In Iraq, being a Jew made me a target. Now I feel unsafe at home. | Opinion
The threats I confronted and precautions I took as a soldier in Iraq are now a new reality in America. It is no secret that hatred for Jews is on the rise.
The horrific attack June 1 in Boulder, Colorado, against predominantly Jews marching to raise awareness for the hostages held in Gaza is yet another sad example that there is no safe place to be a Jew.
The irony is that as an American Jew deployed as an Army officer to Iraq, I understood the risks of my service. I knew that if I were captured by al-Qaida and my religion became known, I would assuredly be publicly and brutally tortured and killed. For this reason, I was careful who I shared this information with while in combat. Even the military dog tags that I wore for casualty identification omitted my religious preference. All of these precautions made sense given I was in a war zone fighting a vicious terrorist organization that would kill me simply for being Jewish.
When I left the Army, I strongly believed that America was a haven from this type of intolerance and extremism. I grew up in a predominantly Jewish suburb of Chicago, openly wore my Judaism and went to synagogue without any fear of harm. Sadly, the surprise attacks by Hamas against Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, and the war that has ensued provided a false narrative justifying the targeting and killing of Jews wherever they live and without any regard to their connection to Israel.
Shockingly, the threats I confronted and precautions I took as a soldier in Iraq are now a new reality in America. It is no secret that hatred for Jews is on the rise. The Anti-Defamation League reported that in the three months following the Israel-Hamas war, antisemitic incidents in the United States skyrocketed by 361%.
Due to this increase, 56% of American Jews say they have altered their behavior and the way they live their lives out of fear, according to the American Jewish Committee.
My family had close calls with Jew-hating gunmen. The global intifada is in America.
There are countless stories behind these troubling figures. Even my own family has had several close encounters with Jew-hating gunmen.
On July 4, 2022, my family was moments away from the Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Illinois, when the far-right Nazi sympathizer Robert Crimo III opened fire on the large Jewish gathering, where five of the seven people killed were Jewish or members of Jewish families.
And just on May 22, my wife attended the event at the Capital Jewish Museum where police say far-left gunman Elias Rodriguez fatally shot two attendees presumably because he believed they were Jewish. According to court document filed by the FBI, he said he killed “for Palestine ... for Gaza.”
Jews understand the message. We are targets – in our homes and at schools, synagogues and even parades.
The Palestinian intifada is patently a terrorists' playbook. There have been two previous intifadas, in 1987 and 2000 – both were grotesque in that they targeted passenger buses, children, cafes and clubs in Israel to strike fear among the population.
The latest Palestinian intifada is now globalized, but the concept is identical to its predecessors. All Jews are fair game – killing under the guise of Palestinian liberation and justice. These domestic extremists are cut from the same cloth as Hamas terrorists – whom they openly praise.
In fact, they have embraced the same ideology that killed my wife’s first cousin, Dani Levi, during the surprise attack on Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct. 7, 2023. Dani served as an emergency room doctor providing lifesaving care to injured Israelis until Hamas attacked his clinic.
Jews cannot fight this battle alone. We all must take a stand against antisemitism.
What can be done to address the harmful rhetoric and violence directed against Jews?
First, American Jews must continue to live as Jews. For example: Openly wear the Magen David necklace, attend Jewish events, vocally advocate for truth and, most important, do not fear their identity. Jews must make it a point that we are here to stay and even adopt the U.S. Army’s motto: “This We’ll Defend.”
Second, the world runs on alliances. American Jews can’t fight this battle alone. Just as the Jews marched shoulder-to-shoulder with marginalized people during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement for equal rights, so too will the Jews need the help of non-Jews to advocate and call out antisemitism, however it manifests.
Last, Jews must continue to speak truth to power whether to our own government or regarding the Israeli government’s policies. Like any group, Jews are not a monolith. It's important that we express diversity of thought on Israel, Gaza and the future of peace in the region.
All people deserve empathy, and we should do so with a dose of humility – understanding that the issues at play are complex and that people are suffering, including Palestinians.
However, where there is no nuance and room for compromise is in calls for global violence against Jews, or to free Palestine from all Jews. This is rank terrorism and a call for genocide against the Jewish people living in Israel. America is free, but we should never tolerate the intolerable.
Steven Katz was an active-duty Army officer from 2003-09. He served two combat tours in Iraq in ground combat leadership positions, receiving the Bronze Star medal. He also served as defense and intelligence adviser to Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colorado. He is co-director of the Celiz Antisemitism Taskforce for the Jewish War Veterans of America (JWV).