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(OPINION) I am urging you. I am pleading with you. I am imploring you.

Wake up!

The irrational hatred of the Jewish people and the demonizing of Israel is reaching proportions so dangerous that if people of conscience do not stand up, speak out, and push back, Jewish blood will start flowing in America, England, and many other countries around the world.

Wake up!

When Muslims in Sydney, Australia are chanting, “Gas the Jews” you know that violence is near.

When Jewish students at a university here in America have to hide in a library in fear for their lives, you know that violence is near.

When Jewish children in Germany are afraid to go to school and parents warn their children not to wear the Star of David in public you know that violence is near.

When I post an image of the Israeli flag on Facebook and draw comments like, “Children killer. Hospital bombers” you know that violence is near.

When a BBC headline reads, “British Jews are 'full of fear, like I've never seen before',” you know that violence is near.

When Rep. Rashida Tlaib can post a 2024 election warning to President Biden, featuring crowds chanting “From the river to the sea” – meaning, no more State of Israel – you know that violence is near.

Wake up!

A Jewish friend from mine in Australia wrote to me saying, “I don't even feel comfortable going to the city because I know that people think ‘I look Jewish.’ I think it'd be dangerous for me to go there. Sad world we live in!” Very sad. Very dangerous. And everywhere we look.

Rep. Mike Gallagher wrote, “According to a Harvard/Harris poll, 51 percent of Americans ages 18–24 believe Hamas was justified in its brutal terrorist attacks on innocent Israeli citizens on October 7.”

Fifty-one percent? How can this be?

Hamas was justified in roasting babies in ovens? In decapitating them? In burning whole families alive? In raping old and young women until their pelvises were broken, before shooting them in the head? In kidnapping holocaust survivors? Hamas was justified?

Journalists who were allowed to view the footage of the carnage, which was “compiled from closed-circuit (CC) TV, vehicle black boxes, Hamas members’ bodycams, social media, call recordings, and mobile phone videos,” were overwhelmed. I even read that some went into shock and had to be hospitalized. Knesset members had to leave the room weeping when the video was shown. They could not bear to witness another moment.

Yet more than half of Gen Z Americans polled believe that Hamas was justified in this barbaric slaughter?

The New York Post reports, “The latest in campus antisemitism horror has seen Jewish students at Cornell dehumanized and threatened with death.

“‘If i see a pig male jew i will stab you and slit your throat,’ read one threat, posted online on a Greek life website; ’eliminate jewish living from cornell campus,’ read another.

“A third vile message read ‘gonna shoot up 104 west,’ referring to the kosher dining hall on campus. 

“The university has responded by making the usual noises about not tolerating antisemitism — but has cravenly advised staff and students to avoid that dining hall. 

“In other words, the school caved to the hate-spewers, taking a step toward precisely what one demanded: the elimination of Jewish living from the Cornell campus.”

It will not take much to turn these hateful words into hateful actions. It is time to wake up!

According to the FBI, “Jewish people make up 2.4% of the U.S. population but are the targets of about 60% of hate crimes linked to religion.” And this has been building for years.

Even as I write, massive crowds around the world are gathering (or have already gathered) to denounce the nation of Israel. And they are not just calling for a cease fire. They are not even calling for a two-state solution. They are calling for the elimination of Israel. Wake up!

And sadly, at times like this, even some Christians show their ugly side, casting the most evil aspersions on Israel’s actions, branding all Jews as Christ haters (or Christ killers or antichrists), and giving theological justification for Jewish suffering. At the very least, they claim that Israel has no divine right to be in the land. This, too, should bring a fresh wake-up call, as the history of the Church’s persecution of Jews is written in Jewish blood.

In light of all this, and with tremendous urgency in my spirit, I urge every person of conscience, every lover of justice, everyone who fears and honors God.

Please, today, speak out against the demonization of Israel and the Jewish people. 

Categorically denounce Hamas and distance yourself from those who support Hamas (and Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah and the rest of these terrorist groups). 

And unequivocally affirm Israel’s right to exist as a nation and to live in peace.

At the same time, you can express your grief over the suffering of the Palestinian people. 

You can pray for Israel to do its best to avoid civilian casualties. 

You can affirm that Palestinian blood is as precious in God’s sight as Israeli blood. 

You can advocate for whatever arrangement you feel is safest and best for all parties involved in this decades long Middle East conflict.

But without hesitation and without shame, you must raise your voice in support of Israel and the Jewish people now, letting the haters know that when they come against Israel, they are coming against you. It really is a matter of life and death. 

By sharing this article with others, you help spread this urgent message. We must wake up!

Dr. Michael L. Brown, who has a doctorate in Near Eastern Languages and Literatures from New York University, is founder and president of AskDrBrown Ministries and host of the nationally syndicated daily talk radio show “The Line of Fire.” He’s served as a visiting or adjunct professor at seven leading seminaries and has written more than 40 books. He is a Jewish believer in Jesus and is a recognized leader in Jewish apologetics. His Twitter handle is @drmichaellbrown.