For 25 years, no one has questioned my commitment to social justice. But now, when the people being threatened are my own, when I speak out against calls for the extermination of Jews, I am suddenly contemptible. Every post I share on social media, no matter how apolitical, is inundated with hateful comments.

It’s devastating. I’ve always known antisemitism existed on the far right. It’s been there in plain sight. The conspiracy theories. The slogans. The swastikas. The tiki torches. That kind of hatred wears no mask.What I did not expect was to see its shadow growing in places I had always trusted. In rooms that had always felt safe. Among people who say they stand for the vulnerable. At first, the shift was subtle. A hesitation in the room when antisemitism came up. A quiet recalibration when I mentioned Jewish safety. Then it became louder. Stomach-turning chants heard outside my window every weekend. Statements left unchallenged. Leaders who once stood for all marginalized people suddenly growing quiet when the hate was directed at Jews.

Progressives often speak about centering marginalized voices. About listening to the lived experiences of those who have been hurt. About micro-aggressions and how to avoid them. But when Jewish people speak about our fear, our trauma, our history, our murdered families, we are too often met with silence. Or suspicion. Or conditional solidarity.

There’s a phrase that is central to almost every protest: “Globalize the intifada.” Some say it’s a call for justice. But for those of us who know what the word intifada has meant in practice, it’s not abstract. It’s not academic. It’s historical. And it’s personal. It’s the bombing of a Jerusalem café where a Holocaust survivor went to have tea. It’s the murder of a bride the night before her wedding. It’s a school bus full of young children snuffed out by a suicide bomber. It’s the story a friend told me about a grandmother and her 2-year-old grandchild killed while buying ice cream. These are not metaphors. These are memories. And they are real for so many Jews.