“Globalize the intifada!” “Resistance, you make us proud, take another settler out!” “We need to make them scared!”

These were the chants I heard as I made my way through a crowd of hundreds of protesters outside Manhattan’s Park East Synagogue on Nov. 19, 2025.

I had come to attend an information session about moving to Israel because my fiancé is Israeli and I wanted to better understand what that future might look like. Instead, I pushed through a volatile crowd of protesters. Only a handful of police officers attempted to control the scene.

Last week, the New York City Council passed a “buffer zone” bill designed to protect houses of worship from aggressive protests. It is a meaningful and necessary step. But legislation alone cannot address the deeper reality confronting many Jewish Americans: antisemitism is reshaping how we live, where we feel safe, and whether we see a future........

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