Every club has something that sets its members apart. Political parties, groups, sports organizations, and even gyms have membership cards, symbols, or unique flags to designate who does and does not belong. Even the "International Morality Club" has an entry card. It can be found at student conferences at universities around the world, in various online forums, at every protest, and in every speech by an Israeli ambassador or public figure. The entry card I am referring to is, of course, Israel hatred.
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The "International Morality Club" has a wide variety of symbols and slogans, including mentions of the "apartheid state," calls to boycott Israel, and claims that the IDF massacres children, among others. By waving the club's flag, you gain entry into the club. Rejection of the flag will result in your being declared a despicable fascist.
Radical, unfettered, and irrational Israel hatred is the antisemitism of our time. When the despicable Jews dared to establish their own state that could protect them, it quickly became the target of a deep-rooted hatred that has been around for thousands of years. Young people in the US and Europe are fed this hatred from the propaganda spread by so-called "human rights" organizations. The way they see it, Israel is to blame for all the evil in the world. It controls the global economy and engineers pandemics, among other accusations.
When the world marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Thursday, we will come together with the purveyors of truth and seekers of historical justice from around the world. Fighting for a common cause, we struggle against every manifestation of antisemitism, whether it be the modern antisemitism seen in online incitement or the classic antisemitism seen in the desecration of graves; the antisemitism that promotes hatred in universities and the antisemitism that leads to synagogue shootings; the antisemitism promoted by politicians, as well as the antisemitism that results in deadly terrorist attacks, including here in Israel. This is a day when our cries are heard across the world: Antisemitism is antisemitism is antisemitism. It doesn't matter what shape it takes on or under what pretenses it tries to hide.
I believe the most effective way to fight antisemitism today is to incorporate a sense of Jewish pride while kicking the antisemites out of the club. We must do everything we can to drive these people out of our camp through the imposition of heavy penalties and sanctions.
To this end, I am acting to enlist world leaders to officially adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's working definition of antisemitism. By adopting this definition, governments around the world will be able to take significant steps against displays of antisemitism. These efforts are bearing fruit, and many countries are joining the effort. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrisson recently wrote me to inform me he had publicly declared his intentions of adopting the IHRA definition. "We must act together with determination and reject every word and action that include manifestations of antisemitism toward individuals, communities, or religious sites." If the world were to do the same, the number of antisemites would dwindle until they were left to huddle in the only place they deserve: outside the club.
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