The Sound of Silence
More than two years into the worst wave of Jew-hatred in decades, some people still haven't said a word. That's not neutrality. That's a position.
This article is adapted from an episode of Jonah’s award-winning show, Being Jewish with Jonah Platt. To watch the video monologue, click here. To listen to this article, click here: Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
A note before you read. This piece names, without softening, some of the violence of the past two years — including the murder of children. If today isn’t the day to sit with that, come back when it is. It’ll still be here.
One of the questions I’ve been asked most often since October 7th is: Why do you stand up? What makes you use your voice? The more I turn those questions over, the odder they sound to me — because the answer should be obvious. I stand up and use my voice for the same reason every Jew and every ally standing up right now uses theirs. Because we have to. There is rabid, widespread, normalized Jew-hatred throughout the world at a scale we haven’t seen in decades. In our schools, our institutions, our workplaces, our media, in the very neighborhoods where we live. And of course, there are the horrific atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7th and every single day since.
So I think the better question is the one aimed the other way. If you’re someone who isn’t standing up or speaking out — why not? If you haven’t said anything yet, what would it take to get you to say something? How bad does it have to be for Jews before you decide it’s worth breaking your silence? What would that look like, exactly?
Really think about it. Because from where I’m sitting, it’s already looking pretty bad.
The Record
Three hundred and sixty-four young people were slaughtered at a music festival — more than six times the death toll of the deadliest mass shooting in American history. And that wasn’t enough for you to say anything.
Jewish families were burned alive in their homes. Jewish infants were shot in their cribs. Jewish peace activists — the very people who had spent their lives advocating for coexistence — were butchered and kidnapped. And still you said nothing.
Jewish college students were barred from entering campus buildings. Mocked and isolated by professors and classmates alike, simply for being Jewish. You said nothing.
Radical Islamists in masks burned American flags on the campuses of our most hallowed universities. They waved terrorist banners. They chanted for the genocide of the Jewish people. Still not enough.
Violent mobs assaulted Jews in Los Angeles, Montreal, Brooklyn, Amsterdam. Synagogues and day schools were firebombed, desecrated, vandalized in Tunisia, Toronto, Sydney. You said nothing.
Iran launched enough ballistic missiles to annihilate the civilian population of Israel — targeting innocent Jews, Christians, and Muslims. You said nothing.
Terrorists paraded Israeli hostages on stages, surrounded by thousands of rapturous Jew-hating Palestinians and their children, all of whom appeared to be far better clothed and fed than the emaciated hostages they had held in tunnels and civilian homes for more than a year. They traded the body of a toddler they had kidnapped and murdered in exchange for the release of convicted mass murderers. They broke the ceasefire by missing deadlines. They broke the ceasefire by firing a rocket that killed a Gazan teenager. They broke the ceasefire by swapping out Shiri Bibas’ body — just to torture her family, and everyone watching, a little more. You said nothing.
People drew swastikas on posters of a nine-month-old Jewish baby who had been kidnapped from his bed. Five hundred days later, that baby — Kfir Bibas — came back murdered, his tiny coffin defiled with terrorist propaganda materials. And that wasn’t enough for you to say anything.
The Question That Remains
So I have to ask again. If none of that was enough to move you to speak, what could it possibly take? Seriously — how much worse does it have to be for you to say, out loud, this is bad, I should say something?
And for those of you who have spoken up, but only quietly — only online, only once, only when it felt safe — what is it you’re waiting for? Really think about your answer. Because there will be one, and it’s worth knowing what it is.
And for those of you who remain committed to your silence in the face of these abject horrors: at least have the fortitude to search yourself and be honest about why. About where you actually stand. About whether you stand for anything real at all.
The Bitter Pill
As for the rest of us — those of us who have been speaking, and those of us ready to start — I have a bitter pill I need you to swallow. Here’s the truth:
Nobody else is coming. Accept it. Embrace it. Breathe it in. Breathe it out.
Stop waiting for your favorite celebrity or your friend from college to do the right thing. Stop hoping. Stop raging. Stop being shocked when they disappoint you. If they haven’t said anything yet, that is a choice they’ve made — and they’re probably not going to say anything now. On the off chance they do finally wake up out of their brainwashed, cowardly stupor, we can be pleasantly surprised and welcome them warmly back to reality. Though it’ll likely only be once it’s become socially acceptable, and therefore easy to do without exhibiting any integrity — or once it’s already too late to make a difference.
But it’s okay. We’ve got this. We are more than capable of holding this down as we are — if each of us is active, and unified, and willing. Don’t wait for someone to tell you you’re needed. You’re needed now. You’ve been needed.
What else could you possibly be waiting for?
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This article is adapted from an episode of Jonah’s award-winning show, Being Jewish with Jonah Platt. To watch the video monologue, click here. To listen to this article, click here: Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
And remember, you're not just speaking up for Jews, or Israel. You're speaking up for our core, universal values of liberty and equality. You're speaking up against people who express overt, hateful, eliminationist bigotry, violations of our most essential moral TABOOS. The vast majority of Americans are against this hate, we just need to encourage them to speak up against it and defend our values and liberty, just as we did to marginalize the KKK out of polite society. That is how we #MakeTaboosTabooAgain.
Thank you for admonishing the bystanders. A note to you all; when the mobs round up the upstanders, they will round you up too. We have no allies but ourselves.