By Michael Kuttner…
The ancient evil spirits of Jew hate have been unleashed in all their malevolent mutated manifestations.
These genies are multiplying with alarming rapidity and any attempts to stuff them back into the bottles from whence they were hitherto confined are doomed to fail.
We have to face the unpalatable reality that decades after the Shoah, we face a generation today which is not only seriously deficient in any historical knowledge but also is increasingly susceptible to the malignant influence of those who promote hate.
Fighting this phenomenon via educating youngsters is a most worthy endeavour, but unfortunately is a drop in the bucket amidst an ocean of ignorance. The damage caused by mass social media inevitably has far greater impact than a very limited brush with the truth imparted via limited exposure to holocaust reality.
This is not to say that reaching out to impressionable high school minds is a lost cause. It is not. Meeting the dwindling number of survivors and hearing about their experiences is potentially life altering. Watching videos or documentaries on the subject can influence youngsters in a most positive way. Visiting the sites of death camps leaves indelible impressions.
One has to be realistic however.
How many teenagers can be educated before they are unleashed into universities where the genies of Jew hate are already running rampant?
How many teens can be inoculated with the anti hate antidote before they graduate from high school and enter a society where the old virus has reached epidemic proportions?
What safeguards are there to prevent the dissemination of hate and incitement by social media and influencers who spread this vile garbage?
Freedom of expression is the excuse used by those who refuse to combat this avalanche of verbal and physical abuse.
A collective failure by Governments to act meaningfully and to rely instead on political slogans, worn out rhetoric and straight out hypocrisy has led us to the current worldwide debacle.
In every Diaspora community Jews are in a minority and at the mercy of others. Security and long term safety is out of their hands and vested in the hands of political parties whose promises and guarantees can easily vanish like desert mirages.
In democratic countries Jewish electoral clout is rapidly vanishing and being supplanted by other groups whose agenda in many cases is not exactly benign.
In nations where the notion of democracy is a fiction Jews live a precarious existence and continue to remain oblivious to an inevitably worsening future.
Communal buildings, schools and Synagogues are being turned into armed fortresses with security outside and inside the premises. Many Governments are contributing millions of dollars or pounds to ensure safety. One has to query how long this largesse will continue especially as the needs increase on an annual basis and long suffering taxpayers will likely complain.
How does all this security impact Jews? How many will be too frightened to visit these places which have become targets of anti Jewish and anti Israel demonstrations and attacks?
Increasing numbers of Jews already hide any visible signs of their religious or ethnic identity. Disengagement from communal and Zionist activities is already a trend in some countries.
Jewish self defence and security groups are increasing their activities but in many cases they are hampered by laws prohibiting carrying weapons and political correctness on the part of law enforcement authorities.
Many Jews are learning self defence techniques as physical assaults multiply and threats become more serious.
Some reading this will possibly dismiss the problems as exaggerated and confined to an innocuous small minority. This is the same mistake that our ancestors made in previous generations when they were lulled into a false sense of make believe. By the time they woke up to the real magnitude of the threats it was too late.
A quick round up of the latest outbreaks will give you an indication of where we are heading. It is merely scratching the surface of a serious situation incubating and boiling just below the surface and which erupts without warning.
Bear in mind that Zionist/Israel derangement syndrome easily morphs into irrational Jew hate phobia. The two are easily interchangeable despite frantic efforts to deny this infectious malady.
- A brilliant 17 year old student from Rehovot, Yotam Budnik, has had his gold medal win disqualified at the 2026 Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) in Uzbekistan because he draped the Israeli flag around himself as his win was announced. Since 2024 Israel has not been allowed to compete as a national team in the computer science competition. Instead, Israeli contestants are only allowed to compete as “neutrals” and Israel does not appear on the official results scoreboard. As the winners were lining up on the victory podium, Budnik, the gold medal winner, draped an Israeli flag around his shoulders. Immediately afterwards he was disqualified. Although the organizers tried to take back the gold medal he refused to hand it over.
- Tucker Carlson claimed recently that Israeli religious schools avoid using the mathematical plus sign because it resembles the Christian cross. This demented claim is somewhat of a mystery because Chareidi schools do not teach mathematics. Our grandson attends a mainstream religious high school where plus signs are used. This is a classic example of how a lie repeated often enough and spread by the media becomes a useful tool to demonize Jews and Israel at the same time.
- The UK Jewish Chronicle reported that an “election expert” who has been elected to the UK Green Party Council responsible for party wellbeing and strategy, maintained that the antisemitism crisis was invented by the Zionist lobby.”
- In a whatsapp group, UK Green party activists discussed wiping Israel off the map and killing Zionists.
- The BBC complaints body has ruled that the phrase “money bags Rothschild” is not antisemitic because there is no explicit mention of the family’s Jewishness.
- A Jewish woman in Warsaw reported that a taxi driver began shouting at her, pulled out a Koran and yelled “Allah Akbar” after noticing that she was wearing a Magen David around her neck.
- Israeli-French singer, Amir Haddad, reported that a mezuzah was torn from his Paris home, calling the incident a sign of rising antisemitism in France.
- More than 100 former British and French diplomats have signed a letter to French President Macron and UK Prime Minister Burnham, calling for a boycott of Israel. “Palestine is being erased before our eyes” they collectively chorused. Like all others who sing this same old refrain they ignore the many attempts over the decades at creating yet another Arab state, all of which were rejected by Arab leaders. They also conveniently rewrite historical facts in their frenetic frenzy to write the Jews out of the record.
These few examples merely skim the surface of what is occurring these days.
It is all very well for politicians to burble “antisemitism has no place in our country.” When they or their spokespersons trot out an endless stream of invective and distorted slanders against the re-established nation State of the Jews they shouldn’t be surprised when hate follows in its wake.
The salient fact is that this toxic genie cannot be put back in the bottle.
It can only be combated by a combination of education and punitive measures.
Unless and until purveyors of hate are expelled and prosecuted and punishment is real rather than a slap on the wrist the problem will fester and multiply.
Michael Kuttner is a Jewish New Zealander who for many years was actively involved with various communal organisations connected to Judaism and Israel. He now lives in Israel.
[This article was originally published on J-Wire and is reproduced here with permission from Michael Kuttner.]
