A student pleads for unity in a climate of rising antisemitism | Opinion
By Hannah Abrams | Kitsap Sun | October 31, 2025
“Two killed, four seriously injured”. That headline dashed across my screen as I stood paralyzed in my home. On Yom Kippur, the holiest day for the Jewish people, British assailants chose violence over togetherness. Hatred over peace. In one horrific swoop, they stole sanctity away from the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue’s congregants. A day of atonement and forgiveness is now forever dampened by the memories of destruction and fright. Families have been torn apart by bloodshed and the fragile tranquility of the synagogue has been shattered.
This attack shook me to my core, rattled through my bones. I’m a diaspora Jew, one whose familial history traces back to pogroms of Russia. Not to the United Kingdom, where this heinous act took place. I am not British, and neither is my extended family. Yet, almost paradoxically, learning of the stabbing terrified me as much as if I had been there. Despite the distance on that faithful day, the entirety of Am Yisrael was suffocated by sorrow. On Oct. 2, 2025, we were scorned with a message: nowhere is safe, no matter where you go, we will find you.
StandWithUs (SWU) is a 24-year-old international non-partisan education organization that inspires people of all ages about Israel, challenges misinformation and fights against antisemitism.
StandWithUs empowers people around the world to educate othersthrough social media, print and digital materials in different languages, through educational programs and conferences, weekly newsletters, data and analytics, and missions to Israel.
It takes legal action through StandWithUs Saidoff Law. It empowers hundreds of student leaders annually through its college Fellowship and high school Internship. SWU provides schools and educators with vital tools through its IsraelLINK middle school program, Holocaust Education Center, and K-12 Fairness Center.
Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Los Angeles, StandWithUs has chapters throughout the U.S., Israel, Canada, the UK, Brazil, Argentina, the Netherlands, Australia and South Africa.
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