Adam Milstein: Redefining Diversity – The Case for Including Jewish Identity

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This article was originally published in Space Coast Daily on July 24th, 2023, written by Space Coast Daily.

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) movement is ostensibly intended to promote a deeper understanding and fairer treatment of those from historically marginalized communities.

However, in practice, DEI threatens to undermine core American values and the right of Jewish Americans to live securely within their Jewish identities.

That’s the argument made by Israel-American philanthropist and community leader Adam Milstein, an immigrant to the United States who built a successful business and now acts as a venture philanthropist. His focus, including his work with the Milstein Family Foundation, which he runs with his wife, Gila Milstein, is to strengthen American democracy, support the U.S.-Israel alliance, and combat antisemitism, hatred and bigotry in all forms.

Adam Milstein fears the current approach to DEI is harmful to Jewish Americans, including university students.

In an opinion piece written for the Jerusalem Post, he writes that DEI “has been deployed to advance a radical agenda that undermines fundamental American values by promoting equality of outcome over equality of opportunity, collective identity (race, gender, etc.) over individual character, censorship of opposing viewpoints over freedom of speech, and a victim culture that crudely bifurcates society into oppressors and oppressed.”

Who Is Adam Milstein?

Adam Milstein was born in Israel and moved to the U.S. in 1981 to pursue an MBA degree at USC. He served in the Israeli Defense Force during the Yom Kippur War. Once he arrived in the U.S., he built a successful career in commercial real estate in California, where he still lives.

Through the Milstein Family Foundation, Adam and Gila support tens of nonprofit organizations that strengthen U.S.-Israel ties and fights antisemitism. Some of the programs of these nonprofits support the Jewish community and the wider community, including people from a wide variety of backgrounds.

For example, the foundation supports organizations that combat antisemitism on college campuses and support numerous organizations that work to strengthen American democratic values

The Prevalence of DEI in the United States

In a relatively short amount of time, American universities, as well as the government and many corporations, have embraced DEI. For example, one study that looked at the staff for 65 universities in the five major collegiate athletic conferences found that, on average, staff hired to focus on DEI outnumbered history professors.

The study also found that, on average, the DEI staff at these universities outnumbered, by a factor of 4.2, the number of people on staff focused on helping disabled students. The average number of people each university employs to focus on DEI has reached 45.

However, rather than bring people together, many DEI programs seem to have divided people into different social identity groups that constantly remain at odds with each other, Adam Milstein wrote in the JPost, especially the groups identified as “oppressed” vs. those identified as “oppressors.”

As the number of people dedicated to DEI has grown, so have troubling instances of antisemitic beliefs. In perhaps the most well-known case, Google had to remove the leader of its diversity team after a social media post surfaced in which he wrote that the Jewish people “have an insatiable appetite for war.” He also wrote that Jews have an “insensitivity” toward the suffering of others.

Unfortunately, the Google case is far from the only one. A Heritage Foundation study of the social media accounts of 741 DEI personnel from 65 American universities found that “the overwhelming pattern” is that they pay great attention to Israel and nearly always attack Israel.

At the same time, antisemitic incidents have reached an all-time high, according to the Anti-Defamation League, including a 50% increase in these incidents on college campuses and in schools in 2022 alone.

“Rather than promoting diversity and inclusion, universities may be contributing to an increase in anti-Jewish hatred by expanding DEI staff and power,” the Heritage Foundation study stated.

The Destructive Power of “Erasive Antisemitism”

Adam Milstein argues that the rise of DEI, its ties to critical race theory, and the increase in antisemitic acts all signal a trend that threatens to harm the Jewish people but also undermines American values.

“Erasive antisemitism is destructive because it denies the ability of Jews – a people from geographic Asia, some of whom were forcibly exiled to Europe by the Roman forerunners of Western Civilization, who against all odds persistently maintained our own unique Jewish Civilization through two thousand years of statelessness – to claim and celebrate our own identity,” he wrote in the Jerusalem Post.

He notes that some have incorrectly compared the DEI movement to the cultural change that happened in the U.S. in the 1960s. Adam Milstein noted that in the 1960s, “There were still strong feelings of sympathy for the Jewish people who had survived the Holocaust and other terrible acts of persecution, such as the expulsion of nearly one million Jews from Muslim countries after the independence of Israel.”

He continued, “These led Jews to be early and prominent leaders in the Civil Rights movement, like Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. Rabbi Heschel was a close confidant of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and marched alongside him in Selma in solidarity.”

That same sense of solidarity does not seem present in the modern DEI movement. Milstein noted that college students who work in DEI call for killing “Zionists” but are not reprimanded by their university. In another case, a college professor reportedly harangued Jewish students in a DEI class about their supposed power and privilege during DEI classes and also brought in antisemitic speakers.

Weaponizing DEI Against Jewish Students

Adam Milstein particularly voiced concern about the impact DEI is having on students. Noting what DEI staffers at universities say about Israel on social media, he voiced concerns about the harm caused to Jews on campus.

“The average university now employs is close to 50 45 DEI staffers. These small armies rarely celebrate Jewish identity or work towards our inclusion; far more often, they exclude and marginalize Jews on campus and label them as white privilege, whether or not this matches their self-identity,” he wrote.

University staff have also started raising warning flags about what is happening on campus. Two Stanford University employees filed state and federal complaints, alleging that the university’s DEI program created a hostile environment for Jewish employees. Their attorney noted that while the program’s stated intent was to support diversity and inclusion, “What happened, in reality, is that those goals were undermined and perverted because what they did instead promoted prejudice and bigotry against one group.”

Adam Milstein noted that some of those involved in DEI programs voice ideas that fall under the working definition of antisemitism from the widely-adopted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. That definition includes: “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor”; “Applying double standards by requiring of [Israel] a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation”; “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis”; and “Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.”

“College DEI staffers have demonstrated all of these – establishing college campuses as unfriendly and unwelcoming spaces for young Jews,” Adam Milstein wrote. He added, “A generation of college students is being governed by an ideology hostile to Jews that are inculcating ideas about our community that are very different from the principles that our faith embodies, and the United States purports to champion.”

A Call to Reevaluate DEI

Teaching cultural diversity and inclusion through a method that excludes an entire sector of the population is harming both Jewish students and the American people as a whole, Adam Milstein wrote. He called for people at the highest levels of government, education, and the corporate world to reevaluate the current approach to DEI.

“As I have repeatedly warned… antisemitism is not just a Jewish problem – it is an American problem,” he wrote. “DEI policies may disproportionately target and harm Jewish students, but the DEI agenda ultimately seeks to undermine and replace fundamental American values and replace it with its own radical vision. As we’ve seen before, what starts with elites quickly spreads to society as a whole.”

He called for changes that allowed people from all cultures to live safely within their identity, including the Jewish people. He also called for an end to the public comments by DEI leaders that disparage support for Israel. He listed the establishment of the Jewish state as “one of the integral aspects of Jewish Civilization.”

He said the alternative to reevaluating DEI means continuing down a troubling path that leads to harmful actions and, at the extreme, a continued rise in antisemitism.

“If American institutions continue to adopt and reflect extreme DEI ideologies, Jews will suffer,” Adam Milstein wrote. “For as George Orwell presciently wrote, “Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.”

Changing the Narrative: How Israel and the Jewish People Can Win the Future – opinion

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This article was originally published in The Jerusalem Post on June 13th, 2023, written by Adam Milstein. 

From pull factors, to collaboration, to going on the offensive

The new antisemitism of our century, also known as modern (or contemporary) antisemitism, reinvented itself from the classical hatred of Jews, which is no longer publicly acceptable, to a now “tolerable” form, the hatred of Israel. The increased vitriol for the State of Israel and a growth in antisemitism is no coincidental correlation. Once seen as a darling of the world, an underdog, a weak nation in need of help, a sanctuary for Jews after the Holocaust, Israel has become a victim of its own success. Outside political forces are committed to paint Israel and the Jewish people as just another target in their obsessive racialized world view. Zionism, which is the movement for the self-determination and statehood for the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland, the land of Israel, has become a vile concept.

Younger generations, especially Americans, see only one State of Israel – “a strong Israel”, an “oppressive” Israel, a “colonizer” Israel, a “Zionist” Israel, an Israel that fits into pre-existing, yet unrelated, social and political constructs of race and power. To secure the future of the U.S.-Israel alliance friends and allies of Israel must wake up. The lines have shifted, our strategies must adjust swiftly.

The battle for the future of Israel is playing out everywhere, in high schools and college campuses, across mainstream media and social media, in Congress and the European Union, and even at Jewish dinner tables. As stewards of Israel’s cause and advocates for the Jewish people, to fight back against this tide, we must commit to the following three principles:

  1. Create “pull factors” that help young people understand what’s “right about Israel”, not what’s “wrong about Israel”.

We must explore and highlight why Israel’s founding, existence and endurance is important today not only for the Jewish community, but also for America, and for the world. Israel’s creation was against all odds and nothing short of a miracle. Yet today’s younger generation has little concept for how close it was from ceasing to be and an obscure idea of the actual facts that led to Israel’s establishment. David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister declared, “in Israel, in order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles.” His words should be repeated, retold, and heeded.

As supporters of Israel’s past, present, and future, we must emphatically declare what is certifiably true – Israel’s existence, its persistence, and its unparalleled resilience, are miraculous.

We must also continuously showcase and communicate the wonderful humanity and diversity Israel represents. Shimon Peres, Israel’s 9th president said, “In Israel, a land lacking in natural resources, we discovered the greatest resource of all: human capital, which is richer than any of the resources in the earth.” This small country, roughly the size of New Jersey, with a population of just over 9 million people, is the technology hub of the world, imbued with rich multiculturalism and a humanitarian core.

We also need to strengthen connections of Americans to Israel through business ties, innovation, and science. Our mutual democratic values, our unbreakable bonds through history and shared faith serve as strong links through decades of solidarity. And programs like Birthright, Tamid Group, Itrek, Onward-Israel and Gap Year Israel, are needed more than ever to bolster efforts to bring young Jewish and non-Jewish Americans to Israel to solidify the bonds that only personal experience can create.

2. Collaborate with friends and allies

Israel’s values such as individual rights, equal opportunity, freedoms of speech, protest, and an independent press are America’s values. Israel’s interests such as liberty, prosperity and security are America’s interests. And Israel’s enemies such as the Islamo-leftist alliance which is comprised of radical Muslims and the far-left extremists are America’s enemies. Despite these fundamental facts, an increasing number of groups in America, some of them anti-American themselves, are adopting and spreading the new anti-Semitism, advancing lies about the Jewish State. We need to empower and support our American allies – helping them to understand that anti-Semitism starts with the Jews, but never end with the Jews – and that this evil is a danger to America, and the values that make it great.

3. Going on the offensive is imperative – defense is a losing preposition

While the Jewish diaspora is often reactive, Israel’s military and intelligence are known to be proactive and excel in taking the war to the turf of the enemy. American Jews must collectively adopt the same strategy and the embrace an unabashed tenacity. We must not apologize for being proud Jews or for being Zionists and teach our kids so be proud as well. If we’re to concede and appease our detractors, we’ll lose not only our courage, but also our standing. Without going on the offense and being proactive, terms are constantly re-defined, and events are skewed with competing “narratives” – flying in the face of historical facts.

When we’re always explaining, we’re losing. For example, the establishment of Israel was branded by the Islamo-leftist alliance as the “Nakba” leaving us trying to fight against a nebulous, dubious definition instead of telling our factual miraculous story. In fact, “Nakba” was originally coined as a reference to the so called “catastrophe” of the six Arab armies losing to the Jews in Israel’s War of Independence. In the last several decades, however, it’s been co-opted by the UN and Israel’s enemies to reflect Palestinian alleged ethnic cleansing, human rights violations and victimhood.

Secondly, the Palestinians’ “Right of Return” needs to be called out for what it is. It is not a call for justice, but annihilation of the Jews living in the land of Israel. Believed by many to be a tool in the negotiating toolkit for the conflict, the ‘Right of Return’ is just another perpetual piece of semantic propaganda to undermine the State of Israel and prevent peace for future generations. We must continue to expose Israel’s critics for what they are through research, facts, and media efforts.

In the last two decades, we’ve witnessed a significant shift in rhetoric and support for Israel across the Western world. It’s no accident that antisemitism has increased as well. Too often, Jews are left responding to assertions made by others – hesitant about telling OUR story, and reluctant to go on offense. We must prepare one another, our allies, and the next generations for how to have conversations on our terms…as proud Jews and supporters of Israel. We, the Jewish people, in the face of an overwhelming opposition, must re-commit to be bold. To be unapologetic. And to maintain a gaze to the future.

Adam Milstein is an Israeli-American “Venture Philanthropist.” He can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter @AdamMilstein, and on Facebook www.facebook.com/AdamMilsteinCP.

This op-ed is published in partnership with a coalition of organizations that fight antisemitism across the world. Read the previous article by Anders Bjerkhoel.

The DEI Threat to Jewish Students – Opinion

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This article was originally published in The Jerusalem Post on May 8th, 2023, written by Adam Milstein. 

DEI initiatives are weaponized against Jewish students, maliciously portraying them and Israel as vicious oppressors.

Today in America, institutions, from universities to governmental agencies and to corporate workplaces, continue to embrace Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives and associated ideologies closely linked to critical race theory (CRT). In the process Jews, particularly those on college campuses, find it impossible to live securely and safely within their Jewish identities.

The asserted goals of DEI are positive: to promote the representation, participation, and fair treatment of historically marginalized groups. In practice though, DEI, which require its adherents to follow its tenets blindly without doubt or reservation, has been deployed to advance a radical agenda that undermines fundamental American values by promoting equality of outcome over equality of opportunity, collective identity (race, gender, etc.) over individual character, censorship of opposing viewpoints over freedom of speech, and a victim culture that crudely bifurcates society into oppressors and oppressed.

In particular, DEI initiatives are weaponized against Jewish students, maliciously portraying them and the Jewish State as vicious oppressors. Kamau Bobb, the head of diversity at Google, wrote that Jews have an “insatiable appetite for war” and an “insensitivity to the suffering [of] others.” Nowhere is his attitude more prevalent than in the DEI offices that now populate colleges and universities across the country.

Some compare the present cultural change in America to the 1960s, but for the Jews, that analogy is incorrect. In the 1960s, there were still strong feelings of sympathy for the Jewish people who had survived the Holocaust and other terrible acts of persecution, such as the expulsion of nearly one million Jews from Muslim countries after the independence of Israel.

These led Jews to be early and prominent leaders in the Civil Rights movement, like Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. Rabbi Heschel was a close confidant of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and marched alongside him in Selma in solidarity.

Today, Kenneth Marcus, Founder and Chairman of the Brandeis Center for the Protection of Human Rights Under Law, shares “[i]n the DEI programs, we’re seeing anti-Jewish stereotypes, biases, defamations, separation of Jews from other groups, and so-called ‘erasive antisemitism,’ which is to say denial of what it means to have a Jewish identity.”

Erasive antisemitism is destructive because it denies the ability of Jews – a people from geographic Asia, some of whom were forcibly exiled to Europe by the Roman forerunners of Western Civilization, who against all odds persistently maintained our own unique Jewish Civilization through two thousand years of statelessness – to claim and celebrate our own identity. One of the integral aspects of Jewish Civilization has always been the devout desire to restore our ancient nation in the Land of Israel.

A recent study showed that the private social media accounts of DEI officers at university campuses exhibit a remarkable level of virulence against the State of Israel, compared to generally positive feelings towards the People’s Republic of China. The authors noted that “[o]f the tweets about Israel, 96 percent were critical of the Jewish state, while 62 percent of the tweets about China were favorable. There were more tweets narrowly referencing “apartheid” in Israel than tweets indicating anything favorable about Israel whatsoever.

Regarding Israel, the word genocide was associated nine times, the term ethnic cleansing appears seven times, and the accusation that children are specifically targeted appears 27 times. Meanwhile, DEI staffers generally praised China and even wrote glowingly about Chinese efforts to reduce poverty in Tibet, where China is pursuing cultural genocide of the Tibetan people. The report determined that “DEI staff have an obsessive and irrational animus toward the Jewish state.” DEI staffers on university campuses are supposed to be advocates for students, helping them navigate issues of inclusivity and belonging. When DEI staff and administration hold clear animus and bias against the world’s only Jewish state, universities are implicitly and unfairly discriminating against Jewish students.

People are imperfect, so criticism always has a role to play. However, the irrational malice DEI staffers demonstrate against Israel is of a different order. Under the widely-adopted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which is used by the U.S. State Department, examples of antisemitism include “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor”; “Applying double standards by requiring of [Israel] a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation”; “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis”; and “Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.” All of these have been demonstrated by college DEI staffers – establishing college campuses as unfriendly and unwelcoming spaces for young Jews.

The average university now employs roughly 45 DEI staffers. These small armies rarely celebrate Jewish identity or work towards our inclusion; far more often, they exclude and marginalize Jews on campus and label them as white privilege, whether or not this matches their self-identity. Some states, notably Texas, are considering legislation that would ban DEI programs at public universities.

In the meantime, a generation of college students is being governed by an ideology hostile to Jews that is inculcating ideas about our community that are very different from the principles that our faith embodies, and the United States purports to champion. If American institutions continue to adopt and reflect extreme DEI ideologies, Jews will stuffer. For as George Orwell presciently wrote, “Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.”

Adam Milstein is an Israeli-American “Venture Philanthropist.” He can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter, and on Facebook.

Can American Jews Build An Iron Dome Against Antisemitism?

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This article was originally published in The Jewish Journal on May 3rd, 2023, written by Alan Zeitlin. 

“If we want to defeat antisemitism, we can’t do it alone.” – Adam Milstein

A decade ago, when Adam Milstein told people the ugly monster of antisemitism was on its way to America and would unleash violence against Jews, most people didn’t believe him. Milstein, an Israeli-American businessman, philanthropist and activist who served for the IDF in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, believes there are no easy answers to the question of how to combat antisemitism and the demonization of Israel. In the sea of Jew hatred, where a rant from a celebrity can set off a deluge, he insisted that to stay afloat, American Jewry needs all hands on deck. “I was told I was an alarmist and if I would not speak about this, it would go away,” Milstein said of the antisemitic Boycott Divest and Sanctions Movement (BDS) against Israel. “Today, antisemitism is normal in the United States. I think antisemitism is a danger to America. Antisemites are the enemies of the American people and not just the Jewish people. We need to understand that the battle is about America.”

Milstein says there is no “silver bullet,” to fight hate and argues that a number of different strategies must be used.

So, five years ago, together with his wife Gila and a group of devoted Los Angeles based philanthropists he founded the Impact Forum. The Impact Forum, which has since evolved into a 501c3 nonprofit organization, convenes a network of like-minded philanthropists, coming together to empower a network of organizations whose mission is to fight antisemitism, and support the State of Israel and the United States. The organizations in the Impact Forum network are provided with financial support, as well as other resources to improve capacity and maximize their impact. Through the Impact Forum, participating nonprofits are encouraged to collaborates with other groups that share the same mission and compliment their work. “If we want to defeat antisemitism, we can’t do it alone,” Milstein said. “We need to have a network or an alliance of many organizations, working together, fighting on different fronts. No one organization can do it all. We need to have many organizations that are on our side and willing to join forces.”

“We need to have a network or an alliance of many organizations, working together, fighting on different fronts. No one organization can do it all. We need to have many organizations that are on our side and willing to join forces.”

On May 11, The Impact Forum Foundation will host “A Night of Impact,” an exclusive dinner for philanthropists in Los Angeles. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Sheila Nazarian, a Beverly Hills-based plastic surgeon. Her Netflix show “Skin Decision: Before and After” received an Emmy nomination for “Outstanding Lifestyle Series.” She’s also an influencer who speaks out against antisemitism, once tweeting, “If you are silent when terrorists murder Israelis, stay silent when Israel defends itself.”

A panel of social media influencers will discuss questions of how best to fight antisemitism and establish an Iron Dome through social media. Emily Austin, an actress and model who hosts “Daily Vibes with Emily Austin” on Instagram Live and has more than 1.1 million Instagram followers, will participate in the panel. She was instrumental in getting the Miami Heat to recognize Holocaust Remembrance Day. She’s joined by Australian actor Nathaniel Buzolic, a star of “The Vampire Diaries” and “Saving Zöe” with four million total social media followers.  Although he is Christian, he has led tours in Israel and believes in the country’s right to self-determination. Lizzy Savetsky, a former cast member of “The Real Housewives of New York,” is an influencer who prides herself on fighting against antisemitism. Her throngs of followers appreciate her honesty, her fearlessness, her passion for fashion and matchmaking, and she even developed a show “Bashert” for IGTV.

The evening will feature presentations by StopAntisemitism, a social media watchdog that holds antisemites accountable; and Tazpit Press Service, an Israel-based news agency which disseminates crucial news across the globe in real-time.

The Impact Forum Foundation has provided funding, services, and strategic guidance to about 50 organizations, including social media organizations, think tanks and others.

CyberWell, a beneficiary of the Impact Forum, monitors online hate on social media — specifically cases of Jew-hatred. CyberWell’s findings of over 1,000 antisemitic tweets on Twitter, were the basis of a joint letter sent by 180 organizations to Elon Musk asking him to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism for Twitter.

CyberWell Chief Executive Officer Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor gave credit to the Impact Forum. “We wouldn’t have been able to get off the ground without the support of the Impact Forum,” she said. “Adam is a philanthropist and entrepreneur. He not only has a great understanding of what is needed but a realization that in these times, tech is powerful. He also recognizes the importance of young leadership.”

According to Milstein, people should not underestimate the power of social media and famous people who target Israel and Jews, including Ye, formerly known as Kanye West. “Celebrities criticizing Israel have an outsized impact and there are many people that believe everything Kanye says.

“The only thing that works is fighting back, together,” Milstein said.

There is no way to stop all attacks against the Jewish community, he said, but a coordinated effort that is strategic and diverse will result in more impact. Events such as “A Night of Impact” offer philanthropists an opportunity to see what impact they can make in the struggle against antisemitism with their funding.

“It is not strictly a Jewish problem, but a problem for all of America.”

For information about attending the event, and related inquiries, contact [email protected].

2023 Podcast: ‘We need to tell the story about Israel and we need to be on the front lines here in America’ with Adam Milstein and Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman

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Adam Milstein, renowned American-Israeli philanthropist and founder of the Impact Forum Foundation, in conversation with Maayan Hoffman, Deputy CEO of the Jerusalem Post Group

Adam Milstein, renowned American-Israeli philanthropist and founder of the Impact Forum Foundation, speaks with Maayan Hoffman, Deputy CEO of the Jerusalem Post Group, about how to effectively fight antisemitism, strengthen the state of Israel and reinforce the alliance between the US and the State of Israel.

Milstein, who was born in Israel and served in the IDF during the Yom Kippur War, graduated from the Technion, and moved to the US in 1981. He continued his education at USC and embarked on a successful career in commercial real estate.

Today, Milstein spends a great deal of time in philanthropic causes dedicated to defending the State of Israel. “If you want to make an impact in philanthropy,” he says, “you need to devote a good portion of your life to it, you need to be focused and you need to know what you are doing.”

In 2006, Milstein co-founded the Israeli-American Council, which helps to strengthen the Israeli and Jewish identities of the more than half a million Israelis living in the US. Recently, he founded the Impact Forum Foundation, a community of like-minded philanthropists in Los Angeles and around the US that empowers a diversified network of organizations that support the State of Israel, fight antisemitism, and stand against the enemies of the US.

“Antisemitism is first and foremost an American problem,” says Milstein. “My approach to fighting antisemitism is to build alliances with Americans who are fighting the internal and external enemies of America, which also happen to be the enemies of the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Combating antisemitism and strengthening Israel go hand in hand with fighting the enemies of the US.”

Milstein says that while standard Jewish philanthropy supports Jewish education, trips to Israel and Holocaust commemoration, relatively little is earmarked to fight antisemitism. “We need to fight back, we need to go on the offense, and we need to be on the front lines here in America.”

This dialogue is the first of a series of interviews with Adam Milstein, who will share his vision and strategies for supporting Israel and combating antisemitism in future discussions.

For more information about the Milstein Family Foundation >>>

The Impact Forum Foundation

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This article was originally published in The Jerusalem Post on April 13th, 2023, written by Alan Rosenbaum. 

Making an impact in fighting antisemitism and supporting Israel

‘There is no silver bullet,” says Adam Milstein, prominent Israeli-American businessman, philanthropist, and activist, speaking of organizations that combat antisemitism and stand against the enemies of Israel. “It takes a network of allied organizations to defeat the network of our detractors,” he adds.

The problem, Milstein explains, is that many of these pro-Israel nonprofit organizations are competing for funding with each other and have major redundancies but prefer to work independently so they can claim all the credit, and even claim credit for the work of other groups. As a result, he explains, there is little unity and coordinated effort among these groups, and donor funds are not being optimized.

Milstein, who has been supporting and working with many nonprofits for the past two decades, understands how organizations work and believes he has a way to enable them to work in synergy toward a common goal. “How do we bring them together?” he asks rhetorically. “We have to offer incentives.” One incentive would be to provide funding to organizations conditional on their collaborating and sharing information with other groups. Another way would be to provide certain capabilities that all groups can benefit from – like research services— and use these capabilities to spur collaboration among different groups.

LOS ANGELES-BASED philanthropists attending a recent Impact Forum Foundation dinner.

“Research organizations are very important in the world of fighting antisemitism,” says Milstein, “because they investigate antisemitic and anti-Israel organizations, their funding, their agenda and their current and future plans and provide the information to other groups which can then take action against them on multiple fronts. We can make a huge impact when we distribute this information to other organizations,” he explains. “Small organizations cannot conduct research and do not have funding for it; but providing them with this kind of service free of charge improves the quality of their work and enhances the impact they can make.”

With these ideas in mind, Milstein founded the Impact Forum Foundation, a community of like-minded philanthropists in Los Angeles and around the US that empowers a diversified network of organizations that support the State of Israel, fight antisemitism, and stand against the enemies of the US which, not surprisingly, he says, are the same.

“Antisemitism is first and foremost an American problem,” says Milstein. “My approach to fighting antisemitism is to build alliances with Americans who are fighting the internal and external enemies of America, which also happen to be the enemies of the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Combating antisemitism and strengthening Israel go hand in hand with fighting the enemies of the US.”

The Impact Forum offers participating organizations funding and services, such as communications services, strategic guidance and research material. “We bring philanthropists together, demonstrating the concept of creating a greater impact by encouraging many organizations to work together,” says Milstein. The Impact Forum Foundation provides funding to approximately 50 effective organizations, including media and social media organizations, think tanks, research and legal organizations and “boots on the ground” groups that are present in areas of conflict, such as college campuses.

Since 2017, the Impact Forum has hosted events in Los Angeles for groups as large as 120 philanthropists. At each event, two organizations present their work and organizational vision to those in attendance. Milstein says that an average of $200,000 was raised for each presenting organization at the most recent dinners held in Los Angeles.The Impact Forum Foundation brings prominent speakers to these events in order to attract interest and attendance among philanthropists who want to learn more about fighting antisemitism and supporting Israel. Previous speakers have included former Israeli ambassador to the US Michael Oren; author and speaker Daniel Gordis; former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky; and New York Times columnist Brett Stephens.

Next month, the Impact Forum Foundation is holding its quarterly dinner in Los Angeles featuring several social media mega influencers who will discuss the vital role of media and social media in fighting antisemitism. The event will also feature presentations by two nonprofits, StopAntisemitism and Tazpit Press Service, which will be raising money to support their work. The keynote speaker, Dr. Sheila Nazarian, with over 1.7 million followers on Instagram alone, will be accompanied by TV personalities and digital media mega influencers Emily Austin, Nathaniel Buzolic, and Lizzy Savetsky for a panel discussion.

UPCOMING MAY Impact Forum Foundation event will feature mega-influencers discussing combating antisemitism through social media. (Credit: Impact Forum Foundation)

The events organized by the Impact Forum enable organizations to obtain additional funding and expand their work. One of the beneficiaries of the Impact Forum is Palestinian Media Watch, an Israel-based nonprofit research institute known for its in-depth research of Palestinian society from a broad range of perspectives.Arabic language researchers at Palestinian Media Watch monitor, translate and analyze PA-controlled newspapers, TV shows, radio programs, social media sites, and schoolbooks to understand the messages the Palestinian Authority and other Palestinian leaders send to their people.

Itamar Marcus, founder of Palestinian Media Watch, who presented at a recent Impact Forum event, pointed out that his organization, as a beneficiary of the Impact Forum, will share its information with other groups and said, “One of the goals of the Impact Forum Foundation is to strengthen contacts between different pro-Israel organizations and thereby to maximize coordination. Palestinian Media Watch, as a supplier of critical information to all Israel-supporting organizations, welcomes this coordination, as it will help maximize our impact in the US and internationally.”

He added that the fact that the Impact Forum connects philanthropists with important nonprofits that work toward a common goal not only benefits the organizations themselves but also benefits the philanthropists who are looking for ways to use their money wisely to fight antisemitism.

Milstein expands further on the benefits that accrue to donors and says, “They are usually familiar with a small number of organizations. We are vetting more than 50 effective organizations, active in different disciplines, thus complementing each other and giving the philanthropists the ability to make a personal impact by using their dollars where they can make the most impact.”

One example of how organizations that operate under the Impact Forum Foundation share and benefit each other, he notes, is that of CyberWell, the first open live database of antisemitic content that enables people to see the state of online antisemitism by interacting with the content and by using the organization’s visualization tools. CyberWell applies technology and open-source intelligence to monitor social media platforms for antisemitic content.

CyberWell’s findings were the foundation of a letter submitted jointly by 180 organizations worldwide to Elon Musk, owner of Twitter, substantiating the proliferation of antisemitic content on the platform and calling on Musk to update the company’s anti-hate policies and adopt the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism. This definition has been officially adopted by the US and 37 other national governments, as well as numerous local governments, universities, law enforcement agencies, civil society organizations, and international bodies worldwide, including the UN and the EU.

“This amazing network of 180 organizations signed and sent the same letter on the same day to Elon Musk and his senior management team at Twitter,” Milstein says. Speedy cooperation of this type among Jewish groups is unusual.

The Impact Forum Foundation is planning to expand its vision to other communities in the US where Jewish donors are serious about fighting antisemitism, including locations in Florida and New York. When the Impact Forum begins operations in other cities, he says, it will be able to add more organizations to its roster. In addition, says Milstein, the Impact Forum is creating a venture fund through which a group of 10 to 20 vetted and selected organizations will receive additional support and guidance on how to build effective collaborations with other organizations. For philanthropists, the venture fund is an extraordinary opportunity to support a group of several nonprofits through one donation.

The organizer, coordinator and catalyzer among all the organizations working with the Impact Forum Foundation is Milstein and his foundation team, who are working hand in hand with the Impact Forum board – a group of philanthropists who are devoted to the vision of empowering a diversified network of organizations that support the State of Israel, fight antisemitism and stand against the enemies of America.

Adam Milstein believes in thinking out of the box and using innovative techniques and strategies to fight our detractors. “We need to be extraordinary at what we are doing,” he says. “We need to continue expanding our work so we can increase our network of philanthropists and the number of organizations we are supporting.”He is certain that the Impact Forum’s work of getting organizations to work with one another and share information is paying dividends. “We are making these organizations 10 times better,” says Milstein. “Everyone wants to be better.”

This article was written in cooperation with the Impact Forum Foundation.

For more information about the Impact Forum and to register for the May 11 event, contact: [email protected]

Why Critical Race Theory (CRT) Could Be Dangerous for America’s Faith-Based Communities – Opinion

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This article was originally published in the The Jerusalem Post on March 28th, 2023, written by Adam Milstein.

We need to build alliances between Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Hindus.

America was founded by people fleeing religious persecution. Our society flourished based on the unique atmosphere of religious tolerance, which was very different from Europe and other parts of the world. These fundamental principles are now threatened by Critical Race Theory (CRT), and its related ideologies, which present a danger to the values underlying a thriving America – and potentially, to its faith-based communities.

Once considered to be fringe subject matter to be studied as theory, CRT and its spin-offs ideologies such as intersectionality, which argues marginalized and oppressed groups must come together to fight against other groups perceived as their oppressors, are now used as lenses to view America and the world. These ideologies have been rubber stamped by educational institutions, corporate America, major brands, the entertainment industry, and the media.

At its core, the idea behind intersectionality and CRT seems positive – helping oppressed communities to stand up for themselves and regain their voice. But when you see how this ideology is applied in practice, it erodes the core principles that make our country exceptional, such as America’s commitment to individual rights and equality, rule of law, tolerance, pluralism, due process, freedom of speech, and free-market capitalism.

CRT and intersectionality classifies all people as undivided members of identity groups who lack individualism, and independence from their ethnicity, gender, and/or sexuality. It promotes “us” vs. “them” structures that are infecting our politics and puts “victimhood” at the center – the more “oppressed” you are, the greater your cultural and social capital is.

Perhaps the greatest targets of CRT are people of faith – Christians, Jews, and others whose values fall outside the CRT framework.

Here are a few reasons why the ideology of CRT/intersectionality is particularly harmful for faith based communities and as such for America:

CRT disparages proven principles – often rooted in faith – that have made America successful and discourages the development of new, worthy ideas.

Christians and Jews are generalized as structurally exclusive and discriminatory. This is a major catalyst, and a convenient excuse, for hate against these groups. Jews, for example are being generally labeled as a group of white, nationalists’ oppressors which caused an exponential rise in antisemitism since intersectionality was born.

In CRT’s search for “equity”, religious communities, regardless of the individual views and beliefs of their members, are lumped together as oppressive institutions that need to be radically remade if not dismantled.

CRT demonizes success, arguing that achievement is the product of exploitation and also undermines free speech and enforces ideological conformity by forcefully shutting down views and opinions that put the individual in the center, and encourages individual accountability and responsibility.

One of the core tenets of CRT and intersectionality is that a society based on “meritocracy” is inherently white supremacist. For America to continue to flourish, excellence should be rewarded, not used as ammo in cultural wars and ideological debates.

AP classes are being eliminated, grades are disappearing from schools, and SAT scores for college admission are going extinct. For decades these metrics have helped assess students’ individual abilities and tailor programs for their specific needs and talents. Meritocratic excellence, familiar to faith-based communities, is being systematically replaced with Marxist-inspired equity.

CRT pits group against group and foments hatred for the “other”.

Understanding that all people have the power and resources to fulfill their potential, regardless of their ethnic background, is imperative for a diverse society to flourish. Individuals are capable of great evil, great courage, and everything in between. An oppressor/oppressed binary pits people against people, without distinction.

Efforts by radical left activists in shaping California’s ethnic studies curriculum demonstrates how CRT/intersectionality functions in the school system. Jews and Asians, although minorities and regardless of their individual achievements and life circumstances, are considered “white adjacent” and are therefore beneficiaries of the white power structure and contribute to the oppression of people of color. This framework disallows merit, the complexity of American society, and causes bigotry and ignorance.

Americans who choose to prioritize traditional values, are seen as “oppressor adjacent” and promoters of a “white supremacist” ideal. The result is that instead of leading to a more equal and better society under CRT/intersectionality the oppressors become oppressed, and the cycle of hate continues.

America is too diverse, complex, and open-hearted to be pitting fellow Americans against each other. It goes against the ethos of America’s “Golden Rule” of interpersonal respect and tolerance.

America was founded by people fleeing religious persecution. We built a society rooted in religious tolerance. The spread of CRT is a danger to every person of faith. We need to build alliances between Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and everyone who believes in objective right and wrong, and the traditional values on which this country is built.

Adam Milstein Praises CyberWell, the Web-Intelligence Platform, That Could Dramatically Reduce Antisemitism on Social Media

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This article was originally published in The Science Times on March 21st, 2023, written by David Thompson.

With online antisemitism impacting Jewish people every day, businessman turned venture philanthropist, Adam Milstein, is a supporter of CyberWell, the web-intelligence and database nonprofit platform, which aims to curb the rising antisemitism on social media.

Countering antisemitism is central to Adam Milstein’s philanthropic efforts, and the launch of a cutting-edge technological system that could minimize online Jew hatred marks significant progress when it comes to shaping a vast cyberspace.

“The AI [artificial intelligence] of CyberWell is helping monitor social media antisemitism in real time,” Milstein posted on Facebook. “Will social media giants take real action to curb the problem?”

This is far from Milstein’s first foray into fighting hate – online and off.

He’s a philanthropist and community leader whose work, through the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation, aims to strengthen American values, support the U.S. – Israel alliance and combat bigotry and hate in all forms. Adam Milstein is also a managing partner of the private commercial real estate investment firm Hager Pacific Properties and a Board Member and Chairman Emeritus of the Israeli-American Council, the IAC. Additionally, he sits on the boards of several organizations, such as StandWithUs, Hasbara Fellowships, Prager U, etc.

What Is CyberWell?

“CyberWell is actually the first open and live database of antisemitic content,” founder Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor told The Jerusalem Post, “and provides a wealth of information so that people can see the state of online antisemitism for their own eyes, both by interacting with the content and by using our visualization tools.”

Since May 2022, the database has used cutting-edge technology and open-source intelligence to scan social media platforms for antisemitic content; note which social media policies each piece of antisemitic content violates; and categorize each piece of content under one of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s 11 examples of antisemitism.

The name “CyberWell” reflects the concept of using open-source intelligence and improving the “wellness” of cyberspace. Meanwhile, the database’s slogan – “More data, less hate” – embodies CyberWell’s aim: to reduce antisemitism on social media and improve enforcement on these networks.

Reporting and acting on online antisemitism is essential, and CyberWell makes this possible at scale. Cohen Montemayor noted that some of the most hateful antisemitic content appears simultaneously in the “dark corners of the internet” and on mainstream social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok, where hundreds of millions of people are active every day.

Now, with CyberWell, social media networks have the opportunity and tools they need to clamp down on antisemitic content.

What Technology Does CyberWell Use?

CyberWell’s technology combines big data management, open-source intelligence, machine learning analysis, data collection, and dictionary development.

These technologies and disciplines enable CyberWell to monitor, identify, and vet antisemitism in multiple languages, uploading offensive posts to a live database that the public can access, search, and filter. The aim is to help social networks enforce community standards and take action when users post antisemitic content.

While many people downplay the severity of online antisemitism, the technology behind CyberWell uncovers how serious this content really is. Between May 2022 and January 2023, CyberWell analyzed more than 6,000 pieces of antisemitic content on social media – and its technology flagged over 110,000 pieces more.

But the problem extends beyond users posting and sharing antisemitic content. Social media networks rely on users to report content violations and, as a result, only take action against 20% to 25% of antisemitic posts. In fact, social media platforms leave antisemitic content online around 80% of the time.

What Does CyberWell Consider Antisemitism?

CyberWell uses the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism to categorize hateful content posted on social media. The IHRA definition of antisemitism encompasses several types of this hostility, prejudice, and discrimination, such as Holocaust denial, justifying the killing of Jewish people in the name of radical ideology, and denying Jewish people the right to self-determination in the State of Israel.

The United States and 37 other national governments (not to mention local governments, law enforcement agencies, international bodies like the United Nations, European Union, civil society organizations, and universities worldwide) have adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

What Platforms Does CyberWell Cover?

CyberWell tracks antisemitic text, hashtags, videos, and images on the five major social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok. The organization plans to expand into gaming and chat platforms like Telegram and Discord in the future.

What Work Has CyberWell Done?

Although some Jewish organizations have produced reports on antisemitism, they typically issue these once or twice a year and don’t share data. CyberWell builds on these reports by offering continuously updated data that anyone can access.

“Everybody should have access to this data because it’s the fastest growing form of online antisemitism,” Cohen Montemayor said. “The only way we will get a united response to the issue is if everyone has access to the data.”

CyberWell has also created tailored alerts that highlight spikes in antisemitism on each social media platform. These spikes tend to occur when individuals who have the power to influence others post antisemitic content.

This consistent monitoring and updating of information put pressure on social media networks to hold individuals accountable for posting and sharing antisemitic content, which is especially important in a world where global celebrities, who have a wide reach, post hate content and misinformation on social media.

For example, when Kanye West (now known as Ye) posted antisemitic comments on social media in November 2022, CyberWell’s monitoring technology reported an increase of 24,000% in content that used West’s name, and there was a 50% increase in messages saying that Jewish people control the economy and media.

CyberWell also uses its data to produce reports such as “CyberWell Alter: Online Antisemitism Spikes in Response to Ye” and “Data Insights: The State of Antisemitism on Twitter.”

Can You Use CyberWell?

Anyone can access CyberWell’s cloud-based database to analyze the antisemitic content it collates. Plus, while CyberWell uses pioneering technology to flag antisemitic content, viewers can use the site as a reporting platform to flag content they find.

Here are two ways to support CyberWell’s efforts: First, you may choose to donate to CyberWell and take a stand against antisemitism. The organization has a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor to ensure donations are tax-deductible. And secondly, partner with CyberWell to help the organization encourage social media platforms to act against antisemitic content.

The Undeniable Link Between Antisemitism and America’s Decline – Opinion

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This article was originally published in the The Jerusalem Post on January 16th, 2023, written by Adam Milstein.

 

It Starts with The Jews But Never Ends With The Jews.

 

It has become a truism that Jews are history’s “canary in the coal mine”. Across cultures and continents, where Jews have flourished, so have the societies around them. Where Jews have faced persecution and expulsion, it is usually a sign that darker forces are taking hold that will degrade, diminish, and often, destroy the broader society.

 

The examples of this phenomena are numerous and profound. Spain’s golden era of Jewish achievement brought unprecedented success to the Kingdom. Its expulsion of the Jews resulted in the country’s ultimate decline. Jews were central to Germany’s vibrant intellectual, artistic, and economic life in the 18th, 19th and 20th Centuries. Hitler’s evil and irrational hatred not only decimated European Jewry, but it also destroyed Germany, and tens of millions of lives across Europe as well.

 

With these history lessons in mind, how should we view the rising anti-Semitism in America today? As an inevitable reality that Jews have faced since Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? As a specific threat to our Jewish-American community that we have to fight for our own sake? Or as a danger to America – and the core values that have been the bedrock of this country’s rise?

 

It is all three of these things, however the most concerning is the last one. We should approach this fight – first and foremost – as Americans concerned about the way in which anti-Semitism reflects broader dangers to our way of life.

History of Antisemitism

 

The four main drivers of anti-Semitism in America – on the radical right, on the radical left, among radical Muslims, and among black supremacists, such as Louis Farrakhan—all happen to also hate America. These groups and their supporters all seek to undermine its core values of free speech, democracy, individual rights, equality, and religious pluralism. And they all see Jews – who have long championed these values – as easy prey. We are a useful target in their bigger struggle of changing America beyond recognition, in line with their extreme ideologies.

 

While Jew hatred from Black supremacists is a recent American phenomenon, the radical right, the radical left and the radical Muslims have hated Jews for hundreds or thousands of years. Each one of them promoting its own version of classical antisemitism which resulted in blood libels, pogroms, massacres and the holocaust.

 

Following the Holocaust, Antisemitism was politically incorrect in America for about 30 years, but a new kind of antisemitism started originating from Campus leftism of the 1960’s just after Israel’s miraculous victory in the 1967 Six-Day-War and the new military alliance it formed with America, which transformed the Jewish state, in the leftist mind, from David fighting Goliath into a Western imperialist and a colonialist over-dog.

 

From the moment Israel became the Goliath and an ally of America, the left also hated Israel because of its resemblance to America.

 

The New Anti-Western Religion

 

In the 1970s, Radical Left movements started forming alliances with radical Muslims groups because both positioned themselves as fighting against Western values and imperialism.

 

Despite the fact they are naturally completely misaligned in their belief systems and ideologies, this strategic partnership known as the red-green or Islamo-Left alliance, is based on anti-Western, anti-American, and anti-Zionist principles. While it emerged in Europe and the Middle east, this alliance took hold in America in the 1980s, primarily in institutions of higher education.

 

Critical Race Theory (CRT), rooted in Marxism, began to form around the same time, claiming that white people are inherently and irredeemably racist and benefit from various systemically racist “power structures.

 

CRT aligned organizations began pushing efforts to erode the core principles that make our country exceptional, replacing America’s commitment to individual rights and equality, meritocracy, rule of law, tolerance, pluralism, due process, freedom of speech, and free-market capitalism with policies centered on a racialized and violent world immersed in conspiracy theories and political polarization.

 

As a new bedfellows, the Islamo-Leftist alliance joined forces to promote radical ideologies in America including Critical Race Theory (CRT) and the theory of intersectionality, which argues marginalized and oppressed groups must come together to fight against oppressors, which included Israel and the Jews.

 

The New Antisemitism

 

The modern rise of antisemitism also known as the New Antisemitism kicked off at the start of the 21st century with the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement. With the Islamo Leftist alliance behind it, BDS, with its agenda to demonize the Jewish people and destroy the State of Israel, quickly moved from the fringes of our society and into the mainstream. Civil society organizations, American universities, and far-left politicians would come to endorse the BDS ideology.

 

Behind BDS, there has always stood a burning hatred of America, its exceptional liberal democratic and capitalist character, and worldwide influence, which is why it has been embraced by the far left and radical Muslims.

 

With American Jews unable to mount an effective defense against BDS due to our small numbers, division, and aversion to conflict, a door was opened for BDS to get incorporated into the Left’s radical ideologies as they have gained popularity over the past twenty years, normalizing antisemitism as an integral part of anti-Americanism.

 

Antisemitism is Now Part of the Left Radical Ideologies

 

BDS and CRT are now intimately intertwined through the left-wing theory of “intersectionality”, and are being aggressively implemented in the workplace and school through CRT-adjacent policies like DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) and Ethnic Studies Curriculums. Americans from an increasingly early age are being indoctrinated to view America as intrinsically evil that must be totally remade according to racialized and socialist ‘Woke’ standards.

 

Although Jews are a major target of these groups, the struggle is not really about us—the ultimate target has always been America.

 

American Jews need to create alliances with other Americans focused on helping the public to understand that anti-Semitism spreading BDS, CRT, Ethnic Studies and DEI are first and foremost a threat to our core American values. Nothing less than the future of America – and the Jewish American community – is at stake.

 

Adam Milstein is an Israeli-American “Venture Philanthropist.” He can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter, and on Facebook. This op-ed is published in partnership with a coalition of organizations that fight antisemitism across the world. Read the previous article by Marc Greendorfer.

 

Antisemitism is First and Utmost a Danger to America and Its Values

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This article was originally published in the Jewish Policy Center on January 6th, 2023, written by Adam Milstein 

 

At a summit held by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in November, FBI Director Christopher Wray spoke about “the tragic reality that the Jewish community uniquely ends up on the receiving end of hate-fueled attacks from all sides.” He referenced the white supremacist attacks in recent years in Poway and Pittsburgh, and the 2022 attack at the synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, motivated by “violent Jihad”. But it’s not just white supremacists and radical Muslims.

 

There are myriad of groups espousing Jews-hatred – the far-right, the far-left, radical Muslims, and black supremacists, such as Louis Farrakhan, to name a few. The reality is that these groups and their individual members and supporters pose a danger not only to the Jewish community, but to all Americans. Antisemites target Jews first, as they see the Jewish people as easy prey, but what they are really after is changing America beyond recognition, according to their distorted and extreme ideologies.

 

The tragic reality is that America as a whole is on the receiving end of hate-fueled attacks from all the radical elements of society. The fabric of America is disintegrating in front of our eyes at the hands of the sworn enemies of the American and the Jewish people.

 

The Mounting Threat for Jewish Americans

 

In recent years, the threat against American Jews, and consequently the American people, has been mounting. Per FBI Director Wray, “A full 63% of religious hate crimes are motivated by antisemitism—targeting a group that makes up just 2.4% of our population.”

 

Interestingly, this hate is one of the sole common threads between far-right, far-left, radical Muslim, and black supremacist ideologies. These groups are united by familiar antisemitic tropes of a nefarious and powerful Jewish or “Zionist” cabal that allegedly seeks to dominate and subjugate individuals, societies, and nations through behind-the-scenes scheming.

 

More and more, these hate groups, who at their core are enemies to each other, are coalescing and cooperating in their hatred of the Jewish people and the Jewish State.

 

How did we arrive to this point, and is Antisemism just a Jewish problem?

 

The Threat from the Far Right

 

Jew hatred from the far-right has grown in recent years with the popularization of the Great Replacement conspiracy theory, in which Jews are commonly held responsible for a plot to subjugate if not eliminate the white race through promotion of non-white mass immigration, feminism, transgenderism, and other supposedly devious schemes.

 

Hence, at the notorious white supremacist “Unite the Right” rally held in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2017, marchers feverishly chanted, “Jews will not replace us”.

 

Within the year, this unfolded into real world violence against Jews. In March 2018, 46-year-old white supremacist Robert Gregory Bowers killed 11 Jews at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during Shabbat services, the deadliest attack on Jews in America’s history. Blaming the Jews for mass migration to the U.S., Bowers posted on social media before the attack, “I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in.”

 

A little over a year later in April 2019, 19-year-old John Timothy Earnest burst into the Chabad of Poway synagogue outside San Diego, killing one congregant in a burst of gunfire, again during Sabbath services. In his manifesto, Earnest wrote, “Every Jew is responsible for the meticulously planned genocide of the European race. They act as a unit, and every Jew plays his part to enslave the other races around him—whether consciously or subconsciously.”

 

As I’ve warned, the Jews were just the first, most attractive target. Soon these attacks spread to the rest of America. In August 2019, a far-right shooter targeted Latinos in an El Paso, Texas Walmart, killing 23. In May 2022, a far-right shooter targeted black Americans at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, killing 10. Both cited the “Great Replacement” theory as motivations for their attacks.

 

The Threat from Black Nationalists

 

Jew hatred doesn’t only come from white nationalists, but also from black nationalists, who since the 1960’s have been advocating for a major national influence through the Nation of Islam (NOI) and their co-hordes through race pride for African Americans and black separatism.

 

Hatred of Jews has long been brewing in the black community. Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the antisemitic Nation of Islam (NOI), has been a prominent voice in the community for decades.

 

Farrakhan spews hateful venom at Jews, alleging that the Jewish people were responsible for the slave trade and that they conspire to control the government, the media and Hollywood, as well as various black individuals and organizations. He frequently denies the legitimacy of Judaism – or the Jewish claim to the Land of Israel – arguing that “Judaism is nothing more than a ‘deceptive lie’ and a ‘theological error’ promoted by Jews to further their ‘control’ over America’s government and economy.”

 

The severity of this problem burst onto the national scene in December 2019, with a spate of attacks against the Jewish community in the New York metropolitan area. On December 10, two heavily armed individuals connected to the Black Hebrew Israelite (BHI) movement murdered three people at a kosher supermarket in Jersey City, New Jersey. Weeks later, on December 28, a BHI-inspired individual attacked a Hanukkah gathering in Monsey, New York with a large knife, killing 72-year-old Rabbi Josef Neumann.

 

Once again, this hate then reared its head from Jews to the rest of society. In November 2021, Darrell Brooks, a black nationalist drove his SUV into a crowd of Christmas parade attendees in Waukesha, Wisconsin, killing six people and wounding dozens. In April 2022, another black nationalist Frank Robert James perpetrated a mass shooting on the New York City subway during rush hour, injuring 29. James’s online incitement and bigotry included antisemitic diatribes.

 

Farrakhan’s views are echoed in the recent antisemitic outbursts of famed rapper Kanye West, who now goes by “Ye”. Kanye is now claiming, “Somehow our country has been taken over by, you know, maybe about 300 Zionists.” Farrakhan and Kanye have actually been publicly connected for years, with West referring to him as “sensei” in one of his songs.

 

When Kanye talks about blacks being the real Jews, he mimics the beliefs of the Black Hebrew Israelites (BHI). While white supremacists say “Jews will not replace us”, BHI followers say they are us. Just this past month, a group of BHI marchers in Brooklyn ominously chanted, “we are the real Jews”.

 

And now Kanye has united with the far right, bringing white supremacist Nick Fuentes along with him when dining with former President Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago on November 22.

 

The “Red-Green” Alliance: The Threat from the Radical Left & Radical Muslims

 

Not to be outdone, the radical left has been ramping up its Jew hatred for decades, disguising it using hatred for the homeland of the Jewish people, the State of Israel. This radical group new kind of new antisemitism initially gained intellectual currency in universities and other leftist intellectual circles. Today, modern anti-Semitism can be found among members of the radical Left, who are inherently anti-American and  see Israel as a symbol of American and Western imperialism, aggressive military rule and the violation of human rights.

 

Similarly, radical Muslims have long sought Israel’s destruction and promulgated conspiracies of Jewish Zionist global domination. Despite the fact that radical Muslims and leftists are naturally completely misaligned in their belief systems and ideologies, they have joined forces and as the Reut Group warns, “The strategic partnership between the radical left and political Islam, known as the red-green or Islamo-Left alliance, emerged in Europe, but it has migrated to the US in recent years.” Despite their hatred and intolerance to each other they have a shared agenda that is anti-Western, anti-American, and anti-Zionist.

 

The New Antisemites Report by StopAntisemitism.org and Zachor Legal Institute in which anti-Zionism or hatred of Israel is utilized as an acceptable stand-in for the classical hatred of Jews documents how this contemporary hate, as disseminated by the Islamo-Left so-called “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” (BDS) Movement, is negatively influencing large segments of the United States’ population and creating a dangerous environment that normalizes vilification of Jews, as well as inciting violence against Jews, something that history has shown to have deadly consequences.

 

The radical left have also been promoting Critical Race Theory (CRT) and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs on universities and high schools contributing to antisemitism in the American education system. However, antisemitism is not just a Jewish problem – it is an American problem and while CRT and DEI policies may disproportionately target and harm Jewish students, their agenda ultimately seeks to undermine and replace fundamental American values and replace it with its own radical vision.

 

The trend of intersectionality has accelerated the Islamo-Left collaboration.

 

The strange alliance between the radical Left and radical Muslims – two groups that, despite their seemingly incompatible worldviews, happily collaborate against Israel and the Jews, can be explained by the theory of intersectionality adopted by many in the far Left. According to this theory, groups that consider themselves neglected and discriminated against must come together to fight against each of those groups’ supposed enemies.

 

This new partnership was on full display during the last major conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in May 2021, when terror groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad launched more than 4,000 rockets and mortars at Israeli civilians. Back in America, we witnessed stunning and unprecedented scenes in New York, Los Angeles, and other major progressive urban centers of Jews being assaulted by mobs of anti-Israel activists. This surge of anti-Jewish hate also included harassment, vandalism and online abuse.

 

Few could have imagined that such a wave of violence against Jews in major American cities would be possible within living memory of the Holocaust. Jews in America often fear walking the streets wearing Jewish symbols, congregating outside Jewish community buildings, or even speaking Hebrew or Yiddish in public. This is a growing threat to American society. Street violence and hate speech is replacing the American principles of reasoned discourse and debate.

 

Through intersectionality, the Red-Green alliance seeks to replace the universal virtues of tolerance, pluralism, freedom of speech, and rule of law with racialized “anti-racism”, hierarchical critical race theory, discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies, intolerant “cancel culture”, and the censorship of “de-platforming”.

 

Danger at Our Doorstep

 

As I’ve repeatedly warned, defining antisemitism as a Jewish problem is a lose-lose proposition. Antisemitism is a threat to America, as it is a harbinger of rising violent extremism that will soon consume us all.

 

Together, those who foremost target Jews – white and black nationalists as well as the Red-Green alliance of the left and Islamists – are a fundamental threat to America and its values. These radical groups are spearheading efforts to erode the core principles that make our country exceptional, replacing America’s commitment to individual rights and equality, meritocracy, rule of law, tolerance, pluralism, due process, freedom of speech, and free-market capitalism with a racialized and violent world steeped in conspiracy theories and political polarization.

 

The Jewish people have long been portrayed as the sacrificial “canary in the coal mine”, a powerless creature that will warn others of danger through its demise. But here we are, not a canary, but as an eagle, warning Americans of the looming threats on the horizon. Heed our warnings.

 

Adam Milstein is an Israeli-American “Impact Philanthropist.” He can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter @AdamMilstein, and on Facebook www.facebook.com/AdamMilsteinCP.