Even before the Hamas atrocities of October 7, anti-Semitism was on the rise on college campuses across the United States. Jew-haters did not need Israel's military response to heap venom on Jews. It has always been there, taking many forms throughout history.
Yet there have always been strong, courageous voices outside the Jewish community that have pushed back against the bigotry.
Consider the essay of Mark Twain who, in 1899 wrote an essay in the publication Harper's that is relevant today as it was at the turn of that century. An excerpt reveals his insight:
"If the statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one per cent. of the human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of star-dust lost in the blaze of the Milky Way. Properly the Jew ought hardly to be heard of; but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the planet as any other people, and his commercial importance is extravagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk. His contributions to the world's list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse learning are also away out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers.
"He has made a marvellous fight in this world, in all the ages; and has done it with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself, and be excused for it. The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed, and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished.
"The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?"
Mark Twain pulled no punches, especially when he observed that Jews confronted every murderous assault with one hand tied behind their backs. Some 40 years after he penned this essay, the Holocaust would see the industrialized murder of six million Jews, an episode that would change the arc of Jewish history forever.
Israel's ongoing response to the Hamas massacre reflects the unshakable determination that never again will Jew-haters be able to inflict their murders with bloody impunity.
The Jew-haters now chanting anti-Semitic slogans from their college campus refuges will discover in due time that they too will find their bigotry consigned to the ash heap of history. If they doubt it, just read Mark Twain.
Lawrence Kadish serves on the Board of Governors of Gatestone Institute.
Robert I. Kabakoff