Never Again

The Globalization of the Intifada: Terrorism, Antisemitism, and the Cost of Inaction

Photo of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim via @Israel on X. All rights reserved.

The globalization of the intifada. Isn’t that exactly what Hamas supporters have been calling for all along? For most people who don’t care to look deeper, this call doesn’t carry any particular weight or appear dangerous. But in reality, calling for an intifada is nothing less than a call for violence — against Jews, Israelis, Zionists, and anyone who sympathizes with Israel.

The red line has been crossed. As a direct result of the escalation of this violent terrorist narrative, two wonderful young people — Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim — were deliberately and brutally murdered in the street. Their killer did not choose them at random: they were employees of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C.

My heart is broken. This beautiful couple should have had a long and happy life ahead of them, but it was stolen — in the name of twisted ideas that have infected society over the past several years. Antisemitism has borne terrible fruit, and once again, we are staring into its monstrous face.

We had hoped that reason would eventually prevail over hatred, that ancient prejudices and bigotry would fade into the past. But the opposite has happened.

Terrorism has no nationality. When its ideology clouds the mind, those who worship this disease lose all traces of humanity. Believe me, terrorists don’t care whom they kill. They proved it on October 7, 2023, and they have proven it again — because they never pursue peace. For them, death is the highest achievement.

This tragedy could have been prevented — if antisemitism on university campuses hadn’t been ignored, if top legal authorities hadn’t treated open calls for the genocide of the Jewish people as protected speech, if incitement had been taken seriously. Much time has passed, and the situation has only gotten worse.

Now we mourn the loss of two beautiful, innocent souls who were sacrificed first by a complacent system — and only then by the terrorist whose actions that system could have stopped long before this horrific crime.

I don’t believe the empty promises of politicians who claim they will hold the guilty accountable or take steps to prevent this from happening again. These promises vanish the moment they are spoken.

So what has to happen for any of us to walk the streets without fear of being stabbed in the back? How can we trust governments that hesitate to pass laws that protect their own citizens and are afraid to call things by their name?

Let me say it again: terrorists don’t care who they kill. Don’t let them into your countries. Don’t open the doors of your homes to them. They thirst for blood — and once they taste it, they do not stop.

Terrorists are serial killers. Just to be clear. It seems necessary to clarify this because the term “terrorists” apparently doesn’t sound threatening enough to most of the world, and people fail to grasp what kind of beast this is and what it’s truly capable of. Hopefully, there should no longer be any confusion.

Now ask yourself: would you negotiate with serial killers? Would you trust their promises? Do serial killers ever repent and turn into kind, gentle souls? Would you invite a serial killer into your home?

Perhaps now you’re starting to understand what Israel is dealing with? Are you still under the illusion that serial killers are capable of stopping and suddenly want world peace? Oh, they’ve recently stated outright that they want to keep killing—did that not alarm you? Well, it should have. Because they don’t care who they kill.

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Anti-Zionism is nothing more than disguised antisemitism — and yet people use it freely, because it’s seen as a harmless and “legitimate” form of Jew-hatred. The saddest part is that those who actively rely on this tactic will often deny any antisemitism when confronted directly. But that doesn’t change the fact that denying the Jewish people the right to a state of their own is, by definition, antisemitism.