By Kevin Henning
For the “Progressive Views” column, Boerne Star, June 22, 2025
We have recently seen two horrendous attacks on innocent Jewish people. The attacks expressed continued hatred of the Jews by many Americans.
On May, 21 in Washington DC, Elias Rodriguez allegedly shot and killed Israeli Embassy staffers Yaron Lichinsky and Sarah Milgrim as they were leaving an American Jewish Committee Young Diplomats event.
On June, 1 in Boulder, CO, Mohamad Sabry Soliman attacked a group of innocent people, using Molotov cocktails, at an event to raise awareness for the remaining hostages held in Gaza by Hamas. Fifteen people were injured.
Both individuals accused of committing these horrible acts expressed their hatred for Jews and Israel with violence. Since January 2020, there have been 16 terrorist plots or attacks targeting Jews and Jewish institutions in the U.S. Nine occurred within just the past 12 months.
Jonathan Greenblatt, National Director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) remarked: “What happened this past weekend, and what happened a few weeks ago teaches us that we have no choice. We have got to battle this bigotry with everything we have. This is the fight of our lives, and we can’t afford to lose.”
The ADL defines Antisemitism as the marginalization and/or oppression of people who are Jewish based on the belief in stereotypes and myths about Jewish people, Judaism and Israel.
As a longtime subscriber to ADL, I follow the level of hatred and bigotry across our country using their excellent resources. ADL is the leading anti-hate organization in the world. Founded in 1913, its mission is “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.” ADL fights antisemitism worldwide and is a leader in combating not only antisemitism but all forms of extremism and bigotry.
ADL works to protect democracy and ensure a just and inclusive society for all. Being opposed to antisemitism doesn’t mean blind support for the polices and actions of the Israeli government. Political protest is an essential part of democracy, and criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country or our own government is legitimate.
Many folks in the United States and even Jews in Israel have questioned Israel’s recent actions in Gaza but that must not translate into hatred for the Jewish people. Antisemitism can be described as the world’s oldest hatred. The historical foundation of antisemitism predates Christianity but became a focus when Jews were accused of killing Jesus Christ. In the Middle Ages, Jews were scapegoated for spreading the Black Plague through common drinking wells. Europeans, in the 19th and 20th centuries, claimed the Jews secretly controlled the world. This fiction featured heavily in Nazi propaganda and culminated in the Holocaust when the Nazis attempted to annihilate the Jewish people and killed a third of the entire Jewish population.
Anti-Jewish hate has surged 360% in the United States according to ADL since the Oct. 7, 2024 massacre in Israel. The increasing antisemitism American Jewish communities have experienced over the past several years, while part of a global rise, has distinctive American elements. They stem from the far-right elements, including white supremacy and white nationalism. On the far-left, antisemitism stems from hatred of Israel and its actions to survive as a Jewish state.
How sad that we are seeing the retrenchment of antisemitism. We are also seeing political violence increase across the United States. After completing the final draft of this article, the tragic events in Minnesota occurred.
The assassination of legislator Melissa Hortman and murder of her husband plus the wounding of State Senator John Hoffman and his wife are yet more examples of political hatred. Since World War II our nation has made significant progress in advancing the rights for workers, women, people of color, children, the environment, queer people, people with disabilities, indigenous people, and refugees. We must not lose these gains.
Time for of us to stand against antisemitism and all forms of hatred. We must demonstrate that there is no place for violence in our political discourse. Let’s all condemn antisemitism and all forms of hatred and bigotry.
To learn more, check out the Kendall County Democratic Party website at www.kcdems.us.
Kevin Henning is a local Democrat.
