If the barbaric acts of Hamas murderers, rapists, and kidnappers are emulated and glorified by pro-Hamas supporters, what prevents them from crossing the line into the acts of violence we have seen over the past year
One of the most famous Jewish lawyers of our time, Alan M. Dershowitz, himself a renowned attorney, law professor, and author, wrote a book about the biblical patriarch Abraham who was not only the forefather of the Jewish people, but according to him was also the world’s first Jewish lawyer; “the patriarch of the legal profession: a defense lawyer for the damned who was willing to risk everything, even the wrath of God, in defense of his clients.”
Dershowitz demonstrated how today’s typical American Jewish lawyer and the patriarch Abraham share many characteristics such as a willingness to challenge authority and stand up for the rights of others.
Throughout the millennia, and leading up until the modern era as well, Jews have reached prominence and the pinnacle of the legal justice system as judges in America – among them Brandeis, Cardozo, and Felix Frankfurter. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the first Jewish woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court. In Britain between 1996 and 2008, two of Britain’s three Lord Chief Justices were Jewish: Peter Taylor and Harry Woolf. In Germany in the early 1930s, though Jews were 0.7 per cent of the population, they represented 16.6 per cent of lawyers and judges. Today, 50% of New York City’s lawyers are Jewish and there are hundreds of thousands of Jewish lawyers throughout the world, high and beyond their percentage of the population wherever they reside.
The laws’ interpreters differentiate and make a distinction between supporting violent consequences and the actual committing of violence. Even those demonstrators or activists who fantasize and want to see all Jews dead are, in their view, protected by their first amendment right to free speech, as long as their actions are unconnected to actual violence. But incitement to violence is not protected by free speech.
This widespread interpretation of the first amendment defies the lessons of 9/11 and the massacre perpetuated by Hamas on Oct 7, 2023. Pro-Hamas supporters who support genocide against Jews and the State of Israel, such as those who chant “from the river to the sea” or “globalize the intifada,” in the campuses and on the streets of American cities can and have crossed the blurred line between free speech, speech promoting violence and committing actual violence. In their minds participating in such acts themselves has become justifiable and held up as an understandable reaction to Israel’s war of self-defense on Hamas.
If the barbaric acts of Hamas murderers, rapists, and kidnappers are emulated and glorified by these pro-Hamas and pro-Palestinian Arab supporters, then what prevents them from crossing the line into domestic terrorism as we have seen over the past year.
The growing list of hate crimes, shootings, knifings, physical attacks, arson, and vandalism against Jews and Jewish institutions from those who sympathize with Hamas, the Palestinian Arabs and their political goals has already shown us that the line that separates rhetoric calling for violence against Jews and domestic terrorism no longer exists. Instead we are witnesses to unlimited examples of judicial appeasement and non-existent police enforcement culminating in a general atmosphere of Jew hatred becoming the new norm.
Should you decide to simply walk around town in the West as an identifiable Jew, you are literally endangering your life. It seems as if the judicial system and the enforcement authorities are simply unconcerned when it comes to protecting the Jews of America, England, Australia, and the European continent.
Despite pro-Hamas supporters continuing their disruption of campus life for Jewish as well as non-Jewish students, and the disruption of free movement on the streets and roadways of America, and other major cities of the world; why does the Jewish communal world, the major Jewish organizations that raise well over a billion dollars a year for Jewish causes, seem unable or unwilling to implement a coordinated and effective legal response to hold those committing violence against the Jews accountable by compelling local, state, and federal district attorney’s, police authorities, the FBI and other relevant federal authorities to act.
These legal, enforcement, and judicial authorities can discourage and create the necessary deterrence by investigating the very real threat of domestic terror by Hamas and pro-Palestinian Arab supporters.
Over the past four years, the Biden administration’s Department of Justice has shown little if any interest in investigating and holding the tens of thousands of pro-Hamas demonstrators, activists, and sympathizers legally accountable for their actions. The major Jewish organizations have refrained from enlisting a small army of Jewish lawyers to petition district attorney’s, public prosecutors, FBI investigative teams, and the judiciary to do their job and criminalize the surge of anti-Semitism and Jew hatred.
Why the hesitancy? Are major Jewish organizations, who themselves are closely aligned with the Democratic Party and many of today’s progressives policies unwilling to question their blind allegiance to a worldview that has been formed by toxic radical anti-Jew ideologies? The liberal and progressive mainstream in the judiciary, in the media, and in academia who insist on treating these pro-Hamas and anti-Jew supporters as nothing more than well-meaning “idealists” has to be challenged and Jew haters need to know that there are consequences for their actions.
At the forefront of demanding legal accountability are two niche organizations that were brought to my attention; “The Lawfare Project” established by attorney Brooke Goldstein – serves as a legal think tank and litigation fund to uphold the civil and human rights of the Jewish people and attorney Lori Lowenthal Marcus who founded “The Deborah Project” – use legal skills and tools to uncover, publicize and dismantle anti-Semitic abuses in educational systems, with the aim of bringing wrongdoers to justice and deterring future abuses.
Major Jewish organizations themselves must be held accountable for not challenging the progressive legal world to do their job and start indicting and jailing those Hamas supporters who have crossed the line from free speech to incitement to violence and often, the violence itself. Federal and state laws can easily be applied against those participating in hate crimes and domestic terrorism against Jews.
The lack of initiative by these major Jewish organizations is appallingly apparent and must stop now. Jews are threatened daily, Jews can no longer depend on the law to protect them, and Jews are being blamed for being the victims of this hatred.
Ron Jager grew up in the South Bronx of New York City, making Aliyah in 1980. Served for 25 years in the IDF as a Mental Health Field Officer in operational units. Prior to retiring was Commander of the Central Psychiatric Clinic for Reserve Solders at Tel-Hashomer. Since retiring has been involved in strategic consultancy to NGO’s and communities in the Gaza Envelope on resiliency projects to assist first responders and communities. Ron has written numerous articles for outlets in Israel and abroad focusing on Israel and the Jewish world. To contact: medconf@gmail.com, Website: www.ronjager.com.
The Jews are just like rape victims: it is much easier to blame the victim than the aggressor.
The solution is not to become the aggressor, it is to gain the respect of the aggressors so that they no longer feel that their aggression is in any way profitable. When a man marries a women, he should be happy to have a partner rather than a victim. They are in this together, not against one another. By the way, when a woman marries a man, the same applies.