A Jewish College Kid’s Warning About the Left’s Antisemitism Problem

I’m not a Holocaust historian. I’m not a rabbi. I’m not even the most observant Jew in my family. I’m just a 20-year-old Jewish guy from Manhattan, trying to finish my engineering degree at Georgetown without getting side-eyed for wearing a chai necklace. And I’m here to tell you: something feels off.

Last Saturday, at Temple Beth Shalom back home, someone muttered during kiddush, “It’s starting to feel like 1930s Germany.” And instead of the usual eye rolls that follow historical hyperbole, there was a moment of silence. Because yeah—it does feel eerily familiar. The isolation. The scapegoating. The shrugging off of hate as “just criticism.”

Except this time, it’s not coming from some neo-Nazi group in Idaho. It’s coming from TikTok stars, DEI-approved faculty lounges, and Columbia University lawn-sitters with smartphones and megaphones.

We’ve got a problem. And the problem is this: the modern left has made antisemitism fashionable again, so long as you label it “anti-Zionism.”

I. Let’s Start with the Ivy League—Because That’s Where Decency Went to Die

Columbia University used to be a place where ideas were exchanged and freedom of expression was a virtue. Now, it’s where Jewish students have to text each other, “Are you okay walking to class today?”

In April 2024, a pro-Hamas “liberation encampment” took over the lawn at Columbia. Jewish students reported being spat on, chased, and told “Zionists don’t belong here.” One had their kippah knocked off. Another was told to “go back to Poland.”¹

Let’s pause on that. Go back to Poland. The same phrase my great-grandparents fled to avoid pogroms and gas chambers—now echoed in Morningside Heights by kids with iPhones and Palestinian flags.

Faculty didn’t help. Columbia professor Joseph Massad called Hamas’s attacks “awesome” and described Israel as a “settler colony.”² Meanwhile, university administrators sent out emails about “free expression zones” and “sensitivity,” but God forbid they mention that Jewish students were the ones being harassed.

II. TikTok’s Algorithm of Hate

On TikTok, where facts go to die and influencers get their talking points from activist listicles, antisemitism is thriving under the fig leaf of “Palestinian solidarity.”

Search “Free Palestine” and scroll the comments. I did. It’s a horror show:

• “Zionists are the new Nazis.”
• “Hitler wasn’t wrong, he just didn’t finish the job.”
• “Jews run the media and cry antisemitism when they get called out.”

These are not isolated trolls. These are blue-check creators with half a million followers. And their videos are being algorithmically promoted to teens scrolling between Starbucks drink reviews and Dua Lipa clips.

I watched one Jewish girl calmly post a video about her fears walking to class. The response? “Maybe if your people didn’t colonize Palestine, you wouldn’t be scared.” Sorry, is that supposed to be empathy?

III. “Zionist” = “Jew” = Target

On the modern left, “Zionist” is now used as a convenient euphemism to bash Jews while pretending to only criticize Israel. But let’s get real: when you say “Zionist,” you usually mean “any Jew who isn’t ashamed of being Jewish.”

At Stanford, Jewish students were told by activists they had to denounce Zionism in order to attend a public “liberation” event.³ At Berkeley Law, nine student groups amended their constitutions to bar “Zionist” speakers from participating.⁴ Translation: no Israelis, no pro-Israel Jews, no one who disagrees with their niche, post-colonial Marxist dogma.

Imagine if a campus group said “no Black conservatives allowed.” There’d be a media meltdown. But when it’s Jews? The left shrugs. Maybe they’ll draft a diversity memo to apologize for the “misunderstanding.”

IV. And Then There’s the Squad…

You’d think the self-proclaimed party of inclusion might want to include Jews. Instead, progressive lawmakers like Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib routinely push antisemitic tropes and are applauded for their “courage.”

Omar said in 2019 that U.S. support for Israel is “all about the Benjamins.”⁵ Tlaib tweeted that Israel was conducting “genocide” during its war against Hamas, and publicly repeated the false claim that Israel bombed a hospital in Gaza—*even after it was proven to be a rocket misfire by Islamic Jihad.*⁶

When Jewish Democrats criticized them? Silence. When Republicans criticized them? Accusations of Islamophobia.

Newsflash: antisemitism doesn’t get a progressive hall pass just because it’s wrapped in intersectional hashtags.

V. The “From the River to the Sea” Problem

Let me explain something to my non-Jewish friends: the chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is not a call for peaceful coexistence. It’s a call for the eradication of Israel. There is no version of that map where Israel continues to exist. And yet, that chant has been heard in protests outside synagogues, in cities from Brooklyn to San Francisco.

These rallies aren’t fringe anymore. They’re organized by Democratic Socialists of America chapters—yes, the same DSA endorsed by AOC. Posters include bloodied Stars of David and slogans like “Zionists aren’t welcome here.”

You want to tell me that’s just “criticism of policy”? Sure. Just like Kristallnacht was a noise complaint.

VI. Why It Feels Like 1930s Germany

Let’s do a little side-by-side:

1930s Germany	2020s Progressive Spaces
Jews were scapegoated for national problems.	Jews blamed for “oppression” abroad.
Jewish businesses boycotted	Jewish student orgs de-platformed
Kippahs knocked off in public.	Kippahs knocked off at Columbia.
Professors spew antisemitic ideology	Professors glorify Hamas attacks
Passivity from leadership	Passivity from university deans and media

I’m not saying we’re on the brink of another Holocaust. But if you wait until you are sure, it’s already too late.

VII. I’m Not Going Anywhere

Look, I’m not the type to start a revolution. I just want to graduate, take photos of bridges (I’m into structural engineering), and root for the Mets. But I won’t stay quiet while people turn me into a villain for being Jewish.

I’m a proud Jew. I believe in Israel’s right to exist. I believe it can do better, like every democracy. But I won’t apologize for its existence any more than I’ll apologize for mine.

If you say “Zionist” with a sneer in your voice, you’re probably not just mad at Netanyahu’s coalition—you’re mad at me. And I’m done pretending otherwise.

Final Word

To every well-meaning liberal reading this who’s thinking, “But I support Jews! I’m just angry about Gaza!”—then show it. Speak out against the hate. Stop tolerating chants that call for the destruction of Israel. Don’t look the other way when your progressive heroes amplify Hamas talking points.

Because if you keep walking down this path and tell yourself it’s just about politics, one day you’ll wake up and realize you built a movement that has no room for Jews.

Never again isn’t just a slogan. It’s a responsibility. It’s a warning.

And it’s starting to feel a little too familiar.