My Children Shouldn’t Live Under Armed Guard
I have three children. They are three sources of extraordinary light—growing, learning, and striving every day to become good human beings who contribute positively to society. And they spend roughly half of their waking hours as potential targets, protected by armed security.
My children are not celebrities. They are not political figures with controversial views. They are not public personalities of any kind. They have done nothing wrong. They are simply Jews—children who attend a Jewish school and pray at a synagogue on Shabbat. And today, to exist openly as a Jew is to be a target. That is why armed security—real armed security, not mall cops—stands watch as they go about the ordinary business of childhood.
After the October 7th Hamas attack in Israel—and before Israel had responded in any way—accusations of genocide were leveled against the Jewish state. These allegations were not new. For decades, Israel’s detractors have deployed the same charge whenever the Israeli Defense Forces mobilized to defend the country against attack. But this time was different. The length and intensity of the war in Gaza gave this false claim unprecedented oxygen, and it spread like wildfire.
International organizations with documented records of anti-Israel bias rushed to validate it. Pro-Palestinian activists amplified it relentlessly across social media. The Media broadcast it across networks as generally agreed-upon fact. State actors exploited societal discord, funding and propagating the libel for strategic gain. And as a result, Jews everywhere became implicated as co-conspirators.
Self-styled warriors of social justice demanded action. No society, they argued, can tolerate genocide. The issue—falsely framed—became so morally unambiguous that any means to stop it were deemed justified. The Jews, as a people, had to be stopped. By virtue of supporting Israel—or merely being associated with it—they were collectively culpable.
Never mind Israel’s right to defend its citizens. Never mind five decades of persistent terrorist violence. Never mind the web of paramilitary organizations amassed along its borders, openly vowing its destruction. None of that mattered. Israel was declared uniquely genocidal—and because it is the Jewish state, Jews everywhere became legitimate targets.
In the past eighteen months alone, Jews internationally have been firebombed, shot, stabbed, and run down by vehicles. These were not accidents. These were not cases of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were targeted attacks. And time after time, the perpetrators showed no remorse. Whether justified by religious extremism, outrage over Palestinian suffering, or plain, old-fashioned antisemitism, the violence “made sense” to them. It has become open season on Jews.
The genocide libel has been propagated so thoroughly that even acts of terrorism—pure and unmistakable—are met with a disturbing sense of justification. Israel is portrayed as so morally depraved that violence against Jews becomes, if not excusable, at least understandable.
This narrative must be confronted—urgently and unapologetically. Leaders across the Western world—political, media, academic—must categorically reject the genocide libel. It must be named for what it is: a coordinated disinformation campaign designed to demonize a people, inflame hatred and destabilize societies. The role of Russia, China, and Iran in amplifying this narrative must be exposed. International organizations that have enabled it must be pressured to recant and reform. Influencers who ruthlessly push the narrative must be held accountable
Make no mistake: this is a modern blood libel unfolding in real time.
Until it is challenged, the violence will continue—and it will escalate. The next attack on Jews is not a matter of if, but when and where. Every morning, my wife and I send our three children to a Jewish institution knowing that we are, in effect, playing Russian roulette. Will today be the day? Will we receive the call that every Jewish parent now fears?
This is not fear-mongering. It is reality.
It does not get more real than this.
