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Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/01/22/antisemitism-terrorism-violence-jews/
Antisemitism Is Permeating Everyday Life
(Washington Post) Or Moshe - For years, Jews have been warning that the threats we were told belonged to history were not gone, only dormant. Too often, those warnings were dismissed as anxiety or an inability to let go of the past. They were not. What has changed is the intensity of antisemitism, its visibility, and the speed at which it moves from words to violence. What once hid behind anonymity now plays out in public spaces, in democratic societies, in countries that pride themselves on tolerance. Jews are being attacked, targeted, and killed in acts of antisemitic violence around the world. During a Jewish Hanukkah gathering in Australia, armed attackers opened fire in daylight. When Jews can be shot for celebrating a holiday, the meaning is unmistakable. And it is escalating. Since Oct. 7, 2023, what once required masks and anonymity now often requires none. What once drew universal condemnation now frequently draws explanation. The distance between speech and violence has narrowed, and Jews feel it every day. Jewish schools operate behind gates and armed guards as a permanent reality. Jewish pain is qualified, contextualized, explained away. Violence against Jews is treated as a reaction rather than an atrocity. Fear is treated as an exaggeration. Mourning is treated as politics. At what point did being Jewish make grief negotiable? Political disagreement does not justify shooting at Jewish homes, attacking synagogues, or terrorizing Jewish children. Jews around the world do not command Israeli policy, nor do they serve as its proxies. Holding Jews collectively responsible for the actions of a government one disagrees with is not protest. It is antisemitism. Antisemitism today sometimes presents itself as moral clarity. It claims righteousness while denying Jews the right to safety, dignity, and self-defense. The most dangerous part of this moment is how quickly it is normalized. Violence against Jews should not be tolerated under any ideological cover. When Jews are not safe, something fundamental is breaking. The writer is a student at Reichman University in Israel.