opinion
It’s Time for Jews to Fight for
Their Own People
BY AMY ROSENTHAL
S 18
NOVEMBER 3, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
As antisemitism rises here and abroad, it’s time for
American Jews and Jewish leaders to stand up for
our own people. It’s time to show compassion for
Jewish victims. It’s time to say their names.

American Jews have heard of Sarah Halimi, for
example? She was a 65-year-old French Jewish
woman who was beaten and thrown off the bal-
cony by her Muslim neighbor as he chanted the
Quran and shouted “Allahu akbar.” Are American
Jews saying her name?
During the High Holidays at my Chapel Hill
synagogue, we heard from the bimah about
the “ravages of climate change, the assault on
women’s reproductive rights, bail bond justice,
voting rights, the survival of democracy, food
insecurity, and the holy work of standing with
refugees.” Earlier in the year, the shul posted
messages about wearing masks at a graduation
ceremony, prayers for safety during hurricane
Ian, supplies for refugees and other topics such
as gun violence, racial equity, anti-racism, Black
Lives Matter, parenting beyond the binary, bail
bond justice, the “deplorable” ruling overturning
Roe v. Wade and the significance of Juneteenth.

No mention was made of the stabbing of Jews in
New Jersey or the deaths of Israelis due to terror-
ist attacks.

Evidently, Jewish lives don’t matter to American
Jewish leaders. Why are those who claim to care
about social justice and other causes silent when
Jews are attacked and killed? It is said that silence
is consent.

As antisemitism rises here and abroad, it’s time
for American Jews and Jewish leaders to stand up
for our own people. It’s time to show compassion
for Jewish victims. It’s time to say their names. JE
Amy Rosenthal lived in Israel as a child and is
co-founder of the North Carolina Coalition for
Israel. Rawpixel.com / AdobeStock
ay Their Names. After the deaths of George
Floyd and Breonna Taylor this mantra was used
to raise millions of dollars for Black Lives Matter.

Now another name is being used to raise money
and influence public opinion — Shireen Abu Akleh.

On May 11 of this year, Israeli forces led an oper-
ation against Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Jenin, a
hotbed of terrorism in Samaria. During the ensu-
ing firefight between IDF soldiers and Palestinian
terrorists, Akleh — an Al Jazeera journalist and
American citizen — was killed. Many other journal-
ists have been killed covering the Middle East, but
this time the outcry was apoplectic and pervasive,
from Qatar to the U.N. to the U.S. Of course, there
was an immediate rush to blame Israel for Akleh’s
death. In July, the U.S. State Department’s inves-
tigation was inconclusive, but in September Israel
said there was a high probability that Akleh was
accidentally hit by Israeli fire.

What does this have to do with us here in North
Carolina? Why is Akleh a household name here?
Because antisemitic and anti-Israel activists have
been laser-focused on making it so, in order to
use her death as a weapon against Israel.

Akleh’s name has entered the political arena. In
June 2022, the North Carolina Democratic Party
published a series of antisemitic resolutions. The
first claimed that Israel is ghettoizing Palestinian
land. The second asserted that Akleh’s death
was the targeted killing of an American citizen
by Israelis. A third called for commemoration
of “Nakba Day.” There was pushback from the
Jewish community, but the first two resolutions
stood. In response, a North Carolina Democratic
Jewish Caucus was formed. Unfortunately, the
group has shown little interest in fighting antisem-
itism within the party.

This month, notorious antisemite Amer Zahr
came to Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina on
a fundraising trip for the Reach Education Fund.

The organization uses Akleh’s death to raise
money, calling her a “shahid” — a martyr. Her
photo is everywhere.

Contrast this to the Jewish community. Can
anyone say the name of a single Jewish victim
of terrorism? Do they know about Doris Yahbas,
Moshe Kravitsky, Lora Yitzhak and Menachem
Yehezkel, who were run over and stabbed to
death by a Bedouin Israeli in March, the third
knife attack that week? What about the Jewish
victims of terrorist attacks in Europe? How many