America\u2019s growing antisemitism problem is proving an existential test for Democrats across the country, but it\u2019s incumbent on all of good will to fight it \u2014 and not with lame \u201cHolocaust education\u201d initiatives.<\/p>\n
In an April poll by McLaughlin Associates<\/a>, 15% of Long Islanders said the Holocaust is exaggerated to some extent (or refused to answer the question); 30% said Jews should just \u201cmove on\u201d from the history-breaking barbarity of the camps.\u00a0<\/p>\n Disheartening sad results from a largely suburban region with a significant Jewish population \u2014 and this is far from the only data.<\/p>\n In a national poll done for Blue Square Alliance<\/a> in December, 27% of respondents said Jews \u201ccause problems in the world\u201d; 18% saw Jews as a threat to America\u2019s unity.\u00a0<\/p>\n And both numbers nearly doubled on the same questions in 2023.<\/p>\n An Anti-Defamation League report<\/a> last May found that antisemitic incidents in the United States rose for the fourth consecutive year in 2024, to 9,354 \u2014the highest ever in the 45 years of ADL record-keeping.<\/p>\n \t\t\tMore From\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPost Editorial Board<\/p>\n And the trend\u2019s been brewing since well before Oct. 7, 2023 and Israel\u2019s response: A 2020 study found that double-digits percentages of Gen Zers and millennials in most US states<\/a> believed Jews caused the Holocaust.\u00a0<\/p>\n No doubt, the growing presence of radical Islamist movements in America (as witness the Gracie Mansion would-be terror bombers<\/a>) plays a role here, but these numbers suggest this is becoming a \u201cnormie\u201d phenomenon, no longer confined to the surging hard left.<\/p>\n Well-meaning liberals have long hoped to combat these attitudes with \u201ceducation\u201d \u2014 on the Holocaust, on the ugly history of antisemitic rhetoric, etc.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tGet opinions and commentary from our columnists\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter!\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Sorry, that\u2019s wishful thinking: The Holocaust is endlessly taught, researched, and discussed in America in schools at all levels and via novels, films, and other media; such lecturing doesn\u2019t move the ball forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n No: What this evil requires is confrontation in the public sphere, from culture high and low to media and politics.<\/p>\n Of this last, there is too little.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yes, President Donald Trump condemns Jew-hate even among his one-time allies, and most other Republicans are OK.<\/p>\n Modern Democrats, not so much.\u00a0<\/p>\n Right here in New York, home to the nation\u2019s biggest Jewish population, Dems elected a mayor who spreads antisemitic conspiracy theories<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n In Michigan, rising star Abdul al-Sayed justified the attempted terrorist attack<\/a> on a synagogue on the grounds that Israel is fighting Hezbollah.\u00a0<\/p>\n Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson spread the blood libel<\/a> that Israel\u2019s fight against Hamas was genocide.\u00a0<\/p>\n 2028 Dem frontrunner Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed the lie<\/a> that Israel is an apartheid state.\u00a0<\/p>\n