When well-meaning activism causes antisemitism |
For nearly a decade, I was viewed by many within the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community as one of its sharpest critics because of my advocacy for secular education in yeshivas. Outside the Haredi world, however, including in the non-Haredi Jewish communities, I was often cheered on by those who saw my work as both necessary and courageous.
I later doubled down on that advocacy by launching a media outlet specifically designed to report critically on the Haredi community and examine systemic issues that my activist peers and I believed were being ignored or insufficiently addressed.
But after October 7th, I was forced to confront a deeply uncomfortable question: Could some of the advocacy meant to improve our community also be fueling the hatred directed against it?
October 7th came sparked a dramatic rise in online antisemitism, accelerated by social media platforms adopting far more permissive policies toward hateful content. At the same time, AI tools made it easier than ever for propaganda, conspiracy theories, and inflammatory narratives to spread globally, instantly translated, polished, and amplified.
The result has been staggering.
Today, virtually any story involving Jews online is flooded with comments invoking Hitler and suggesting he was right all along, celebrating Jewish suffering, or suggesting that Jewish persecution throughout history was somehow justified. If a Jewish person is attacked, people mockingly comment it was “promised to him 3,000 years ago.” Others openly hint that the days of Jewish presence in the US are numbered because society is supposedly “noticing” the “problem” Jews pose.
And disturbingly, many of these antisemites cite the very internal criticisms raised by Jewish activists and reformers.
The Haredi community is criticized on many fronts — some more legitimate than others. Among the issues frequently discussed are allegations of sexual abuse, Metzitza B’Peh, secular education in yeshivas, arranged marriages, get refusal, poverty, and dependence on government........