This article was originally published in the Jerusalem Post on April 21st, 2024, written by Adam Milstein

“Black lives matter” represent a stance against Black intolerance. Following the October 7th massacre of more than 1,200 Israelis, injuring 7,000 more, the Jewish community asks: condemn antisemitism

In 2020, Americans took the streets to protest the death of George Floyd. The phrase “Black lives matter” was born. This chant and slogan is now recognized throughout the world to represent a stance against Black intolerance. When some tried to counter it with “all lives matter” they were perceived as dismissive of the unique struggles of the Black community. One of the better arguments is that universalizing a concept when a specific group of people are harmed, is tantamount to an empty platitude or an even a bigoted retort.

Following October 7^th Hamas massacre of more than 1,200 Israelis, injuring 7,000 more, the Jewish community is asking the same: condemn antisemitism. Condemn it without caveat and without universal language of “standing against all forms of hate”. Yet, time and time again, “Islamophobia” is evoked as a counterpart of antisemitism. This is misguided. It’s unproductive. And it’s unfair.

Let me be clear.

Bigotry, prejudice, and violence must be called out and combatted forcefully – whether it is directed at Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, or anyone else. Anyone who traffics in hatred must be condemned, and when necessary, prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

That said, by definition, antisemitism and Islamophobia refer to two very different phenomena that have no connections to one another. When lumped together, the message is muddled at best and offensive at worst.

1. The term Islamophobia does not mean hate against Muslims

First, it’s important to define that despite common misconception, the term Islamophobia doesn’t represent hate against Muslims but rather irrational fear of Muslims. ‘Islamophobia’ as a term has existed since the nineteenth century, but became prominent in 1989 when Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against Salman Rushdie following his publication of The Satanic Verses. The fatwa not only imposed a death penalty on Rushdie, but also criminalized all the publishers and translators of the book. When Rushdie was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2007 for his services to literature, Iran accused Britain of “Islamophobia”.

Since then, the Islamophobic label has been used increasingly to deter and ultimately criminalize any scrutiny of the behavior any groups or individuals who happen to be Muslim, even when those are committing atrocities like Hamas, or advancing radical or harmful ideas, like Iran’s Mullahs.

Hatred toward Muslim is real, but it doesn’t equal Islamophobia. The Australian man, who killed 51 Muslims in 2019 in Christchurch, New Zealand was an extremist bigot who hated Muslims. He did not irrationally fear them.

Thus, the better term to use is Muslim-hate and not Islamophobia.

2. Muslims are often the perpetrators of Antisemitism

Second, the threat to the Muslim community has one clear culprit – far right white supremacism. While these same supremacists often include antisemitism in their ideology, Jews also face threats from every ideological and political direction, including Muslims who harbor antisemitic views more than any other religious community. Therefore, the treatment of hate against Muslims is not and cannot be similar to the treatment of antisemitism.

Since October 7^th, anti-Israel and antisemitic rallies led by Muslims have been held around the world. Calls to kill Jews and eliminate the Jewish state spread widely across the Muslim world. Many featured explicit support for Hamas’ atrocious actions. Pro-Hamas imagery was displayed in Tunisia and antisemitic chants rained from Cairo to Italy. These demonstrations are no surprise, given that:

• Muslims are more likely to hold antisemitic views than any other religion.
• Over 90% of the citizens in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon have “unfavorable” views of Jews
• Over 70% of the citizens in Turkey have “unfavorable” views of Jews
• Almost half of British Muslims sympathize with Hamas
• And Nigeria, while 28% of Christians have an unfavorable view of Jews, 60% of Muslims view Jews unfavorably

The simple truth is, many Muslims hold bigoted views towards Jews. Stating this truth is not Islamophobic nor rooted in Muslim hate. Ignoring this truth appeases antisemites.

Therefore, lumping antisemitism and Islamophobia together creates a bizarre and ironic situation where the victims and perpetrators are treated the same and looked at from the same lens.

3. Islamophobia is used as a weapon against those who call out antisemitism

Third, accusations of Islamophobia are often used by extremists to whitewash, obfuscate, and distract from dangerous and growing radical movements in the Muslim world.

Following the Charlie Hebdo attacks in 2015, the prime minister of France, Manuel Valls, refused to use the term ‘Islamophobia’ to describe the phenomenon of anti-Muslim prejudice, because, he said, the accusation of Islamophobia is often used as a weapon by apologists for radical Islamists to silence critics.

Few stand up publicly today against radical Islam and those who do risk being silenced under the label of Islamophobes. The sword of Islamophobia is wielded to deliberately chill discourse and narrow the public marketplace of ideas.

We cannot let accusations of Islamophobia silence us when we confront and defend ourselves against the radical ideologies that exist in the Muslim communities and are now growing in Europe and America. Ideologies that undermine our values and seek to target the Jewish people in Israel and worldwide.

The Muslim Brotherhood, its Palestinian wing—Hamas, and its American wing— CAIR, are designated as terrorist organizations by many countries around the world. Confronting CAIR, whose director said he was “happy to see” Palestinians break out of Gaza on October 7^th, is not Islamophobic. Luckily, the White House now agrees.

Confronting Mehdi Hasan, the former MSNBC and Al Jazeera journalist, who pushes conspiracy theories about Israel and defended Rep, Ilhan Omar’s antisemitic comments, is not Islamophobic.

Confronting Rep. Tlaib, who called the 10/7 attack as “resistance”, lies about Israel regularly, and invokes “from the river to the sea”, is not Islamophobic.

And most importantly, calling out the heinous crimes committed by Hamas against Jews is not Islamophobic. As a matter of fact, standing against Hamas – an organization with complete disregard to Christian, Jewish and Muslim lives and freedoms – is neither Islamophobic nor Muslim hate.

These individuals and organizations deserve to be publicly criticized and discredited not because they are Muslim, but because they are guilty of antisemitism and hate.

In the wake of October 7^th, it’s time for our leaders and community to recognize that antisemitism and Islamophobia don’t go hand in hand, have nothing in common, and lumping them together leads to more divisiveness and misunderstanding of both communities.

I stand in solidarity with everyone who faces prejudice and discrimination because of their ethnicity or beliefs. Any decent person ought to. That’s why I will continue speaking out against radical Islam and other extremist movements. That’s why I will not stay silent in the face of phony accusations of Islamophobia.

This article was originally published in the Jerusalem Post on February 18th, 2024, written by Adam Milstein

Since the Soviet Union, the Arab League boycott, and the Iranian Revolution, antisemites have tried to hide their anti-Jewish bigotry behind politically acceptable “anti-Zionism.”

Get two Jews in a room, get three opinions. True of most things, but one thing most Jews agree on is that Israel is the indigenous homeland of the Jewish people and that their connection to it is a core tenet of their Jewish identity. Despite this majoritarian view, there is a loud minority of radical anti-Israel Jewish voices. Although unrepresentative of the broad Jewish community, our detractors and the media weaponize them, turning them into “token Jews” used to attack Israel and sow division within the Jewish community. It’s time we ridicule them.

From the Soviet Union to the Arab League Boycott, from the Iranian Revolution to October 7th and anti-Israel protests today, antisemites attempt to hide their anti-Jewish bigotry behind politically acceptable “anti-Zionism”. Jews who support this charade willingly provide political cover for this generation’s loudest and proudest antisemites.

The normalization of anti-Zionist Jews in public life has three glaring issues:

1. Israel-hatred doesn’t exempt you from the Jewish collective future

Jewish life in the diaspora is directly dependent on the continued survival and flourishing of the Jewish state. Groups like Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), and If Not Now (INN), deploy and weaponize their Jewish identity in their anti-Israel activism. The effect? The re-assurance of non-Jewish groups that anyone can target Israel without fear of alienating the “Jewish community”. JVP and INN are a collection of radical left, mostly Jewish ideologues who use their ancestry to leverage attacks against Israel. They cite Jewish ritual, reference texts, and use our people’s language to validate their radical attacks against the homeland of the Jewish people, the state of Israel.

What they fail to realize is that their misplaced activism allows virulent antisemites to turn them into useful idiots. They’re ephemeral political fronts weaponized by antisemites until they no longer serve their purpose. Antisemites hate all Jews – “good Jews” or “bad Jews”, those from the right and from the left alike. So, if Israel ceases to exist, as JVP and INN desire, where will these Jews turn when antisemites inevitably turn on them? By normalizing and validating the progressive movement’s exclusion of Zionist Jews (most Jews) they are essentially digging their own graves.

JVP and INN should forever be contextualized properly and referred to for what they are – useful jesters for Jew haters around the globe. And once contextualized, they should be ridculed.

2. Institutions empowering “token” Jews endanger all Jews 

Radical leftist orthodoxy continues to permeate American institutional life. This ideological capture is perhaps most obvious throughout American universities. Since October 7th, university leadership keen to balance the appearance of caring about antisemitism while maintaining their progressive bona fides,  use token Jews as proof that their progressive agendas are not antisemitic. For example, recently, Stanford named Ari Kelman, a Jewish professor aligned with anti-Israel groups, and who concluded antisemitism wasn’t a problem on campuses in 2017 paper, as the Co-Chair of their Committee on Antisemitism.

In an effort to redefine what constitutes antisemitism, Kelman alongside Jewish Voice for Peace, argued that the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism is “flawed and overly expansive” and “silences Palestinian voices.” Deborah Lipstadt, the US Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism called IHRA “one of the most fundamental tools we have to combat [antisemitism].” Stanford selected someone to combat antisemitism whose views are directly at odds with the State Department’s pre-eminent defender of the Jewish people. And after Kelman essentially offered his Judaism as political cover to defend San Francisco State University’s (SFSU) antisemitism, the school admitted to allowing antisemitism on its campus.

More recently, Harvard selected Jewish professor Derek Penslar, a known anti-Israel proponent, to lead an antisemitism task force on campus. In August, Penslar signed an open letter accusing Israel of running “a regime of apartheid” and employing “Jewish supremacism”. And following Claudina Gay’s resignation, Penslar downplayed the antisemitism on campus, telling JTA that outsiders had “exaggerated” the issue. As Larry Summers wrote, “Could one imagine Harvard appointing as head of anti-racism task force someone who had minimized the racism problem,” as Mr. Penslar has done with antisemitism at Harvard.” The double standard glaring.

When selecting leadership and given the centrality of Israel for most Jews, institutions would be wise to listen to the fears and concerns of Zionist Jews. Committees, task forces, and organizations are constantly formed to combat “Muslim, Palestinian, and Arab hate” – lumping in ethnicity, religion and state-based hatred. But Jews aren’t afforded this same protection. Institutions who solely elevate Jews with anti-Israel views perpetuate this double standard.

3. Anti-Israel views are not pro-peace. They’re anti-Jewish future.

Since 10/7 it’s hard to find a “pro-Palestinian” rally that isn’t drenched in antisemitic rhetoric, anti-Jewish venom, or stereotypical tropes. Anti-Israel Jews, aligned with radical leftist ideology, have taken part in many of these rallies. They have joined the growing numbers who view the world through over-simplified binaries and hypothetical pyramids of power and oppression. These activists enthusiastically point to Israel as a unique perpetuator of oppression.

But JVP and INN activists have no interest in peace. One of their allies, Omar Barghouti, the co-founder and co-leader of the BDS movement, explains: “You cannot reconcile the right of return for refugees with a two-state solution. . . A return for refugees would end Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.” And he makes clear that this is precisely his goal. “Most definitely we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine.” And he hails JVP as a “key partner in the BDS network.”

Sunlight is the greatest disinfectant, thus JVP and INN should be exposed as radical, fringe, and anti-peace. They harbor views that not only fail to represent the broad Jewish consensus, but they also directly endanger the Jewish people.

Since 10/7, what many Jews have feared for a long time has been made crystal clear–our place in the world is tenuous, our footing is fragile, and there aren’t many of us. Jews who openly call for the destruction of Israel threaten our future as a people, and we must see them as who they really are –tools that are used by the hands of our enemies.

This op-ed is published in partnership with a coalition of organizations that fight antisemitism across the world. Read the previous article by Roi Yanovsky

This article was originally published in the Jerusalem Post on January 10th, 2024, written by Adam Milstein

All Jews agree on one thing…that all Jews never agree. At any Jewish gathering around the world, you’ll hear heated debates on food, religion, culture, and everything in between. Politics are no different, but the debate is louder.

James Baker once said “F*** the Jews, they don’t vote for us.” While perhaps untrue, Baker’s sentiment reflected a historical American Jewish political truism – the Jewish community votes Democrat. Since the early 1990’s, a growing number of Jews have shifted rightward, but the majority of the Jewish-American community reside in the “liberal” camp.

After the October 7th terrorist attack, prior to Israel’s ground operation in Gaza, the true sentiment of the left towards Jews was exposed. Protests on college campuses, airports, freeways, bridges, outside synagogues, and Holocaust museums forced Jewish Americans to face a stark reality. Leftist and their Muslim allies were exposed not only as anti-Israel but as plainly anti-Jewish groups. Mobilizing under a guise of liberation (“From the River to the Sea”), and civil rights (“justice” in Palestine), one thing became increasingly clear – for a large coalition of leftists and Muslims in America, Jews have no right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland and deserve no safety anywhere.

Liberal Jews’ residence among American leftists is now in peril.

The Shock 

Historically and for good reason, Jews have been fixated on the antisemitism from the far right as our greatest threat. This focus on antisemitism’s political affiliation left us vulnerable. We have virtually ignored the growing warning signs of antisemitism from the Islamo-leftist camp. After all, Jews were an integral part of the left. In the name of Tzedek (Justice), we’ve marched with every marginalized community throughout American history. Yet, on October 7th, 2023, we marched alone. As our women had blood dripping down their legs, women’s rights groups didn’t express any outrage. They stood silent. As our children were identified by their ashes, children’s rights organizations were nowhere to be found. And as our civilians were brutalized, all human, civil, and LGBTQ+ rights didn’t march, didn’t organize, and didn’t protest. On the contrary – they stood with the attackers.

In the wake of October 7th, American Jews were left speechless. The wakeup call has been loud. The Jewish political home, the American left, turns a blind eye to war crimes and to the sexual mutilation of women, children and men when the victims are Jews. It has become evidently clear that in leftist spaces, the American Jew is dehumanized as a mere “oppressor”, an “Occupier”, a “Colonialist”, “White privileged”, and “Apartheid” supporter. Compassion for the deep trauma Jews sustained was nowhere to be found.

One must wonder, if killing Jews and raping women in Israel is ‘just’ and legitimate under the guise of a victim using ‘resistance by any means necessary’, what prevents our enemies from committing the same crimes in America? And where can liberal Jews find a political home?

The Evolution 

Jewish-Americans, motivated by our people’s values, traditions and history, gravitated to the political left in America. With an emphasis on Tikkun Olam, American Jews embraced a critical role in social justice movements throughout history. Our commitment to ‘repair the world’ found common cause with social movements on the left, solidifying the Jewish liberal alignment.

We memorialize female ancestors like Deborah, who personified courage as the “woman of torches”. And we lionize Esther who taught of female strength and resilience and Ruth who embodied integrity and diligence. Guided by these matriarchs, Jews across the nation fought for women’s rights and Jewish women like Betty Friedan and Bella Abzug led the feminist movement.

Our scripture mandates us to advocate for the marginalized – “what is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor” (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 31a). Embedded in Jewish tradition is the notion that all man is “created in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27). Just as Abraham didn’t turn anyone from his tent, Jews fought for the rights of Black Americans. Jews helped establish the NAACP in 1909. And in 1965, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel embodied the Jewish community’s collective support for civil rights as he marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma.

In 1967, Rabbis joined Cesar Chavez and urged Kosher communities to only support union grapes as the non-union grapes were forbidden as Oshek. The Jewish community continued its activism throughout the 2020 marches for Black lives and then again in 2021 to stop Asian hate.

Jewish Americans have served as indispensable allies, leaders, and activists on issues of human dignity, civil rights, and progress throughout American history. This allyship with the left was presumed to be reciprocal. October 7th changed everything.

The Reality Check

In recent years, Critical Race Theory (CRT), Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) ideology and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement carved out large pieces within the left’s agenda. Many liberal Jews have supported these developments believing that they’re the next phase of a long tradition of liberal activism. They were mistaken, no allyship with CRT, DEI, and BLM will protect them. Jews who tirelessly fight for acceptance and admittance in the intersectionality coalition will remain disappointed. We are not welcome.

Enamored with the seemingly laudable goals of DEI: to promote the representation, participation, and fair treatment of historically marginalized groups, liberal Jews ignored DEI promoters, and CRT advocates, as they advanced a radical agenda to fundamentally undermine American values. For years they have been promoting equality of outcome over equality of opportunity, collective identity (race, gender, etc.) over individual character, censorship of opposing viewpoints over freedom of speech, and a “victimhood Olympics” culture that crudely bifurcates society into oppressors and oppressed.

Liberal Jews failed to recognize how CRT and DEI initiatives, and intersectional theory would be weaponized against them. And today, we see how Jewish students are maliciously portrayed as wanton oppressors and colonialist abettors. American universities who fully adopted these doctrines are now hotbeds of antisemitism due to embedded leftist orthodoxy.

The Next Steps

So, where do liberal Jews go from here?

The “October 8th Jew” as Bret Stephens coined it, recognizes their home as a centrist. The October 8th Jew knows that the extreme left, like the extreme right before it, is no political home. The October 8th Jew is united in the mission to fight enemies of America, who always come first for the Jews. “Never again” must be backed by action and Jewish unity.

First, no more blind voting for Democrats or Republican for the sake of historical precedent. All Jews, including liberal Jews, must adopt a litmus test for candidates and support only those determined to fight antisemitism and support the U.S.-Israel alliance.

Second, pull support from organizations and academic institutions that promote the erasure of Jewish suffering and tacitly endorse Jew-hatred.

And finally, unite and support American organizations that protect and promote equality and inclusion rather than division and an ideology that aims to destroy Jewish life and American values.

Adam Milstein is an Israeli-American “Venture Philanthropist.” He can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter @AdamMilstein, and on Facebook www.facebook.com/AdamMilsteinCP.

This op-ed is published in partnership with a coalition of organizations that fight antisemitism across the world. 

This article was originally published in the Jerusalem Post on December 2nd, 2023, written by Adam Milstein

On October 7, Hamas attacked Israel, massacring 1,200 Israeli civilians in cold blood, and wounding thousands, including women, children, and the elderly. 240 people – including infants and Holocaust survivors – were kidnapped and taken to Gaza.

What was the response from the world?

Jewish institutions have been vandalized. Jews have been murdered on the street and attacked in their homes. Crowds have called for the annihilation of the Jewish state and to clean the world of Jews on college campuses.  Celebrities and influencers have openly supported Hamas. The horrific list of unimaginable reactions goes on and on.

Is this just about the Jews?

Jews are history’s “canary in the coal mine.” Where Jews have faced persecution and expulsion, it is usually a sign that darker forces are taking hold that will degrade, diminish, and often, destroy the broader society.

While classical antisemitism drove the persecution and murder of Jews for centuries, the largest force behind the recent wave of hatred stems from the “red-green alliance” – an unholy coalition between Islamists and radical leftists.

Although Jews are a major target of these Islamo-Leftist groups, their ultimate target has always been America and Western civilization. The wave of antisemitism flooding America since October 7 is a stark reminder that Antisemitism is first and utmost an American problem, it’s a danger to America – and the core values that have been the bedrock of this country’s rise.

It’s not a coincidence that every “pro-Hamas” march and rally – disguised as “Pro-Palestinian” – is drenched not only in antisemitic imagery and rhetoric, but also in anti-American vitriol. American flags are burnt alongside Israeli flags. Calls for the destruction of Israel are followed by Anti-American chants. When Israel and the Jewish community are assaulted, American civil liberties and values like freedom of speech and freedom of religion are also being attacked.

For the first time in a long time, the Jewish community is waking up to recognize what I’ve long warned. Our community is not safe even in America. My experience in the Yom Kippur War, fighting for Israel’s existence, cemented my belief that for the Jewish people to survive, we’d have to take our fate into our own hands. The world will not ensure it for us.

But we must also recognize that we can’t do it alone.

While Israel is waging a war to eliminate Islamist terror groups, we as Americans must stand beside her. Because all of us have a big stake in the outcome of this war between radicalism and the humanistic values that underly the best of our society.

We must do several things.

First, we must inform the American people about the nature of this threats and empower all of us to act.We must expose the Islamo-Leftist radical movements that fuel the spread of this hatred against Jews and America. This means supporting research and organizations that identify these networks and uncover the money trails exposing their ideology, agendas, and Modus operandi.

This research will wake up Americans to the danger of these radical movements and encourage them to stand up and fight back.

Second, we must stop the indoctrination of our next generation.

College campuses in America, once bastions of intellectualism, education, tolerance, and Jewish upward-mobility, are sadly now ground zero for American and Jewish hatred. Hiding behind concepts, often funded by foreign nations, like “CRT,” “Intersectionality,” “DEI,” and other progressive doctrines, K-12 schools and universities have been co-opted, infected, and poisoned by radical activists that paint Israel and America as “colonialists” and “racist” and the Jewish and American people as “oppressors.”

In response, parents must inform and prepare their children for the propaganda they’ll face. They need to learn the true history of America and the Jewish people, the importance of the Israel-US alliance. And they need to do so in an unbiased environment.

In addition, fostering a strong sense of Jewish identity in Jewish children is an investment in their connection to their roots, a commitment to the principles of justice, and a dedication to securing the Jewish people and States future.

Third, we must get serious about the information war.

There is a well-funded, organized campaign being waged on digital platforms across the globe. Bot armies, cyber-attacks, and fake avatars are driven by one mission – to obfuscate the truth, bend public opinion against America and Israel and stir animosity against Christians and Jews. In addition, TikTok and other social media platforms where teens spend hours every day are infested with hate and anti-Jewish propaganda.

It’s imperative that philanthropists’, foundations’, and individuals’ work not only focuses on exposing these tactics, but on combatting them on the digital battlefield. We must use social networks the same way our enemies do. And we must invest in organizations that hold the media accountable to the standards of a fair and free press.

Our numbers are small, and our enemies are many. To be successful, the organizations on the front lines must work together and create synergies to create a force multiplier effect of their efforts.

Fourth, we must support policymakers to take action and pass legislation that curbs the influence of hate movements in our institutions – from K-12 institutions to colleges to workplaces to the government. Finally, we must stop apologizing.

Immediately after October 7, much of the world demonstrated their support for Israel. We knew this sentiment wouldn’t last, and it hasn’t. As the war continues, and by all accounts, it will continue for a long time, Jews must remain steadfast, resilient, and collectively embody the mindset of stubborn sabras.

Regardless of the measures Israel takes to make peace, independent of their herculean efforts to avoid civilian casualties, and to abide by international law (even though its enemies never do), it will never be enough. We must accept the fact that the world will never tolerate a Jewish state that defends itself.  We must stop equivocating. Stop justifying. And stop explaining. To ensure the future of Jews in Israel and the Diaspora, and that of all Americans who care about our core values, all of us need to stand strong and united.

The road ahead for the people Israel will not be smooth, but it never has been. Since October 7, behind the horror, the tears, the fear, and the anger, there’s a clarity of conscience. Our enemies have never been more exposed, their intentions for our destruction have never been more obvious, and our collective determination for survival has never been more resolute. If we remain steadfast and strategic, we will win.

Adam Milstein is an Israeli-American “Venture Philanthropist.” He can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter, and on Facebook. 

This op-ed is published in partnership with a coalition of organizations that fight antisemitism across the world. 

This article was originally published in the Daily Caller on September 11th, 2023, written by Adam Milstein.

Many in the Jewish American community have their fair share of disagreements with the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) approach to fighting antisemitism. As others have pointed out, the legacy Jewish organization, which was established in 1913 to combat antisemitism, has become increasingly partisan over the last decade, hurting its ability to confront Jew-hate as effectively as it once did.

However, this past couple of weeks, the ADL has become the target of a vicious campaign of blatant antisemitism. And that is a problem. Following X (formerly Twitter) CEO Elon Musk’s allegation that the ADL is responsible for the bulk of the platform’s loss in advertiser revenue, the ADL is being strategically targeted by antisemites around the world.

Any frequent user of Twitter (and now X) has undoubtedly encountered the hashtag, #BanTheADL. Initially popularized by far-right figures, the hashtag’s prominence recently skyrocketed after Musk engaged with posts containing it.

But the hashtag, posted over 400,000 times between August 31 – September 6, isn’t just an attack on the ADL; it’s an attack on all Jews.

A quick glance at its usage reveals it to be nothing more than a thinly veiled assault on Jews, invoking virtually every single age-old antisemitic trope, canard, and outright lie to portray Jews as shadowy puppeteers manipulating global events, child molesters, Christ-killers, fake Jews, and racial supremacists. (RELATED: SHOSHANA BRYEN: Here’s What Really Lies Behind The Biden Admin’s Icy Israel Relationship)

For instance, one post alleges the ADL was “Birthed to defend a murdering child rapist, financed by mass murdering terrorists and organized crime, narcotic peddling, gun running, psychopaths.” Another post featuring the hashtag claims that “Zionism is the default ideology of the ruling class. It is a violent ethno-supremacist ideology.”

These narratives aren’t new, but their widespread acceptance today is alarming.

Whether Musk’s allegations against the ADL are true or not, one thing is crystal clear: antisemites are capitalizing on this quarrel to unabashedly spew hatred toward Jews. And Elon Musk, with his vast influence and 156,000,000 followers on X, has inadvertently given a platform to these poisonous voices, amplifying their incitement and reach.

Yet, while the far-right’s antisemitic agenda is evident, it’s essential to recognize that they aren’t the only culprits capitalizing on the Musk/ADL feud. In attempts to delegitimize Israel and the Jewish right to self-determination, far-left and Islamist activists have long targeted the ADL using the hashtag #DropTheADL.

This #DropTheADL Islamo-leftist campaign, which garnered a measly 1,600 posts and 17,000,000 potential views in the past year, seeks to demonize pro-Israel Jews by blaming the ADL for, among other evils, police brutality against the Black community and general oppression of minorities.

When the #BanTheADL hashtag gained traction in the past weeks, far-left and Islamist activists saw an opportunity to revitalize their dwindling antisemitic campaign. For example, on September 4th, notorious British academic and commentator for Iranian state-owned TV, David Miller, posted that the ADL is a “spy agency” targeting Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian activism since before Israel’s establishment. Another post claimed that “the FBI [is] being trained to represent the interests of Israel instead of the United States.”

As evidence that anti-Israel activists are trying to exploit the Musk/ADL controversy, a social media analysis shows that over 15,000 posts with the right-wing #BanTheADL hashtag also reference Palestinians, Zionism, and Israel – topics usually addressed by Islamo-leftist antisemitism, the promotors of the new “acceptable” form of 21st-century antisemitism. These posts have amassed over 800,000,000 potential views in just 6 days.

This highlights the widespread nature of antisemitism. And it clearly demonstrates how far-left, Islamists, and far-right ideologies unite in their hatred against the Jewish community. The horseshoe theory has never been clearer.

Many may not always agree with the ADL’s approach, but all Jews should realize that the motives behind the #BanTheADL and #DropTheADL hashtags are merely using the legacy Jewish organization as a proxy for attacking the Jewish people. As countless grassroots organizations combatting antisemitism have repeatedly underscored, antisemites, regardless of their political alignment, will exploit any chance to target Jews, masking their motives behind seemingly valid criticisms. (RELATED: JACOB OLIDORT: Here’s What The Left Gets Wrong About Benjamin Netanyahu’s Vision For Israel)

We must unite as a community and encourage Musk to recognize this unfortunate truth.

While Musk’s relationship with the ADL may be strained beyond repair, there are many other organizations combating antisemitism that can provide him with insights into the deep-rooted and multifaceted nature of this age-old prejudice. By engaging with various voices, Musk can gain a deeper understanding of the various manifestations of antisemitism and the importance of addressing it responsibly.

As we navigate these troubling times, it’s essential to be able to differentiate between legitimate criticism and veiled hatred, whether against a Jewish organization or the Jewish state, to ensure that the Jewish people remain safe and resilient in the face of this ever-growing threat.

Adam Milstein is an Israeli-American “Venture Philanthropist.” He can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter, and on Facebook