To Whom It May Concern,
On September 1, 2024, we woke to find ourselves grappling with grief and loss once again. With pain mirroring the heartbreak of October 7th, we learned that the lives of six hostages were brutally taken by Hamas, just days before they were found by IDF soldiers. Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Ori Danino, Almog Sarusi, and Alexander Lobanov each represented an entire world full of hope, youthful ambition, and love. It is a tragedy that their lives were stolen by barbaric acts of terrorism and evil. May their families find comfort and may their memories, and all the lives lost to the tragedies related to October 7th, forever be a blessing.
After the 7th of October, grief took over our lives. That day too, we woke to devastating news—news of the single deadliest day for the Jewish people since the end of the Holocaust. Over 1,200 people—mothers, fathers, grandparents, babies, and partygoers—were massacred, and many of them raped and tortured. But we had no time to mourn. As Jewish high school students across North America, processing such tragedy is only one element of the unique challenges we face in this difficult time. Immediately, we had to jump to the defense of Israel, our homeland, and worry about our own safety simply because we are Jewish. We realized that Never Again is now.
Before the bodies of Hamas’s victims were even cold, #HitlerWasRight trended on X. We watched in horror as our friends and classmates justified atrocities many of us could barely comprehend. Chants of “f*ck the Jews” and “globalize the intifada” quickly became commonplace in our cities’ streets and on our college campuses. With anti-Jewish hate crimes at record highs, wearing a Jewish Star necklace, a kippah, or any other symbol of Judaism in public became a risk. Far too many administrators and politicians abandoned their Jewish students and constituents, sacrificing our safety for their images. Lifelong feminists gave “context” to justify mass rape, only because the victims were Jews and Israelis. People praised Hamas openly and without consequence the day after they murdered our brothers and sisters. Signs like “by any means necessary” and “glory to our martyrs” made the sentiment that our lives were considered worthless abundantly clear to us all. When they shout “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” – What happens to the Jews? Our peers and our neighbors even shamelessly ripped down and vandalized missing posters of the hostages held by Hamas, including literally, those of children.
Jews everywhere were left with perplexing questions: Why does the world’s seemingly endless empathy not include us? When did condemning rape become controversial? When did “believe all women” become exclusive of Jewish and Israeli women? When did calling for the genocide of any people become acceptable? When did it become hard to stand up against internationally recognized terrorist groups who proudly broadcast their brutality?
As our people are suffering, we have been abandoned. Friends turn a blind eye, ignore our pain, and refuse to acknowledge our anguish. When we try to vocalize these questions, we’re often met with responses that seek to demean, diminish, and contextualize our pain rather than understand it. Our cries of grief are met with eye rolls, rather than empathy. Why?
Israel is our home. Land of milk and honey, a symbol of democracy and freedom, Israel is a living dream for the Jewish people. From the mountaintops of Masada to the cracks of the Western Wall, every corner of Israel speaks to us with Jewish historical grace. Israel is the world’s only Jewish state: its sovereignty represents a place for our people to go in light of the many places that have expelled us. We are indigenous to the land as Jews—yet Israel remains a home for more than just us: Israel’s tapestry of citizens consists of Israelis, Arabs, Druze, Christians, and Palestinians as well as many other cultural groups, all living together under the vibrant heart of one nation.
We believe in the Jewish people’s right to self-determination in our ancestral homeland of Israel. That makes us Zionists, and as a result, we have been called pigs, idiots, assholes, animals, Nazis, and worse. These words deny our right to exist. We stand strong in our beliefs even as we are assaulted, threatened, screamed at, harassed, and dehumanized. Zionism is an integral part of our identity, and no slander can take that away from us. Zionism is the heartbeat of our Jewish identity. Israel is the heart itself.
The aforementioned six hostages held in captivity for 11 months were located by the IDF on August 31, 2024. They were murdered days before IDF soldiers arrived at their location. That is the brutality of Hamas: to murder innocent people in cold blood precisely because they were about to be rescued. A series of international war crimes from beginning to end.
As we write this, one hundred and one hostages still remain in Gaza, including women and children—about a third are feared to have been murdered. These innocents have been subjected to unhygienic conditions, darkness, starvation, psychological torture, and more, evident through their hostage videos. The youngest hostage, Kfir Bibas, has spent more than half of his short life in Hamas captivity. The oldest, Shlomo Mantzur, is eighty-six. There is no humanity in this. Hamas claims to have no knowledge of the whereabouts of the very hostages they abducted, and international organizations, like The Red Cross, have made little effort to help them. These are our friends, our family, our people: that is why the minds of the Jewish nation are restless and will remain so until every individual is brought back home safely to their loved ones, Hamas is defeated, and the war is over so all the displaced Israeli citizens from the north and south can return to their homes.
So this is our call to action for readers:
Speak Out and Speak Up
President John F. Kennedy once proclaimed, “Israel was not created in order to disappear - Israel will endure and flourish. It is the child of hope and the home of the brave. It can neither be broken by adversity nor demoralized by success.” He further instructed us that “[Israel] carries the shield of democracy and it honors the sword of freedom.” President Kennedy’s wise words can only be honored if we continue to stand up for the Jewish people’s homeland, and speak out on antisemitism and injustice.
Present the Facts. Educate with Evidence.
There is a lot of misinformation regarding the war across social media and the internet. Research where you get your news from. Make sure your news is reliable and posts accurate information. Check multiple sources. Do not spread falsehoods or misleading information. Educate reasonable minds with evidence.
Show Compassion and Understanding.
Check in on your Jewish friends and peers. Make sure they are okay. This is a tough time for us—which is why all of us could use a friend. We appreciate any help and support you can provide to our grieving community.
This letter is written by us, StandWithUs Leventhal Interns. From across North America, we represent proud, accomplished, and educated Jewish and non-Jewish teens. We know the history of the Jewish homeland, from its biblical roots to its development as a nation thousands of years later. We know our rights, how to advocate for one another, think critically, and take true action in service to our community. Most of all, we know how to bear witness, a trait critical to the Jewish people's history, and we are taught to do it all with the utmost empathy for others. We stand prepared to educate the uneducated with respect and compassion.
But our most important lesson has been learning about the Jewish value of resilience. As Jewish people, we have been through endless trials throughout history. We have been discriminated against, rounded up and put in ghettos, oppressed, exiled, and killed in every corner of the planet. Yet after each trial, after each tribulation, we have always come back stronger. We stand unwavering, backed by generations of support, thousands of years of sacred rituals, and our ever-present community. We are young and we are proud. We do not intend to let our age stop us in our fight for justice and peace.
That is why we stand united against antisemitism, anti-Zionism, and anti-Israel hate, as one Jewish people. We wish that this fight was not necessary. But for the safety of our Jewish brothers and sisters, for the future of our culture, for the sake of our faith, and above all for the fact that it is right and just, we continue to say:
Am Yisrael Chai.
The People of Israel Live.
Please join us in our campaign for understanding and peace.
Signed,
Evan T.
Abigail Streger
Rachel Yahalom
Avi Shalom
Sebastian Cohen
Elana Max
Gabriella Kaplan
Sabina K.
Yoav Harari
Amanda S.
Brody Jake Friedeberg
Sofie Glassman
Rémy Ouahnoun
Shira Bach
Benjamin Auslander
Abigail Berger
Jake Carlin
Shayna Cairns
Cailyn Kamlet
Jonah Byrne
Omer Golberg
Hannah Geithner
Gila Vanounou
Noa Mandelzweig-Davis
Mia Martin-Escandarani
Rafaella Hoffmann
Ari Zatlin
Alexandra Sinrich
Eden Wajsman
Ella Breskal
C.A.
Hadar Setton
Jordyn Yoskowitz
Noah Zlot
E.L
Sabrina Sturchio
Carly Freilich
Tom Kiriaty
Ellie Malka
Maya Talby
Leah Benmergui
Maya Kalai
Micah Shapiro
Ella Persky
E.K.
Joshua Glazer
Guy Amoray
Michelle Lee
Charley Levy
Shmuel Fisch
Ava Lampron
Joseph Siqueira
Zev Loring
Miriam Levari
Naomi Braun
Shira Delcau
Ilana Steele
Eliana Yoken
Alexandra Lipets
Joshua Wiener
Shai Bachar
Shiraz Rothschild
Dylan Himelfarb
Addi Goldberg
Yhali Matot
Mia Elkins
Josh Feldman
