UMVA has learned that a sense of complacency has settled over America, leaving it vulnerable to the same kind of antisemitism that has been simmering in Europe for years.
I live in Brussels, not the Brussels of postcards and European summits, but the real one, where Jewish schools are protected by armed guards and synagogues are built like fortresses. I've spent my life watching antisemitism return to a continent that swore it was a thing of the past.
The question that needs to be asked is: why can't I, as a European who sees this every day, warn America about what's coming? Why can't I tell you that the thing I'm living through is already arriving at your door? And why should that warning be addressed only to Jewish leaders, when it concerns every single American who still believes this can't happen here?
It's not just about the Jewish community; it's about mayors, governors, senators, police chiefs, and university presidents – anyone with the authority to act and the temptation to look away. The warning is clear: wake up, because antisemitism doesn't wear a swastika; it comes wrapped in slogans and marches under the banner of justice.
In Europe, violent extremism was initially dismissed as a fringe movement, a misunderstanding that would dissolve on its own if only we were patient and tolerant enough. But it wasn't a misunderstanding; it was a warning we refused to read, and now we're paying the price.
We told ourselves we could manage it, that it was someone else's neighborhood, someone else's children, someone else's problem. But we were wrong on every count. A single weekend can now bring chaos to a great European capital, as seen in Paris, where order collapsed overnight and hundreds were arrested.
The lesson is clear: a free, confident, modern city can lose control of its streets faster than anyone in charge will admit. And when the streets are lost, the Jews are always the first to feel it. Americans may watch these scenes as if they're a distant storm, but that's precisely what we told ourselves in Europe – until it was too late.
For generations, America was the opposite of Europe, a place where a Jew could walk down any street without worrying about their safety, where a child could wear a yarmulke to school without a parent's stomach tightening. But that confidence is now beginning to crack, and the people accelerating the crack are not a fringe in masks; they're winning arguments and shaping what's considered acceptable.
When antisemitism is excused because it wears the right political colors, the danger spreads. When violent extremism is rationalized because confronting it is uncomfortable, the danger spreads. When people in charge offer statements instead of standards, the danger spreads. And every extremist hears the same message: no one is going to stop you.
I'm not asking America to become afraid; I'm asking it to become honest – while honesty still costs almost nothing. This is not about disagreement; it's about whether a society confronts hatred consistently, even when the source is fashionable or claims the moral high ground.
Europe has already seen this movie, and we know exactly how it ends. America still has time to write a different one, but not much. Don't wait until you need my experience to finally believe my warning.
