Antisemitism signals the decline of liberal civilization

The attributes of modern liberal civilization, also referred to (not quite correctly) as Western civilization, include most notably respect for human rights and respect for human diversity (genders, sexual orientation, race, religion, etc). These values have evolved significantly over the last few decades. In 2025, in most liberal democracies, we like to think that these values have become a second nature for most of us. And yet.

And yet, when it comes to respecting the human rights of our Jewish populations, we have been going backwards rather than forwards. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netantayahu recently used some unusually undiplomatic language to accuse French President Emmanuel Macron and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of fueling antisemitism in their own countries.

Predictably, both the French government and the Australian government rejected the accusations. There is no doubt that they already know that the anti-Israel language that they have used is bound to fuel antisemitism, and they appear to have already accepted it as a reasonable price to pay for gaining the votes of those who hate Israel and therefore Jews.

And these two countries are not alone. The United Kingdom, Germany, and my own country Canada are other examples among many others.

The non-Jewish citizens of these countries are probably not paying attention to this demagoguery (if they aren’t cheering it), but they should pay attention because this phenomenon is a sign of something that will affect many of them sooner or later. It is a sign that we, as supposedly liberal democratic societies, do not really care about our liberal values. We use them when they’re convenient, and we discard them like dirty tissues when they’re not.

And right now, standing up for Israel is very inconvenient. Much of the media has become – willingly or due to incompetence – the accomplices of Hamas in portraying the Gaza war in terms that are favorable to the terrorists.

The world seems to have forgotten that Hamas started this war on October 7, 2023, by invading Israel, massacring 1,200 people, and kidnapping 240. They seem to have forgotten that the war would have ended immediately on October 8, 2023 or any day after that if the terrorists had released the hostages and surrendered. The world seems only concerned about the effect of the war on Palestinians and they seem to only blame Israel for it despite Israel’s extensive efforts at feeding and protecting Palestinian civilians.

The situation is certainly complex, as Hamas wanted it to be, and it takes some time to explain, but the media’s sin doesn’t stop at not explaining facts extensively enough. The media also often repeats stories and figures received from anti-Israel sources as if they were facts. One of the most notorious examples is the New York Times printing fake pictures of malnourished Gaza children.

Our leaders, however, know the facts. They don’t get their facts from the media. They know that Israel has been in an impossible situation since October 7, 2023, needing to constantly balance the safety of the hostages, the safety of Palestinian civilians, the immediate safety of Israelis, and the long-term safety of Israel. They know that during that time, Hamas has only cared about its own survival, using Palestinian civilians as human shields, and indiscriminately killing and injuring as many Israelis as they can. Our leaders know that while Israel may have made some mistakes, no tragedy that they caused was intentional while every tragedy caused by Hamas was intentional.

Our leaders dutifully say that they want Hamas disarmed and no longer involved in the Palestinian government, but what have they done to make that happen? They have done the opposite of something. They have actually encouraged Hamas by portraying Israel as guilty even though they know that the facts contradict that. But our leaders also know what their voters think, and they know that there is no political gain from saying the truth about the Gaza war.

Ironically, US President Donald Trump, a man not exactly known for his moral purity, is putting all our other “Western” leaders to shame on this issue. I certainly am ashamed of my own prime minister Mark Carney whom I unfortunately voted for, and I find myself agreeing with Trump whom I never would have voted for.

I am not suggesting that Trump is the new champion of liberalism because he fails badly on some other issues, but in terms of standing up for what’s right in the Gaza war and for the Jewish population of his own country, I am forced to recognize that he deserves much respect. Our other leaders should learn from him, but they won’t.

Because while Trump is notorious for pursuing policies that benefit him politically regardless of how morally questionable they may be, our other leaders, including Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Carney, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Albanese, are just as corrupt as Trump but they hide it better.

Our politicians no longer care about liberal values. They no longer care to be moral leaders. They just do what’s politically expedient regardless of consequences.

We in the “West” pride ourselves in our liberal values, but we should not be so proud. Our liberal civilization is in decline, and it is our own fault. Our leaders should be embarrassed.