Opinion

After October 7, many Jews described the moment as a wake-up call. People who had been disengaged or hesitant to speak out suddenly felt compelled to act. Fear was part of the reason, but so was clarity. What became obvious was that antisemitism was very much alive and growing in unexpected ways. Many people either jumped into action or doubled down on their current activities. As months have turned into years, a different question has emerged: When does this end? When can life return to normal? When is enough enough?

The shooting of Alex Pretti during protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis has become the emotional accelerant Democrats were waiting for. Within hours, political leaders across Minnesota did not urge restraint, patience, or de-escalation. Instead, they assigned blame, inflamed anger, and framed a federal law enforcement operation as an occupying army. The result was predictable: rage in the streets, chaos on the ground, and two deaths—Alex Pretti and Renee Good—woven into a political narrative before the facts were even settled.

Jealous of the unrest in Minneapolis, Governor Kathy Hochul is looking to foment similar uprisings in New York against the federal government during an election year. Hochul’s recent proposal, dubbed the “Local Cops, Local Crimes Act,” aims to ban New York local police departments from participating in the federal 287(g) program, which allows cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to enforce immigration laws. This proposal isn’t about protecting New Yorkers—it’s a cynical ploy to manufacture unrest and position Hochul as a “resistance” leader.

It’s hard for a keen political observer, let alone a casual one, to determine when President Trump is seriously pushing forward a policy proposal, setting up leverage to negotiate a settlement, or simply mouthing off. This uncertainty is a unique gift that Trump alone has, which makes his supporters love him, his detractors hate him, and his negotiating partners wary of him. While “make Canada the 51st state” seems to be in the “joke” category, “rename the Gulf of Mexico,” “abolish the penny,” and “shut down the southern border” were all policies that pundits underestimated his seriousness on. The acquisition of Greenland jumped from joke to serious policy proposal this week.

Has education failed? Reject programs and ceremonies that enable false analogies and allow fashionable opinion to demonize Israel and legitimize antisemitism

(Jan. 26, 2026 / JNS) What does it say about a country where some rudimentary knowledge about the Holocaust is commonplace, but where misleading analogies about it are a routine occurrence in public discourse?

Following the barbaric October 7, 2023 attack on Israeli civilians by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, there was hope - perhaps naïve - that American and European universities would rally around the only democratic country in the Middle East. This expectation was short-lived and vaporized within the 48 hours that followed the unprovoked terrorist attack. During this time, protests erupted on campuses of both American and European universities. Amazingly, these demonstrations were overwhelmingly pro-Hamas and anti-Israel.