The Hate Goes On...As Does Jewish Strength
The Hate Goes On...As Does Jewish Strength
"Minutes after the Amsterdam program, two Hercules transport flights left Tel Aviv on a rescue mission to Europe filled with elite IDF rescue teams. Jews were beaten; the State of Israel responded."
By Eli Albrecht
Guest Commentary
My grandmother lived through Kristallnacht in Germany in 1938. Pictures from then look like the pogrom that just happened in Amsterdam.
It is not just Amsterdam. Not one day passed this past week without a Jew being attacked in the street.
Monday, a Jew in Chicago was shot walking to synagogue.
Tuesday, Jewish stores in Los Angeles were vandalized.
Wednesday, a 13-year-old in Crown Heights was slapped in the face.
Thursday, Jews were beaten unconscious, thrown in a river, and run down by cars in Amsterdam.
This was an average week for the Jew in 2024.
Last week, like each week over the last year, I received messages from college students accosted and attacked for being Jewish. Jewish students are taking classes with professors who openly praise terrorism and encourage attacks on Jews. They use back entrances to attend their college courses.
In Amsterdam, the government advised Jews to hide any outward sign they are Jewish.
College students in the U.S. have been doing this for years.
How is it that every day there is an attack on Jews in developed countries?
Jewish hate on college campuses and in the streets of major cities was allowed to flourish. Some politicians encouraged it and aligned themselves with those who advocate the destruction of the Jewish people. In the 11 months after October 7, 2023, there were over 10,000 attacks on Jews — 30 attacks per day.
This week, like other weeks, I will read my children the Torah portion. This week, God says to Abraham: “Know that your offspring shall be strangers in a land not theirs, they shall be enslaved and oppressed.”
Then, God swears to Abraham: “God made a covenant with Abram: To your offspring I assign this land, from the river of Egypt to the great Euphrates river.”
And that is exactly what is different now than in 1938.
Minutes after the pogrom in Amsterdam, two Hercules transport flights took off from Tel Aviv on a rescue mission to Europe filled with elite IDF rescue teams. Jews were beaten on the streets; the State of Israel responded.
The next day, others took action. People like billionaire Bill Ackman, who announced that he is seeking to withdraw his holdings from Amsterdam’s Euronext exchange.
When my grandmother talked about Kristallnacht or the Night of the Long Knives, I remember thinking how the Jews of Europe had no one to turn to. No one came to save them.
This past year, each time I expected a government to stand up and protect Jews on college campuses, on the streets of New York, and walking to synagogue — those governments were silent or issued half-hearted responses. People like Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) advised Columbia University to ignore Jew hate and the Democrats’ presidential candidate praised Pro-Palestinian campus rioters. Jew hatred has been tolerated.
God told Abraham that Jews would be strangers in a foreign land, but God also promised that one day we will have Hercules transport planes at the ready to save those same Jews.
ELI ALBRECHT is a Partner at Albrecht Law, Mergers & Acquisitions, based in Washington, D.C.
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