The High Holidays have become a profoundly sensitive time for Jews worldwide. Hamas’s massacre on Simchat Torah, October 7, 2023, was deliberate and meticulously planned. Simchat Torah is meant to be a time of joy, celebration, and community, and yet attacking on this holy day was a symbolic act intended to violate something sacred to us.
It sent a chilling message: even in our moments of worship, family, and happiness, Jews are not safe.
These holidays, particularly while hostages remain in captivity, carry mixed and intense emotions. On one hand, they bring guilt and grief, knowing that some families in our community are forced to spend what should be a joyous time, aware that their loved ones are being deliberately starved in Gaza. They also trigger trauma, because Jewish holidays are known targets for terror groups in the Middle East and for antisemites who attack diaspora Jews.
Yet, these holidays are also a time of resilience, hope, and spirituality because celebrating and living our Judaism demonstrates that Hamas failed in breaking us.
And yet, to no one’s surprise, Jews were again attacked during the holiest days of our calendar. When the Manchester synagogue was targeted on Yom Kippur, commentators and social media keyboard warriors immediately offered soft condemnations, followed by caveats about how many synagogues in the UK are openly Zionist and pro-Israel, as if that somehow made them legitimate targets.
One account even went so far as to detail how the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation supported Israel and how active it was in donations after October 7. Leading Britain’s Conversation (LBC) interviewed a man named John, who condemned the attack but said, “I’m a Jew and I’m British, not Israeli. I have no association with Israel,” adding that Jews are more vulnerable because of Israel and “not all Jews are Zionists.”
But one individual’s personal position does not represent the vast majority of the Jewish community. According to a Campaign Against Antisemitism poll, eight out of ten British Jews identify as Zionists. So while it may be true that not every Jew is a Zionist, the overwhelming majority are, and being pro-Israel does not make anyone a legitimate target.
Suggesting that Israel is responsible for antisemitism is as absurd as blaming a sexual assault victim for the clothes they wore. A jihadist rammed his car into a synagogue on Yom Kippur, stabbed two people to death, and intended to detonate himself, and somehow Israel is held responsible?
Zionist Jews critical of current Netanyahu gov't
I am critical of the current Israeli government. I have condemned politicians across the coalition and opposition for foolish statements that have been weaponized by antisemites. Israeli officials often fail to understand the lived experience of diaspora Jews—a difference between growing up Jewish where you are the majority versus growing up Jewish as a minority. Yet Israel’s inability to make and defend its case has put us all at risk.
Even so, my adult understanding is clear: Jihad Al-Shamie, the British terrorist of Syrian descent, would have carried out this attack regardless of who currently leads Israel. We are not one politician away from eradicating antisemitism. Holding diaspora Jews accountable for Israeli government actions is the same as holding all Palestinians responsible for Hamas.
Using that logic implies that Palestinians who elected Hamas, cheered on the October 7 attacks, and in some polls still support the terror group, somehow deserved what happened to them afterward. This reasoning is absurd, morally indefensible, and lets the perpetrators off the hook. Diaspora Jews have no control over Israeli policy, just as Palestinians bear no collective responsibility for Hamas.
As for Prime Minister Keir Starmer, when you address the nation and pledge to defeat Jew-hate, the Jewish community cannot help but hear skepticism. Your government’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state in the immediate aftermath of October 7, presented as a gesture to appease terrorism and pander to domestic far-left or Islamist constituencies, sends the opposite message. Palestinian statehood should never be a slap in the face to Israelis after the worst massacre in modern Jewish history; it should be the outcome of genuine compromise and negotiation between both peoples.
Hamas official Ghazi Hamad openly celebrated these recognitions from Qatar, declaring: “The initiative by several countries to recognize a Palestinian state is one of the fruits of October 7. We proved that victory over Israel is not impossible, and our weapons are a symbol of Palestinian dignity.” When terrorists are the ones praising your decision, you cannot be surprised when fundamentalists bring the intifada to your door.
Even two leading Jewish organizations in the UK warned that the Manchester synagogue attack “was sadly something we feared was coming,” which speaks volumes about the rising antisemitism and moral decay in Britain today. Starmer has chosen appeasement over moral clarity, and in doing so, has made the UK less safe.
The painful reality for Jews in countries like the UK, Canada, France, Australia, and across Europe is that the nations we called home, where we sought refuge and built communities from scratch, are no longer safe. Those governments cannot or will not take the steps needed to protect us. Diaspora Jews are not stand-ins for Israel.
Our lives, our safety, and our communities are not bargaining chips for political arguments in Israel, Britain, or anywhere else. Antisemitism is never Israel’s fault. It is always the fault of the perpetrator.
The writer is a co-founder and CEO of Social Lite Creative, a digital marketing firm that specializes in geopolitics.