Is another holocaust of Jews possible?

The admonishment “Never Again” used to be the most powerful rallying cry any Jew could utter. Virtually all that went to the gas chambers, separated by sex, age and physicality, did so with little or no resistance, a fact all Jews state will never happen again. Yet, I witness Jews, Christians and others today willingly allow people to burn down or vandalize our places of worship, tell us loudly that they intend to exterminate us once again, and freely intimidate our young at colleges and universities with impunity.

You don’t have to look far to find countless examples of misguided or committed neo-Nazis or anti-Jewish groups or individuals demonstrating in our streets. Too many Jews privately apologize for the sin of surviving and prospering, somehow harboring societal guilt! Keeping our heads down seems to be an almost genetic trait. How’s that working?

Most miss a linkage that ties our ambivalence, inability to comprehend what we see and hear, and how to arrive at a rational analysis that makes all the moving pieces make sense. The normalization of deviance that plays out with the messaging and visuals we constantly absorb has altered our perspective, making it difficult to see things for what they are and undercutting the message of “Never Again.”

Israel is free and pluralistic; Hamas and the other Iranian proxies are not. Why can’t millions of Gazan cheerleaders see that? It’s simple; if you see things through the lens of feelings, your default position is to have empathy for those being killed or wounded. Irrespective of the fact that Hamas broke the peace, killed or captured more than 1,500 people and lobbed missiles indiscriminately at civilian targets, if you are empathy-driven, facts don’t matter nearly as much as your emotions overriding common sense. And an entire ecosystem of false messaging is designed to support this end.

Two drivers are central to how this legerdemain plays out.

1. Most individuals with undeserved sympathy for the perceived Gazan underdogs are young. Drill down on how this came to be and you’ll discover a foundation of lies, distortions, misrepresentations, and curated videos and social media that depict suffering without context. Blame must also be placed on the media, our educational system and, most importantly, our political leaders who today reflect our society as a whole, which includes more than a few uneducated and self-serving individuals.

2. Iran has carefully developed a sophisticated outreach program targeted toward persuadable individuals. It’s been very successful. Iran, with the help of Russia, China and even more than a few of our citizens, has penetrated every mode of communication and coopted left-leaning media to cast America and Israel as villains. We have not been proactive enough in this sphere, and it shows. We must understand that Iran uses every tool at its disposal to work against Israel and the U.S. as another instrument of war.

Both drivers ensure that the meaning of “Never Again” is diluted.

The following recent boast demonstrates how Iran manipulates opinion:

“Iran’s Khamenei says small Gaza brought U.S.-backed Israel ‘to its knees.'”

You cannot utter “Never Again” without confronting false narratives intended to undercut the very idea of whether a holocaust even occurred or a falsehood that the Jewish people came to the table with unclean hands. Jews fight a two-front war!

Iran, especially a nuclear-armed Iran, is untenable. There can be no peace, no compromise, no meeting of the minds with Iran’s stated intentions as to Israel, America and Jewish people everywhere. Iran imagines destroying Israel and eradicating all Jews. Radical Islam, as a movement, requires a future where Islamic principles and laws dominate global society.

I commenced writing this piece on Holocaust Remembrance Day. My mind keeps revolving around four separate and disparate stats that confirm to me that another holocaust is possible:

Forty-six percent of French youth (somewhat less in other European countries) have either never heard of the Holocaust or were not sure what it is. Among Americans, 48% could not name a single concentration camp. Conclusion: knowledge of the Holocaust is weak and declining.

Americans have not been a unified people since World War II. Truth is no longer a shared attribute.

A staggering 34% of Americans check a box saying, “They do not feel a strong sense of connection or love for their country.” The majority of that particular cohort comprises younger Americans, who either are or will shortly be in positions of power and authority.

For Jews, a recent survey by Israel’s Ministry for Diaspora Affairs found that 36.7% of American-Jewish teens between the ages of 14 and 18 either “agreed” or “strongly agreed” with the statement, “I sympathize with Hamas.” Overall, 22% of all Americans support Hamas.

Israel, Iran’s Little Satan, and America, the Great Satan, are inexorably linked; what happens to Israel inevitably will happen to us.

I no longer believe there is any place in America immune from the bane of false equivalents. Even among my fellow Jews, “Never Again” is an abstraction that rarely reaches “top of mind” or motivates us to action. Our inability to reflexively call out obvious evil is a symptom of a society in decline. President Trump has a mountain of “To Do” lists he must deal with. Therefore, it is up to the willing to do what we can to meet the challenge today before it arrives at your door, living room, office, or place of worship.

Not for the Jews alone do I call out to today; I call on everyone who believes in freedom, truth, responsibility and traditional America to recognize the power of the forces that wish to rewrite history. We must acknowledge who we used to be, who we must be again, and what we stand to lose if we don’t come together to face an enemy that will only be happy seeing us dead.

Hillel the Elder, a first-century Jewish scholar, is famously quoted saying:

“If not you, then who? If not now, when?”

Donald Trump, a non-Jew, just answered that question for himself with his pronouncement stating he was not going to do the same things that failed each time concerning Gaza. It may take the world a moment to digest his genius. For the rest of us, each must answer that question to our own satisfaction.

God bless America.