Greenberg: Palestinianism is Nazism – Dehumanization, Violence and Today’s Importance of Jewish Heritage Month

The phrase and contention that “Palestinianism is Nazism” is an assertion used to draw parallels between Palestinian people’s nationalism and the genocidal ideology of Adolph Hitler’s Third Reich. While such comparison may risk oversimplification, compelling arguments exist to support the parallels, especially when digging into historical alignments, antisemitic rhetoric, the rejection of Jewish self-determination and of Israel, examining violent tactics, the dehumanization of Jews, calls for boycotts, endless chants for a global intifada, and the transformation of city councils’ Gaza ceasefire resolutions into Jew-hatred spectacles. This phenomenon becomes all the more urgent; and today it amplifies the need to instead commemorate and celebrate Jewish Heritage Month this and every May – while never forgetting those radicals around us continuously seek to erase Jewish contributions.

Historical Ties: Nazi Germany and Jerusalem’s Islamic Leader Embolden Hamas Today

During World War II, commonly understood as European and Japan/Southeast Asian conflict zones, there also existed collaboration between Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Islamic Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, with Nazi Germany. This clearly sets precedent. In 1941, al-Husseini met with Hitler, seeking support against British and Jewish interests.

Al-Husseini contributed to antisemitic propaganda, broadcasting venomous messages to the Arab world, and aided Germany’s Waffen-SS recruitment. While his influence was not universal—many Palestinians focused on resisting British rule rather than endorsing Hitler’s Nazism—this key alliance, documented by Yad Vashem, points to a willingness to adopt Nazi-like ideologies for political ends, a pattern seen today in modern Palestinian rhetoric that dehumanizes Jews, denies our rights, and delegitimizes Israel.

Antisemitic rhetoric within modern-day Palestinian extremism, amplified in local American activism, strengthens the comparison. The 1988 Hamas charter called for Israel’s destruction, citing antisemitic tropes like the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a Nazi propaganda staple. Though the charter was revised in 2017, such rhetoric persists in slogans like “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” interpreted as a call for Israel’s total elimination. U.S. protests have escalated this with chants like “Globalize the Intifada” and “There is only one solution: Intifada revolution,” heard in New York City on January 1, 2025, and Bergenfield, New Jersey, in November 2024. These evoke the Second Intifada (2000–2005), which killed over 1,000 Israelis through suicide bombings and attacks.

The rejection of Israel and Jewish self-determination by factions like Hamas, which denies Israel’s legitimacy, parallels Nazi ultranationalism’s exclusion of Jews from the Aryan state nearly one hundred years ago. In the U.S., campus protests, such as Columbia University’s 2024 demonstrations chanting “Zionists are not wanted here,” foster fear among Jewish students, with majority reporting feeling unsafe, per a 2024 ADL survey. By Hamas-sympathizer protesters labeling Jews as “settler-colonialists,” activists strip them of humanity, justifying violence as resistance, much like Nazis rationalized attacks as a societal purification. The Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement, popular among today’s U.S. students, echoes Nazi Germany boycotts of Jewish businesses in 1933, with slogans like “Germans! Defend yourselves! Don’t buy from Jews!”

Violence and murder by Hamas, targeting Israeli civilians October 7th, 2023, also invites Nazi comparisons. Coordinated protests in the U.S. just after the horrific attack thousands of miles away, Jewish businesses and synagogues faced vandalism, including smashed windows at a Washington, D.C., kosher restaurant and swastikas on Florida synagogues, tied to pro-Palestinian/Hamas protests. These acts recall Nazi Kristallnacht, with vandalism justified as targeting “Zionist” entities, dehumanizing Jewish owners. Threats to Jewish politicians, such as New York City Council members harassed in 2024 with “globalize the intifada” chants, mirror Nazi campaigns to silence Jewish voices, framing them as collectively culpable and dehumanizing them as so-called agents of an illegitimate state.

Demands for city councils’ Gaza ceasefire resolutions across Amerixa in late 2023 and early 2024, starting in Richmond, California, on October 25, 2023, and spreading to over 100 U.S. cities, turned into platforms for rabid, antisemitic vitriol, resembling Nazi-era hate rallies. Hearings in Oakland (November 27, 2023), Chicago (January 31, 2024), San Francisco (January 9, 2024) and Bloomington, Indiana (April 3, 2024), saw speakers use antisemitic tropes.

These hearings, [reported by JNS], amplified narratives that dehumanized all Jews as complicit in Gaza’s suffering, justifying hostility and echoing Nazi public vilification of Jews.

American youth activism has today embraced Nazi-like messaging, intersecting with pro-Palestinian rhetoric. Campus protests, with slogans like “Intifada, revolution!” and comparisons of Israel to Nazi Germany, actually invert history to paint Jews as oppressors, justifying violence. Marches through Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York’s Times Square in 2024, chanting for a global intifada, create anxiety and fear akin to Nazi-era rallies.

Today’s activists, through antisemitic rhetoric and actions, mirror Nazi efforts to destroy Jewish life, religion and culture.

University Campus’ Coordinated Protests

Denying Jewish students access to classes by pro-Hamas, pro-Palestinian activists can be compared to Nazi tactics due to parallels in exclusionary and discriminatory practices. About 90 years ago, Nazis systematically barred Jews from public spaces, including educational institutions, through policies like the 1933 Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service and later Nuremberg Laws, which restricted Jewish access to schools and universities. Similarly, targeting Jewish students to prevent their participation in campus activities based on their identity mirrors Nazi ideological exclusion and scapegoating: Singling out Jews for exclusion, regardless of their individual actions or beliefs; Blocking access to learning environments, a tactic used by Nazis to marginalize Jewish intellectuals and students; Using protests, blockades, or threats to enforce exclusion, akin to Nazi street actions by groups like the SA to intimidate Jews.

Some may say supporting “Palestine” seeks liberation, and “intifada” can mean nonviolent resistance, as in the First Intifada in Israel (1987-1993). However, historical Nazi ties, antisemitic rhetoric, rejectionism, violence, ceasefire resolution spectacles, and U.S. activism—through intifada chants, marches, vandalism, threats, and dehumanizing rhetoric—lend real credence to the Palestinianism is Nazism analogy. By consistently framing Jews as oppressors unworthy of empathy, this activism justifies violence, echoing Nazi tactics. While not all Palestinian activism aligns with this extreme, its radical fringes, amplified in America, share troubling parallels with Nazism’s hate-driven ideology.

The Misuse of “Free Palestine”; It is Hate Speech

The slogan “Free Palestine” originates as a call for Palestinian self-determination. While this can be a legitimate expression of solidarity, the slogan, as printed on T-shirts, posters, bumper stickers and chanted nearly everywhere, becomes a vehicle for hate speech when used to discriminate against Jews and supporters of Israel. When wielded with intent to harass, exclude, or justify violence, it transcends political critique and fosters unabashed antisemitism.

The transformation of “Free Palestine” into hate speech is evident in its application. When chanted to vilify Jews collectively—equating them with Israeli government actions—or to deny Israel’s right to exist entirely, it perpetuates antisemitic tropes. For instance, branding all Jews as oppressors or using the slogan to justify attacks on Jewish institutions misdirects legitimate criticism of a state’s policies onto an ethnic or religious group. The Anti-Defamation League reported 2,031 antisemitic incidents in the U.S. in 2023, with many linked to Israel-Palestine rhetoric, including vandalism and assaults accompanied by this slogan.

This misuse is not merely anecdotal. On college campuses, Jewish students have faced harassment under the guise of “Free Palestine” activism, with slogans painted on dorms or shouted during protests to intimidate. Social media easily and effectively amplifies this, where the hashtag #FreePalestine often accompanies posts denying Jewish historical ties to Israel.

While some argue the slogan is solely anti-Israel, not antisemitic, this ignores the impact when it’s used widely to exclude or demonize. Free speech does not shield speech that incites harm or discriminates. When “Free Palestine” is a pretext for targeting Jews—irrespective of their views on Israel—it becomes hate speech.

The Keffiyeh as a Symbol of Anti-Jewish and Anti-Israeli Hate

Since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, which killed over 1,200 and took hundreds hostage, the Palestinian keffiyeh has become a potent symbol of anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli hate, akin to the Nazi swastika. Far beyond a matter of freedom of expression, its black-and-white pattern now expresses violence toward Jews and Israelis, taunting and intimidating in the wake of [surging global anti-Semitism] post-October 7.

The keffiyeh’s shift from a neutral headscarf to a hateful emblem is driven by its adoption by groups like Hamas, whose charter demands Israel’s destruction, and targets Jews. When worn by supporters chanting genocidal slogans or celebrating the October 7 atrocities, the keffiyeh endorses violence. Around the nation, rabid protesters don the keffiyeh, joining global demonstrations from London to New York to San Francisco, where keffiyeh-clad individuals have harassed Jews, defaced synagogues, and glorified terror, mirroring the swastika’s menacing presence at Nazi rallies. For Jews, the keffiyeh in such contexts is a deliberate threat, evoking pogroms amid a 300% spike in anti-Semitic incidents since October 7.

Like the swastika, the keffiyeh’s original significance has been hijacked. When brandished to justify terror or taunt grieving Israelis, it becomes a tool of aggression. For Jewish communities, the keffiyeh post-October 7 is a chilling symbol wielded to intimidate.

Former President Biden’s Policies Betrayed America’s Jews and Israel

Former President Joe Biden’s tenure was marked by policies that many argue were disastrous for America’s Jewish communities and Israel, undermining their security and exacerbating antisemitism. His administration’s actions, from enabling Iran’s aggression to wavering support for Israel, alienated pro-Israel Jews and failed to protect Jewish Americans during a surge in antisemitic violence.

Biden’s Gaza policy after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack—approving [massive military aid](https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/8034) but pressuring Israel to limit operations—frustrated pro-Israel Jews who felt he backstabbed an ally under siege.

Domestically, Biden’s response to rising antisemitism was inadequate. Despite a National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, Jewish students faced hostility during campus protests, with minimal federal intervention. His balancing act—condemning antisemitism while defending free speech—left many feeling unprotected. Biden’s claim that Jewish safety depends on Israel fueled dual loyalty tropes.

Politically, Biden’s policies alienated Jewish voters in swing states, with his Gaza stance seen as a generational catastrophe. By wavering on Israel and failing to curb antisemitism decisively, Biden betrayed America’s Jews and weakened a key ally, leaving a legacy of distrust.

A Parents’ Role in Antisemitic and Anti-Israel Ideologies

American parents are potentially responsible for their children’s embrace of antisemitic and anti-Israel ideologies. Through neglect, ideological alignment, or failure to foster critical thinking, they have at times allowed their children’s embracing of harmful narratives.

Firstly, parents have often failed to counter the toxic influence of social media. The 2025 AJC State of Antisemitism Report shows 83% of young Jewish adults encounter antisemitic content online, often masked as anti-Israel activism. Viral posts amplify tropes about Jewish power or Israeli oppression, shaping young, impressionable minds. Parents, distracted by busy lives or unaware of such digital indoctrination, grant unsupervised access to social media platforms. The 2024 ADL study found nearly one-third of Americans believe supporters of Israel control the media—a belief seeded online and left unchallenged at home. By not discussing media literacy or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, parents enable their children to absorb propaganda equating Zionism with colonialism.

Secondly, many parents endorse or tolerate progressive ideologies that blur the line between criticizing Israel and antisemitism. Since the 1967 Six-Day War, parts of the Left have framed Israel as a colonial oppressor, resonating with youth focused on social justice today. Parents sharing these views may expose their children to rhetoric demonizing Israel without providing context, like Jewish historical ties to the land. The ADL notes that those critical of Israel are 4.6 times more likely to endorse anti-Jewish tropes, yet parents often fail to condemn slogans like “From the river to the sea,” which imply Israel’s destruction. This inaction allows antisemitic frameworks to masquerade as activism.

Lastly, parental disengagement has let these ideologies fester. The post-October 7, 2023, surge in antisemitic incidents—up 400% per the ADL—shows tensions infiltrating schools. Yet, many parents avoid discussing these issues, whether from fear or ignorance. The 2024 ADL survey found 71% of Jewish parents reported their children facing anti-Jewish discrimination, yet some advise hiding Jewish identity rather than confronting prejudice, resulting in normalizing of harmful beliefs.

Young, Impressionable Minds Succumb to Pressure 

College-aged students often face intense peer pressure that can lead to embracing antisemitic ideologies, frequently without fully grasping the implications.

University campuses are social hubs where group belonging shapes identity. Activist circles, especially those tied to progressive causes, can become echo chambers. If antisemitic rhetoric—often disguised as anti-Zionism or critiques of Israel—gains traction, gullible students may conform to simply maintain friendships or social standing. Rejecting the group’s stance risks exclusion. Young adults often lack nuanced knowledge of the long-time Israeli-Palestinian conflict or antisemitism’s history altogether. Exposed to one-sided narratives through protests or viral social media posts, kids may simply accept oversimplified framings (e.g., “Israel = colonial oppressor”) without scrutiny. Peer groups reinforce these ideas, discouraging dissent as disloyalty.

Professors or student leaders who frame antisemitic ideas can sway impressionable students. If a trusted figure endorses boycotting Jewish businesses or links Jewish identity to global conspiracies, students may adopt these views, thinking such leaders are intellectually superior.

Campus culture often punishes nonconformity. Questioning antisemitic tropes can lead to accusations of supporting oppression, enticing students to amplify harmful rhetoric. Antisemitic ideologies, like Nazism of the 1930’s, often latch onto emotionally charged issues. Drawn to justice-oriented causes, students may embrace these narratives without recognizing how they actually scapegoat Jewish people or perpetuate stereotypes.

At age 18-22, students are forming worldviews. The need for acceptance, combined with a campus culture rewarding ideological conformity, makes resisting peer pressure tough. Many don’t recognize antisemitism’s modern forms, especially when framed as social justice.

When Prominent Jews Screw Up

Famous Jews indeed can do things that divide, that cause controversy and influence impressionable fans, often spreading bigoted memes and tropes and revising history to fit their intended audience.

Comedian and television series writer Larry David’s April 21, 2025 comparison of President Trump to Adolf Hitler in his attempt at satire in his New York Times op-ed “My Dinner With Adolf” has been widely criticized as appalling and historically ignorant, understandably. His analogy is seen as deeply offensive because it trivializes the Holocaust, during which Hitler’s regime systematically murdered six million Jews and millions of others. Equating Trump, a democratically elected leader, to Hitler, a dictator responsible for unparalleled atrocities diminishes the gravity of genocidal Nazi crimes. Davis’ editorial implicitly labels Trump supporters as Nazis. TV host Bill Maher described David’s analogy as “insulting to six million dead Jews,” arguing that Hitler’s unique evil should not be casually invoked.

Hitler, in World War II, dismantled democratic institutions and industrialized a genocide, while Trump today operates within a constitutional system, faces legal checks, and of course, he does not engage in state-sponsored rounding up and mass murder of Jews.

Miriam Margolyes, Jewish actress, known for her role in the Harry Potter series, has been vocal about her support for Palestinians and has expressed that she does not believe Israel should have been established.

And there’s Bernie Sanders, democratic socialist U.S. Senator who’s condemned Israeli actions in Gaza, especially during military operations, criticizing U.S. military aid to Israel and leading resolutions to cut off aid alleging it enables human rights abuses.

If you rely on the New York Times for all your news, here’s a reality check:

Since the 1920s, the Times has exhibited a troubling pattern of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel bias, evident in its editorial choices and highly selective reporting. Initially under publisher Adolph Ochs, a Jewish-American who opposed Zionism, the paper dismissed Jewish national aspirations, prioritizing assimilation into American life over self-determination (Jerusalem Post, 2019). This set a tone of skepticism toward Jewish causes, which persisted through the 1930s as the Times actually downplayed Nazi antisemitism. Stunningly, articles from 1937 and 1939 portrayed Hitler favorably, ignoring the escalating persecution of Jews.

The most egregious failure came during the Holocaust. Under successor publisher Arthur Hays Sulzberger, another anti-Zionist Jew, the Times buried reports of the Nazi genocide, relegating stories of Jewish extermination to inner pages or framing them simply as generic war crimes (2003 study). This minimized the true humanitarian crisis, betraying millions of Jewish victims and fueling claims the Times “covered up” the Holocaust.

After Israel’s 1948 establishment, joining the United Nations, the Times grudgingly accepted its existence but grew critical post-1967, often portraying Israel’s actions—particularly in the Palestinian conflict—as disproportionate (2002 study). Incidents like their publishing in 2019 an antisemitic cartoon depicting Benjamin Netanyahu as a dog with a Star of David collar underscored this hostility, drawing widespread condemnation (CNN, 2019). Recent Times coverage, especially post-October 7, 2023, has again downplayed atrocities this time by Hamas, while scrutinizing Israel’s response.

From 1920’s Ochs’s anti-Zionism to modern editorial missteps, the Times has consistently marginalized Jewish suffering and vilified Israel.

May is Jewish American Heritage Month

So now is the time to recognize, commemorate and celebrate Jewish Americans, as one answer to Palestinianism.

Each May, Jewish American Heritage Month is a vital opportunity to honor Jewish contributions—scientific breakthroughs like Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine, cultural icons like Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s legal legacy, and moral leadership from Elie Wiesel’s Holocaust remembrance—while being reminded of today’s Palestinianism’s radicals seeking to erase Jewish legacy.

President George W. Bush first proclaimed Jewish American Heritage Month in 2006. Since then, annual proclamations have been made by Presidents Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden. Bush sought to designate a month that would recognize the more than 350-year history of Jewish contributions to America and American culture. Obama praised “the diversity of talents and accomplishments” that the Jewish community had brought to the United States since pre-Revolutionary times, saying that, “Even before we were a nation, we were a sanctuary for Jews seeking to live without the specter of violence or exile,” beginning with “a band of 23 Jewish refugees came to a place called New Amsterdam more than 350 years ago.”

Honoring Jewish heritage, with events like museum exhibits and community festivals, promoted by the Library of Congress, strengthens resilience against hatred, reminding people to wholly reject dehumanization of Jews that fuels violence. Ultimately, the resounding message is clear: it’s okay to be Jewish, its okay to be Israeli, and it’s okay to support Jews and Israel, now more than ever.