Tiauna Lodewyk

In an interview with Harbinger's Daily, Jonathan Karten, the IDF veteran hospitalized from the activists' violence, explained the chaotic events: “I came to tell the students my story, then we were first attacked by 5-8 people, one of whom was wielding a drill bit, which they used to break the glass of the door I was holding shut. We then had to barricade the second door until the police came.”

We witnessed some antisemitic graffiti and acts of Jew-hate in Florence, Venice, and Verona, but nothing could have prepared me for the barrage of Jewish hatred we encountered in Rome—the heart of ancient civilization. In some areas, entire walls were coated with slogans, many not merely masking themselves as pro-Palestinian, but unashamedly proclaiming Jew-hatred.

If these beliefs are simmering beneath the surface, what's keeping them from rising to the forefront? It's not the horror of saying "Jews should burn" that holds them back; it's the fear of what might happen if someone hears them say it. Any apprehension by the students is not rooted in moral conviction, but in the consequences of being exposed. That should be the most alarming part of all—and a wake-up call for every university that claims an atmosphere meant to foster constructive dialogue and open-minded education.

In Canada, Nohad was confronted by an anti-Israel protester calling him a Nazi and accusing him of supporting genocide and apartheid. Nohad calmly asked, “What do you know about Arab Israelis?” When the protester responded, “You’re depressing and genociding them!” Nohad simply replied, “I am an Israeli Arab,” rendering the protester speechless. Nohad’s personal story challenges the narratives that paint Israel as anything other than a democratic country that values equal rights for all. 

At its root, antisemitism poignantly reveals the battle — ideological, but also spiritual — that exists surrounding Israel and the Jewish people. I believe that God chose the Jewish people and set them apart to be a light for all nations. The Lord Himself promised the Jewish people the land of Israel forever, where His name is set and where the Messiah, Jesus Christ, will return to reign from Jerusalem.