This article was originally published in the Jerusalem Post on June 19, 2019. By Adam Milstein Today’s antisemitism manifests as a three-headed monster that spews its vile bigotry through the radical Right, the radical Left, and radical Islam. Antisemitism is as old as the Jewish story itself. As Jews, we’ve lived with the threat of radical groups trying to eradicate our people for centuries. From Egypt to Poland to Persia, the Jews have experienced unbelievable persecution. Today in the 21st century, antisemitism is still alive and growing, even here in America. Despite years of persecution, a few things have always Read More…
Following the Charlie Hebdo attacks in 2015, the prime minister of France, Manuel Valls, refused to use the term ‘Islamophobia’ to describe the phenomenon of anti-Muslim prejudice, because, he said, the accusation of Islamophobia is often used as a weapon by apologists for radical Islamists to silence critics. January 11, 2015. REUTERS/Charles Platiau This article was originally published in the Jerusalem Post on May 6, 2019. On March 5th, 2019 the House was set to vote on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism in the wake of a freshman Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s latest hateful comments on Jews and Israel. Unfortunately, that resolution never Read More…
This article was originally published in the Jerusalem Post on January 27, 2019. Antisemitism is the world’s oldest hatred, cultivated across cultures, continents, and centuries by people with many different agendas. It led to the enslavement of Jews in Egypt, forced expulsion during the Spanish Inquisition, pogroms in Poland and Soviet Russia, genocide in Nazi Germany, and near extinction in the Muslim world. This history raises the question: why do so many people over so many centuries hate Jews? What makes Jewish communities such vulnerable targets? Many books documentaries, articles, and encyclopedias have been written about the origins of and Read More…
This article was originally published in the Jerusalem Post on December 26, 2018. The year 2018 has provided a series of reminders that antisemitism, the world’s oldest hatred, is alive and well in our country. On October 27, eleven Jews were massacred in Pittsburgh as they prayed on the Sabbath. It is just the latest in a series of violent attacks that have targeted the Jewish community in recent times, which come not only from the radical right but also from the radical left, and from radical Muslims. The enemies of the Jewish people don’t only physically attack us from the outside. Read More…
This article was originally published in the Jerusalem Post on November 3, 2018. Last Saturday, we witnessed the deadliest attack on American Jews in history. Eleven members of the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh were violently murdered because they were Jewish. I was shocked by this horror, but I was not surprised. Antisemitism is as old as the Jewish story itself. We honor the victims of the Holocaust on Yom HaShoah, we remember our struggles as slaves in ancient Egypt on Passover, and we even celebrate triumph over Haman’s plans to slaughter us in ancient Persia on Purim. It’s the terrible Read More…
This article was originally published in the The Daily Caller on October 30, 2018. On Saturday, we witnessed the deadliest attack on American Jews in history. Eleven members of the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh were murdered in cold blood because they were Jewish. Like many, I was shocked by this horror, but I was not surprised. The Jewish people have faced the lethal threat of Anti-Semitism for thousands of years — from the ancient struggle in Egypt to the Islamic conquest in the early middle ages to the Inquisition in Spain and the pogroms in Central Europe to the Holocaust. Read More…
This article was originally published in Business Wire October 29, 2018. This week, Adam Milstein was named one of the world’s 100 Most Influential Philanthropists by London-based publication Richtopia in coordination with the social media ranking system Rise.Global. “By embracing the principles of active philanthropy, funding projects with an eye to their life-path impact, and looking to build synergies between organizations, the Milstein Family Foundation will continue our work of igniting pride and courage in the next generation of our community leaders” Milstein is No. 31 on the list of the most influential philanthropists, particularly at being pro-active, based on his Twitter and Facebook accounts. He is a co-founder and Chairman of the Israeli-American Council Read More…
This article was originally published in The Jerusalem Post on August 20, 2018. Misinformation matters because media outlets have great power. They shape the way we understand the world and, ultimately, drive our behavior. This past May, the Los Angeles Times ran the headline “A Baby Girl Dies in the Haze of Gaza,” which told a story about eight-month-old Palestinian Layla Ghandour, who was allegedly killed by inhaling tear gas used by Israeli defense forces. This story was tragic and upsetting. It was also untrue. The New York Times and other major outlets published similar stories, framing Israel and Israeli soldiers as child-killing villains, Read More…
Original article in the Jewish Journal BY RYAN TOROK | PUBLISHED AUG 10, 2018 Thirty-eight Jewish teens from Los Angeles were among about 2,500 NCSY summer program participants who attended Yom NCSY, an evening of celebration and inspiration at the Latrun Tank Museum in Israel on July 25. Many of the L.A. youths traveled with the Anne Samson Jerusalem Journey, which provides an opportunity for public school and unaffiliated teens to explore sites in Israel. The event marked the 20th anniversary of the NCSY summer program, which is named for Samson, a local philanthropist who died in 2013. The gathering included young people from Read More…
This article was originally published in the Jerusalem Post on June 28, 2018. Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it. This month, we had the privilege to learn more about the devastating and cruel truths of the Holocaust. We traveled to six countries – the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Germany – with 100 leading American philanthropists and scholars, and together, we tried to wrap our heads around the scope of the genocide carried out by Nazi Germany and its European collaborators. We saw the horrific conditions suffered by the Jews in Auschwitz-Birkenau, which Read More…