“Antisemitism has no place here” is one of those responses.

It is repeated after each new attack on Jews, each new act of vandalism, each new threat. But when those words are not matched by moral clarity or meaningful action, they are empty words.

After the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh in 2018, condemnation was broad and unequivocal. Eight years later, after attacks in just the past several months at Temple Israel in Michigan; London; Brussels; the Capital Jewish Museum in D.C.; a Boulder, Colo., solidarity march; a Hanukkah celebration in Bondi Beach, Australia; Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence in Pennsylvania and several synagogues in Toronto, the response to anti-Jewish terror is often dismissive.

Antisemitism is not new, but the scale of the surge and the speed with which it is accelerating should worry us all. Long-simmering conspiracy theories on Jewish control of the U.S. have moved into the mainstream. Jews now endure everything from boycotts (including here in Minnesota) to physical assaults tethered to unfounded belief that Jews are conniving and disloyal. Seemingly, the only thing that the far right and the far left can agree upon is their shared hatred of Jews.

As Rabbi Josh Bennett of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield pointedly observed, “[w]e cannot mistake this moment of survival for true safety. Because what happened last week at Temple Israel is not random, it was not spontaneous, and it did not occur in a vacuum. This was the product of hatred that … has been allowed to grow in classrooms, in public discourse, online, until it became violence. This is not a statistic. These are our children.”

What is the hatred Rabbi Bennett describes? It is the hostility many Americans now direct toward Israel, Israelis and Jews who feel connected to Israel. The real question is what lies behind that hostility: legitimate criticism of a democratic state that, like our own, sometimes falls short of its ideals, or something darker?

Activists and politicians who are most hostile to Israel begin with the premise that the Jewish State not only doesn’t have the right to exist, but that Israel is the epitome of all that is evil in the world. With this foundational worldview, it is not hard to see outrageous and unfounded accusations, like those of genocide, colonialism and apartheid can emerge from the same people who claim to oppose antisemitism.

When the people spreading these claims insist they do not hate Jews, only Israel, they demand that Jews – 88% of whom believe Israel should exist as a Jewish and democratic state — renounce a core part of their identity to be considered “good” Jews.

These claims are outrageous and dangerous. American Jews are the proud stewards of over a 5,000-year tradition in which ethical doctrines like loving the stranger, protecting the vulnerable, centering acts of loving kindness and an inviolable connection to the Land of Israel are cornerstone principles of our peoplehood. In the course of our history, we have been dispersed to all corners of the earth. We are taught to engage and contribute to the countries in which we live rather than to live in sequestered isolation. Yet, we find ourselves the object of derision and exclusion from the public square, as we have so many other times throughout history.

Liberal and progressive American Jews are being pushed out of spaces where they used to be welcomed because of their connection to Israel and the Jewish people. On the right, figures such as Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens and Nick Fuentes recycle dangerous antisemitic libels, echoing the worst American antisemites of the mid-20th century. The broad, diverse spectrum of American Jewry senses a tectonic shift in the social and political landscape that villainizes us for being Jewish.

As we support members of our community, we know stronger responses are needed, both internally and externally. We will keep working with synagogues and Jewish institutions to build resilience, strengthen security, deepen communal connection and expand Jewish educational opportunities.

We also need more from our allies and the broader public. Silence in the face of repeated violence and exclusion normalizes both. This is the moment to speak up for your Jewish friends, coworkers, classmates and neighbors, including most Jews who feel connected to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.

We also need moral clarity from elected officials, clergy of other faith traditions, and the mainstream media. Public leaders must do more than condemn the attempted murder of Jews. They must reject, and in some cases cease, the dehumanization and ostracization of Jews who express support for Israel. We need honesty, solidarity and the courage to confront anti-Jewish hatred, including the libels targeting Israel, even when it is disguised as “justice” or “patriotism.”

On Sept. 11, 1941, Charles Lindbergh gave one of the most antisemitic speeches — on national radio — ever given by a prominent American. He stirred a poisonous brew claiming American Jews with their “large ownership and influence in our motion pictures, our press, our radio and our government” were driving the U.S. to war with Germany — along with President Franklin Roosevelt and Britain. Two days later, the St. Paul Pioneer Press responded with moral clarity under the headline “Imitator of Hitler.” Eighty-five years later, where is that clarity today?

Steve Hunegs is executive director at Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas (JCRC).