In the aftermath of the October 7th attacks the pro Hamas forces were protesting and blaming Israel long before Israel even stepped foot into Gaza. As the dead bodies of the victims still lay on the ground these people were rallying and blaming Israel.
The blatant lack of empathy, the use of swastikas, and the lack of any sense of intellectual honesty laid bare their true anti-Semitism. This overt callousness crystalized two important points to many people. The first is the level of hatred that exists among some of our fellow Americans and the second is the degree to which our adversaries have become organized and mobilized.
The unintended consequence of these activities is that it woke a lot of people up and helped recalibrate many peoples’ priorities.
In some ways this reaction has served the Jewish people. There has been a groundswell of young talented successful individuals who have become activated. Individuals have come together to form small groups and organizations to try and solve the problem, and answer the question of how do we fight antisemitism and also how do we stem the tide of indoctrination of Americans?
The net result has been a multitude of small organizations that have sprung up. Each one of these Organizations has created a different approach to this challenge. Each one of these people has demonstrated leadership in wanting to answer the question. The key for these many different small groups to succeed is for a subset of these groups who have the best ideas to come together to collaborate and for the others to fall in line with them. Another way of saying this is that the Jewish people must learn how to get out of their own way. When we’re able to do this then we have a great chance of overcoming our enemies.
We are in a 10 years’ war for the Minds and Hearts of Americans. The formula for winning this war is technology + graphs roots organization and mobilization +messaging. These are the ingredients necessary in order to have a chance at defeating the enemy and stemming the tide of antisemitism in the United States. The solution will come specifically not from above, not from the major Jewish organizations, but rather from the bottom up. It will come from the people, the masses of people who will and must come together.
The major Jewish organizations do have an important role to play, but they will not be the deciding factor. It will come from the people. Among these groups there exists many incredible ideas and by coming together we will harness the Jewish genius that is real. True victory will come when the people, the rank and file can organize by community to work in a coordinated way.
We must borrow from past successes that community organizing has produced and apply those lessons to ourselves. We must learn from the likes of Saul Alinsky and others who pioneered the strategies required influencing those that we aim to influence. We must study our friends and our foes to develop “best” ideas.
This process is already underway. The aftermath of October 7 has been a wakeup call to thousands and thousands of people. It has recalibrated the minds of so many. The unintended consequence of Hamas’s depraved action has created an awakening that bigotry is bigotry and hatred is hatred no matter who it comes from. The Jewish genius has been unleashed and it must be harnessed.
Daniel Rosen has been a recognized opinion leader who is committed since his early college days to building a better and more sustainable world.. He is the founder and Chairman of Minds ad Hearts . Daniel and his organizations’ activities have been reported upon in a variety of publications, including the New York Post, the New York Sun, the Village Voice, as well as a number of Jewish publications. Since 2005 he is Co-CEO of a successful online and offline distribution business. In recent times Daniel has been published in JNS, Israel National News, Times of Israel, Front Page Magazine, as well LI Jewish World.