Haim — whose father served as a drummer in an Israeli army band during mandatory military service decades ago. For anti-Israel activists, that was enough.
Hate crime charges filed: Diana Smith, the woman who choked a Jewish woman and ripped hair from her head on the New York City subway, has been arrested and now faces hate-crime charges.
Hotels of Hate: Jews Not Welcome
This hostility is not confined to streets and social media. In California, a hotel employee confronted a Hebrew-speaking couple checking in, demanding: “Are you a baby killer? Are you a Zionist?” He later bragged online that he had “stared into the soul of the devil” and urged others to “GIVE THEM HELL.”
British hotel chain Travelodge was forced to apologize after a clerk refused to look at a visibly Jewish guest and left “Free Palestine” messages in his and his companion’s hotel rooms.
In Germany, a hotel turned away Israeli guests with a single line: “There are no Jews allowed.” Israeli Consul General Talya Lador responded: “Are we back in the 1930s?” Booking.com promptly removed the property from its platform.
In Kyrgyzstan, no clerk was needed — an engraved metal sign at the entrance of one establishment reads: “JEWS AND ANIMALS.”
An Old Hatred in New Clothes
None of this is entirely new. Signs banning “blacks, Jews and dogs” hung across hotels, stores, and country clubs across America only decades ago. For centuries, Jews have been cast as the disloyal outsider — blamed for plagues, financial crises, and wars.
From the medieval Christian blood libel to the forged Russian Protocols of the Elders of Zion — propaganda that continues to circulate widely across parts of the Muslim world today — the accusation has remained consistent: that Jews secretly control world events, that they are collectively guilty, that they must collectively answer.
Holding every Jew responsible for Israel’s alleged actions is textbook antisemitism. The faces and excuses may change over time, but the same hatred always follows.
— Cleveland Jewish News / JNS ReportThe consequences are no longer abstract. Within the past year alone: a firebombing at a pro-Israel march in Boulder, Colorado; the shooting of two Israeli staffers at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.; and a car-ramming attack on a synagogue in Michigan.
Activists Honor the Terrorist Who Killed a Jewish Grandmother
Mohamed Soliman threw firebombs into a peaceful walk for Israeli hostages approximately one year ago, burning more than a dozen people and killing 82-year-old Karen Diamond. On the recent anniversary of the attack, the banned University of Colorado chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) publicly honored him.
SJP statement on convicted murderer: “We stand in solidarity with Mohamed. We condemn the life sentence imposed by Colorado courts. We honor a man who sacrificed his comfort, willingly expending his own liberty in attaining his objective.” Most of Colorado’s political leaders failed to condemn this statement.
SJP is part of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement — a coordinated network that regularly pressures businesses to drop Jewish partners, pushes schools to exclude Jewish students, and treats every Jew as a target. When Google CEO Sundar Pichai delivered a commencement address at Stanford University, SJP led a walkout of more than 100 students — because his company does business in Israel.
SJP was founded by Hatem Bazian, who also launched an organization that U.S. federal courts found was linked to groups that helped fund Hamas — itself a terror organization funded in significant part by Qatar.
Muslims and Allies March — and Push Back
Jewish Americans are not facing this alone, and the pushback is growing and bipartisan. Recently, 50,000 Americans marched through New York City for Israel Day. A record-breaking 60,000 turned out in Toronto — a city with less than half New York’s population — for its annual pro-Israel walk.
Anila Ali, founder of the American Muslim & Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council (AMMWEC), led the first-ever Muslim delegation in the Manhattan march. She marched proudly and declared that “Zionism is in the Quran” — despite threats from a city councilwoman who condemned her to hell. Her act of solidarity exemplifies what principled interfaith defiance looks like in practice.
In the U.S. Senate, Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.) introduced the Jewish American Security Act, which would strengthen civil-rights protections on campus, expand security funding for synagogues and nonprofits, and require social-media companies to confront antisemitism.
In the U.S. House, Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Laura Gillen (D-N.Y.) introduced legislation to force universities to investigate antisemitism complaints — or lose federal funding. The Department of Justice expanded its civil-rights case against Harvard and is pursuing action against the University of California, Los Angeles. Federal prosecutors have indicted eight University of Michigan activists for threatening Jewish students and institutions.
📌 Four Points to Consider
Blaming every Jew for Israel’s actions is antisemitism.
No American Jew determines Israeli policy, yet coordinated activists demand they answer for it — on the subway, at work, and on campuses. Holding an entire people responsible for a foreign government’s decisions is one of the oldest and most dangerous forms of prejudice.
No other group is judged by a foreign government’s actions.
Iranian Americans are not blamed for Tehran’s wars. Russian Americans are not shunned for Ukraine. Chinese Americans are not judged for Beijing’s policies. A standard applied to one group alone is not principle — it is bigotry.
Antisemitism is the world’s oldest hatred — and it always turns deadly.
From the blood libel to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the accusation that Jews are secret villains has ended in violence throughout history. Today it wears a new costume. The distance between a slogan and a gun is short.
The anti-Israel hate movement is well-organized and well-funded.
SJP activists recently celebrated the terrorist who murdered an 82-year-old grandmother in Colorado. This is not a spontaneous grassroots movement — it is a coordinated network with documented ties to organizations linked to Hamas financing. The repeated slogans on campuses and city streets did not rise on their own.
The answer to these attacks, advocates insist, is defiance — not fear. As Jews and their allies continue to march, legislate, and speak out, the message is clear: hatred will not be normalized, and no community will be made to disappear from public life.
RIU Special Report
This is a special report by the Rooted in Unity editorial team. Source: Cleveland Jewish News / JNS. Rooted in Unity is a Houston, Texas–based initiative dedicated to dialogue, civic engagement, and principled advocacy across faith communities.