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If Jewish houses of worship are now as controversial as abortion clinics, then antisemitism has reached a tipping point that requires a stronger response than mere buffer zones.

(Dec. 5, 2025 / JNS) When faced with a problem, the political class always knows what to do: They pass a law that, while not always useless, is usually more about dealing with appearances than substance.

When the X account “StopAntisemitism” put out its annual list of finalists for their “Anti-Semite of the Year” award, a social media firestorm was ignited. This was due to the inclusion of Rachel Griffin Accurso, otherwise known as Ms. Rachel, who has built a multimillion-dollar empire on the promise that she is unconditionally “pro-child.” Her brand is pastel-soaked, puppet-filled, and meant for toddlers. Yet a closer look at her public positions reveals a far more selective definition of which children deserve her voice and which ones can be quietly ignored when the politics become inconvenient.

Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation on December 1 authorizing the building of a Holocaust memorial at Empire State Plaza in Albany. Facing the ornate State Capitol in Albany, the long processional walkway serves as New York’s version of the National Mall, with monuments to veterans, Martin Luther King Jr., firefighters, police officers, and sculptures by prominent artists.

In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, we had a moment of moral clarity in which we seemed to recognize that the Western world was facing something very serious, and it would have to be dealt with accordingly if we hoped to preserve our civilization as a whole: America, Israel, and Europe equally. We identified the enemy as “radical Islam,” and mobilized our resources to combat it globally.

More than a year ago, in West Orange, New Jersey, a group of pro-Hamas protesters gathered in front of a synagogue — a house of worship with nothing to do with foreign politics. During that protest, one of the radicals violently attacked an elderly Jewish man who was simply trying to attend services. Dr. Moshe Glick intervened to protect the victim and ended up injuring the attacker. Yet it was Dr. Glick, the defender, who was arrested and charged with aggravated assault.

The antisemitic massacre in Australia did not shock anyone who has been paying attention. What should shock us is not that Jews were targeted, but that so many still pretend this violence is an aberration. It is not. It is the foreseeable outcome of decades of denial—about Islamist antisemitism, about the failure of Western multiculturalism, and about the catastrophic delusion and misdiagnosis by Jewish leadership.