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. Hamas murdered 1,200 people, including babies, children, and the elderly. It raped and gruesomely mutilated women. It beheaded babies. It kidnapped 240 civilians of all ages into Gaza. The population of the United States is 34 times larger than Israel’s, so 1,200 murdered Israelis is equivalent to almost 43,000 murdered Americans.

Hamas is a globally-recognized terrorist organization, not a resistance movement. 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. They are apologists for rape, torture, and murder.

Hamas’s goal is the destruction of Israel and the killing of Jews. It says so right in Hamas’s charter. Hamas does not care about the well-being of Palestinians. It has diverted to its own terrorism nearly all of the billions of dollars that have poured into Gaza since Hamas took over Gaza in 2006. Hamas uses Palestinians as human shields to protect its terrorists. Many Palestinians hate Hamas but cannot say so because Hamas runs Gaza as a police state.

Hamas operates mostly from hundreds of miles of tunnels that it has dug beneath schools, mosques, and hospitals. These tunnels are not crawl spaces. They are made of steel and concrete and are 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. Arab citizens of Israel are more than 20% of the population. They hold high-ranking positions in government and the military, account for more than 25% of Israel’s doctors, and are experiencing triple digit growth in earning degrees in higher education*.

Anti-Zionism IS antisemitism. Anti-Zionism says that, of all the nations in the world, the Jews are the only nation that should not have its own state. That is antisemitism pure and simple.

As Israel tries to defend itself by getting Hamas out of Gaza and away from Israel’s borders, Jew-haters say this defense is “war crimes.” Israel is not committing war crimes. Israel warns civilians in advance to leave areas of combat. The percentage of civilians killed in Gaza is about the same as the percentage killed in the American fights against Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. And if these people were really concerned about war crimes instead of Jew-hatred, why have they said nothing about Russia’s brutal imperialist invasion of Ukraine, its torture of Ukrainian civilians, and its deliberate targeting of hospitals, schools, and apartment buildings?

Hamas is largely supported by Iran, an anti-American, anti-democratic, anti-Western regime. Iran and its sidekicks like Hamas hate Jews everywhere, 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.

Egypt, Jordan, or any of the other 15 Muslim countries in the Middle East could have given Palestinians refuge during this war that Hamas started. But they chose not to.

A ceasefire would end Israel’s ability to root Hamas terrorists out of Gaza. Many people call on Israel for a ceasefire, but not on Hamas to release its remaining Israeli hostages. Again, this is antisemitism pure and simple.

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

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

*Accessibility of higher education in the Arab sector. The Council for Higher Education. (2021, October 14). https://che.org.il/.