I am a proud Jew. I look forward to Saturday services. I attend a religious sleepaway camp in the summer. I celebrate every Jewish holiday with friends and family. Both the religion itself and the various experiences that come with it have shaped who I am today. However, being Jewish has also caused me to live in a constant state of fear. While buying challah at the grocery store, I hide it under the other items in my cart. While sitting on an airplane to go visit relatives, I tell my brother to be quiet when he mentions we are going to Israel. Even while walking around school, I tuck the Star of David pendant on my necklace under my shirt. 

The feeling of being afraid to express my religion is not solely something I experience; rather, it is widely shared among American Jews. According to a 2019 survey by the nation’s leading Jewish advocacy group, the American Jewish Committee (AJC), 31 percent of Jews have avoided going out in public with clothing or other items that relate to Judaism and 25 percent avoid going to certain places or attending events because they do not feel welcome there as a Jew. With constant comments and actions targeted toward American Jews, it feels like antisemitism has been normalized in our country. 

While the number of Americans who witnessed acts and comments of antisemitism declined after the Holocaust, dropping from 64 percent in 1946 to 12 percent in 1959, according to The Atlantic, recent surges in antisemitism have forced these numbers back up. The Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents found that the U.S. experienced 2,107 antisemitic incidents in 2019, which is a 12 percent increase from the 1,879 incidents seen in 2018 and the highest number recorded since the first Audit of Antisemitic Incidents in 1979. 

Similarly, on May 10, when conflict broke out between Israel and Palestine, the world responded with a wave of antisemitism; according to ABC news, there were over 200 antisemitic acts in the United States during the 11-day dispute. A repeated pattern throughout Israel’s conflicts, it is evident that Jews end up taking the blame for the Israeli government’s actions, even though being Jewish does not always equate with being p

ro-Israel. 

While it is true that Israel was originally established as a “Jewish state,” the country also promotes religious freedom for everyone, beyond Judaism. As reported by The Times of Israel, the Palestinian population in the country has doubled over the past decade. In addition, a poll by The Hebrew University found that 70 percent of Israelis support the creation of a Palestine state. As a group that has experienced immeasurable oppression throughout history, it would be unfair for Jews to do the same to others. It is the country’s responsibility to protect all its citizens –– regardless of their religion –– and not persecute others. And while this means the Israeli government must change its actions and evade genocide, Jews, especially those in Israel, must work harder to respect religious freedom and allow Palestian’s into their country in the same way they would have wanted during the Holocaust. 

With the actions of Israel severely affecting the treatment of Jews in America, it is important for Jews to become a bigger topic of conversation. A study conducted by the American Enterprise Institute, a think tank that gathers research on public policies, reported that in 2018, Jews were 2.7 times more likely than Black Americans and 2.2 times more likely than Muslim Americans to be the victims of hate crimes, accounting for 57 percent of all religious-based hate crimes. 

As Jews are constantly confronted by hate speech and violence, the United States needs to do more to protect us in the same way they are putting laws in place to protect other minorities. It is not right that someone can tell me they support Hitler with little or no punishment. It is not right that someone can draw swastikas on public places with little or no punishment. It is not right that someone can tell me they want to kill all Jews with little or no punishment. If change is not made, American Jews, like me, will continue to live in a constant state of fear.