Southwest Florida must stand with Israel, reject intolerance and antisemitism

By Jeffrey Feld, president and CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater Naples

The unprecedented Hamas terror attack on Israel — the deadliest day of violence against Jews since the Holocaust, with captors targeting unarmed civilians, the elderly, women, children and babies — has shaken the world like few recent events.

In a particularly gruesome nod to 21st-century technology, gleeful captors livestreamed their victim’s executions on social media, where friends, family and the world watched in horror.

With more than 1,400 Israeli deaths, thousands more severely injured and hundreds of hostages still in captivity, it’s no exaggeration to compare this horrific violence to the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on this country.

Consider: with a population 35 times smaller than the U.S., Israel’s death count was the equivalent of 50,000 American casualties in a single day.

From the White House to the heartland, church pulpits to NFL stadiums, the outpouring of support for the Jewish state and its people has been swift, decisive and emphatic – including here at home.

Just days after the Oct. 7 attacks, an overflow interfaith crowd of more than 500 packed the Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center for a community solidarity gathering.

Hundreds more attended online, and many more have stepped up and donated to an Israel Emergency Relief Fund established by Jewish Federation of Greater Naples.

This widespread community support, both at home and beyond, has been particularly welcome, but there are troubling signs of cracks in the foundation, as a growing number of political pundits, skeptics and critics question Israel’s military response.

In the context of geopolitical strategy, the global domino effect and other such considerations, such dialogue is absolutely necessary. But as we have seen all too often in the past, those who lurk in the dark corners of hate, peddling antisemitic rhetoric – and often acting out on those hateful beliefs – will inevitably emerge in the daylight, exploiting this tragedy for their own benefit.

Our local Jewish community has endured a rash of hate speech, even before the recent terror attacks.

In the past year alone, vandals have thrown bricks through the window while worshippers prayed at a Cape Coral synagogue on Sabbath; racist and neo-Nazi flyers were anonymously dumped in North Naples and Fort Myers driveways; a prominent local rabbi was harassed and threatened outside a Collier County School Board meeting; and a rabbi’s home in Bonita Springs was defaced with anti-Jewish graffiti.

In Naples, Marco Island, Bonita Springs, Estero, Cape Coral, Fort Myers and across our region, Jews of all denominations, from the devout to the nonobservant, are deeply grieving. A social media post that went viral discussed how “you may have lost every last one of your Jewish friends this week and have no idea why.”

The answer, in essence: “When you are Jewish, you are always aware that there is a large population in the world that wants to kill you … We may like your posts that say, ‘Never Again,’ but we never fully believe it.”

Hamas' terror attack on Israel wasn’t simply an attack on the Jewish people. It was an attack on humanity – and one that must continue to be vigorously condemned and not explained away or rationalized through some sense of false equivalence.

As I wrote just a few short months ago, antisemitism is not just a Jewish problem, but a societal one that requires each of us to do our part in saying no to hate, intolerance and all forms of racial, ethnic and religious discrimination.

With the renewed prospect of prolonged combat in the Middle East, and a growing tide of hate speech here in our little slice of paradise, now is not the time to remain on the sideline. It’s imperative that Southwest Florida stand with Israel and wholeheartedly reject intolerance, antisemitism and hate speech in all its guises.

There is a great need to show solidarity with Israel at this time. Please help support the Israel Emergency Relief Fund to aid the victims of this barbaric attack. Donations by check may be sent to Jewish Federation of Greater Naples, 4720 Pine Ridge Road, Naples, FL 34119, or visit the Federation website at https://jewishnaples.org. One hundred percent of the money collected goes to the relief efforts.