Iconoclasm is the act of attacking or assertively rejecting cherished beliefs and institutions or established values and practices. Jews have been subjected to this from time immemorial in the form of antisemitism.
In many countries, higher education is now nothing but iconoclasm. It has been conquered by hate, indoctrination and propaganda.
In the United States, the leadership of the Jewish community does not prepare Jewish youth who are about to enter college or even high school to confront the growing antisemitism on campus today.
Hillel, the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, and the Chabad movement are present on most campuses. But they often appear to be appeasers, not fighters. Their reaction to antisemitism is timid and they avoid teaching Jewish students how to proudly stand up for themselves.
In addition, Jewish parents have failed to teach their children the importance of Judaism and the pride of being a Jew.
Israel has been failing in this arena as well. Arab students who hate Israel are allowed to wave the “Palestinian” flag at every demonstration on campus, which is simply a way of saying, “Get rid of Israel and replace it with an Arab state.”
The Western world’s mainstream media, including in Israel, is the megaphone for the political left and its constant attacks on Jews and Israel.
People who bet on truth have already figured out that the political left and its media constantly lie.
Anti-Israel propagandists cherry-pick facts in order to create an ahistorical narrative that demonizes the Jews and Israel.
They sometimes do this with the help of Jews on the political left who want to accommodate “the opinion of others” and need to feel “loved and accepted” by those who hate them.
Many politicians and the media have also bought into the false narratives and lies. Israel does little to fight this. Instead, it apologizes, appeases and makes concessions.
On US campuses today, antisemitism is a litany of lies used to bully Jewish students. When confronted with such hatred, Jewish students who lack the means of self-defense are terrified.
It is the responsibility of Jewish parents and Jewish leaders to send Jewish students to university with a backpack full of informative truths, so they are fully prepared for the antisemitism they will encounter.
All the lies about Israel can be easily refuted. Students must learn and know the undeniable facts in order to be able to confront and combat those liars who bully them.
The required material is free and easily accessible, available from Students Supporting Israel (SSI), This Land is My Land: “Mandate for Palestine” and The Jewish People’s Rights to the Land of Israel, which takes the reader through a journey spanning over three millennia, covering the historical connection of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel with thoughts on the dichotomy between myth and fact that continues to plague the Arab-Israeli conflict, as well as a turbulent path to a possible peace in the region.
Jewish students, who have not yet had the benefit of such material to help them, should refer to the above-mentioned sources.
Nurit Greenger was born in the British Mandate for Palestine in 1947 and now writes from Southern California.
