Has jihad already come to America?

It’s never a good thing to wake up to the news that an Orthodox Jewish dentist, who lives in San Diego, was killed by a Muslim, but it was the first headline of Friday morning on my phone. The article described the killer as a former disgruntled patient. But did the killing really result from improper healthcare or was it simply the work of a radicalized Muslim who chose to relieve the world of one less Jew?

Just a few rungs below murder, is what precedes the violent crime of killing someone in cold blood for the offense of having been born into the wrong ethnicity. And this is exactly what is happening on the campus of University of California at Santa Barbara, where an ongoing campaign of Jewish student harassment has been taking place in the form of “signs and messages targeting a Jewish student government president and other Jewish students, which were placed on its social media accounts as well as a student dorm, warning Zionists not allowed.”

Accused of supporting genocide, the Student President, Tessa Veksler was confronted by signs on her Instagram account, which read, “You can run, but you can’t hide,” portraying her as a devil with red horns. One can only imagine the fear she experienced while actually being surrounded by a mob of angry peers, who were filled with hate for this young woman.

Berkeley is no different where “a complaint was filed, just last week, against their Unified School District (BUSD), alleging that the district ‘knowingly allowed’ a hostile climate against Jewish and Israeli students to fester at their schools.” Shockingly, this complaint named teachers who were accused of having taught anti-Israel positions, contributing to an environment that threatened these students. One teacher went so far as to air Hamas videos that accused Israel of apartheid, causing Jewish students to request a transfer from that class. Another teacher wore “Free Palestine” pins, stickers and patches on her clothing, all intending to send an unequivocal message of where she stood, despite knowing that some of her students were Jewish and disregarding how that would impact them.

The Jewish Journal, an online news source that serves the greater Los Angeles Jewish community, is rife with antisemitic stories happening in real-time. Some of the titles include:

· Columbia hit with another antisemitism lawsuit

· LAUSD School Board frontrunner apologizes for liking antisemitic social media posts

· StandWithUs calls on Seattle Elementary School to investigate lesson glorifying anti-Israel protests

· Lawsuit: Jewish student alleges she was forced out of Columbia University program due to antisemitism

· Berkeley Professor /Urges Israel to be dismantled at German event, sparking outrage

· Vermont School District class features a unit discussing “Palestinian Social Movements”

· Rutgers Law Student faces discipline for reporting antisemitism.

The list is endless, and those are the stories contained in just one Jewish newspaper. There are countless others containing similar accounts.

With a 400% rise in antisemitic threats in the U.S. since the Israel-Hamas war began, there is no question that some form of Jihad is already at work. It doesn’t necessarily have to come in the form of Hamas or ISIS terrorists, from abroad, because America has enough radicalized Muslims as well as young people who have been easily influenced by toxic propaganda which targets low-information, progressives who are ripe and ready prey for the social media pickings. Just post your hate message on TikTok, or whatever preferred platform, and it will spread like wildfire – blaming Jews for anything and everything.

Add to that, the hostile environments that American Jews are facing on campuses, in their businesses and professions, all part of a threatening message being sent that openly expresses that being Jewish is now a liability and a serious burden, which can physically, economically or socially hurt you.

None of this is very different from the type of pre-Holocaust negative and antagonistic atmosphere which was pervasive in an emerging Nazi Europe from the mid to late 1930s. Going from equal citizens to outcasts, almost overnight, open aggression began to be commonplace, everything from being ostracized to boycotting Jewish goods and businesses, to experiencing problems accessing services that had once been readily available to all.

Now, history is repeating itself, except this time, it’s not through Nazis but through Islamic Jihad which has slowly but continuously invaded the land of the free and the home of the brave. One has to look no further than just last week’s election results in Michigan, where Congresswoman, Rashida Tlaib encouraged her large Muslim constituency to vote “uncommitted” rather than cast their ballot for Joe Biden, in order to punish him for his Israel-Hamas war policy.

It wasn’t enough for her that his backing of Israel has been steadily waning as he continues to criticize a war that is taking longer than he wants in order to defeat a vicious enemy. Tlaib won’t be satisfied until Biden voices a full-throated condemnation of the Jewish state, accompanied by crippling sanctions, making them a pariah amongst nations.

Jihad is described as a holy war against unbelievers, chief among them, to radicalized Muslims, being Jews. Some recent examples have included a” Gaza Islamic University professor who has called for the complete destruction of the Jews as well as an Istanbul-based scholars association which has designated jihad against Israelis as being the duty for all Muslims.”

The key here is “incitement.” The rousing of individuals and groups to foment passions by portraying Jews as guilty and loathsome. That is the beginning of Jihad which can only realize the completion of its goal either by forcible expulsion or murder in order to fulfill a sacred duty. Either way, the objective is to create the kind of conditions that contribute to fear, anxiety and the cessation of equal freedoms, privileges and the pleasant society which, until October 7th, Jews enjoyed as all other people.

One particular Dearborn, Michigan Muslim cleric has unashamedly promoted jihad, and following the October 7 attack posted a message on X, “imploring Allah to purify the land from the aggression of the apes, swine and hypocrites as well as normalizing the term ‘jihad’ by encouraging its use on social media and in mosques.”

If things like this become commonplace, it won’t be long before most every American Jew begins to internalize the risk that they assume by remaining in a country whose borders are open, allowing for the free flow of Jihadi terrorists to enter. Does anyone doubt that they are already inside the U.S., importing their barbaric and savage ideology to finish the job they haven’t had a chance to compete in Israel?

No one wants to admit that America is already there, but the disturbing headlines of any Jewish news service confirm that fact. It’s, therefore, time to wake up and understand that a war has already begun to be waged inside the USA, striking at the heart of American values with the focus of eliminating its Jewish population.