It’s scary to be Jewish these days. The tsunami of antisemitism that was unleashed on October 7th feels endless. Misinformation is a huge part of that. To help clarify some essential truths, and in a continued effort to help you cut through the bullsh*t, here is JewBelong’s Antisemitism Cheat Sheet, Post-10/7/23 Edition.

On October 7th, 2023, Hamas invaded Israel. 1,200 people were murdered, including babies, children, and the elderly. Women were raped and gruesomely mutilated. Babies were beheaded. 240 civilians of all ages were kidnapped into Gaza. To put this into perspective, if Israel’s population was closer to that of the United States, there would be 40,000 victims.

Hamas is a globally-recognized terrorist organization. It is not a resistance movement. Sneak attacking civilians, rape, torture, kidnapping, and murder are not legitimate forms of protest. Those who support Hamas are trying to dress up their Jew-hate as social justice.

Hamas’ goal is the destruction of Israel. This is clearly stated in their charter. Hamas’ actions have nothing to do with the support or well-being of Palestinians. It has diverted nearly all of the billions of dollars that have poured into Gaza for aid to terrorism. Many Palestinians hate Hamas. Innocent Palestinians are being killed because Hamas uses them as human shields for their terror campaign.

Hamas conducts its operations largely in tunnels that have been strategically carved beneath schools, mosques, and hospitals. These are not crawl spaces. They are strong and large enough to accommodate military vehicles and large weapons. Entrances to these tunnels are everywhere, including in private “civilian” homes.

Israel is not “occupying” Gaza. Israel left Gaza entirely in 2005.

Israel is not an apartheid state. Arabs comprise more than 20% of the population. They serve in the highest ranks of the government and military.

Anti-Zionism IS antisemitism. Anyone who says differently is trying to justify antisemitism. The ADL reports a nearly 400% rise in antisemitic incidents in the United States since the 10/7/23 massacre.

As Israel attempts to defend itself from rocket-fire before and since the 10/7/23 attack, Jew-haters try to characterize this defense as “war crimes.” Israel is not committing war crimes. Israel literally warns civilians via flyers and the phone, to leave, to avoid civilian casualties.

Hamas is everyone’s problem. Hamas hates America, democracy, the LGBTQ community, and women’s rights. They might be starting with Israel, but they sure as heck aren’t going to end there. They are largely supported by Iran, an anti-American, anti-democratic, anti-Western regime.

Egypt, or any of the other 49 Muslim countries in the Middle East could have given Palestinians safe refuge during this war. They could have stopped the death of civilians and chose not to do so.

To those calling for a ceasefire: Hamas could give back the remaining hostages and there would be a ceasefire but they chose not to do so.

Hamas has turned down Israel’s offers of a ceasefire. Why, you might ask? Please see #3 above.

For more important facts check out our Pre-10/7/23 Cheat Sheet.