When Home No Longer Feels Like Home

When I moved to Brookline, Massachusetts, nearly two decades ago, it was widely known as one of America’s most Jewish and pro-Israel towns.

Today, it feels different.

I see visibly more Muslims. More women wearing hijabs. More public debates against Israel. More reports of Jewish businesses being vandalized. More Jews saying they no longer feel entirely at home in the very communities they chose because they once felt safe there.

Brookline is not unique.

People point to Sharon, Massachusetts, once widely known as a Jewish town with a strong Jewish community identity, where the Islamic Center of New England now serves a growing Muslim community.

They point to Boca Raton, Florida, another city long associated with a strong Jewish identity, which today is also home to the Islamic Center of Boca Raton.

They point to New York City, where the Muslim population has grown substantially over the past several decades and where ziophobic rhetoric has become increasingly prominent in local politics, universities, and public life.

They point to neighborhoods in Brooklyn, including Brighton Beach and nearby areas, where new immigrant communities—predominantly Muslims from Central Asia—have become ever more visible, replacing older Jewish and Russian-speaking populations.

They point to the ziophobic mayor Zohran Mamdani, the growing prominence of an anti-Israel agenda in New York politics, and incidents of antisemitic vandalism and intimidation that have left many Jews questioning whether communities they once regarded as unquestionably welcoming still feel the same.

Is this coordination?

None of these examples, by themselves, prove coordination.

Cities evolve. Immigration reshapes neighborhoods. Housing markets change. Yet many Jewish residents notice what they perceive as a recurring pattern: communities that once felt overwhelmingly Jewish gradually become visibly Muslim and centers of anti-Israel activism.

Is this merely the natural consequence of demographic change? Or do ideological activists deliberately seek influence in communities with significant Jewish populations because those communities carry symbolic or political importance?

These questions are becoming harder to ignore.

Why was the Islamic Center of New England established in Sharon, a town with a significant Jewish population?

Why was another Islamic center established in Boca Raton, another community with a large Jewish presence?

Why move to Jewish communities and promote an anti-Israel agenda there rather than choose neighborhoods with a cultural or political outlook more similar to your own?

I do not claim to have the answers. I only observe that these questions are being asked with increasing frequency—and that dismissing them outright prevents an honest discussion.

The Real Divide Is Not Religion

Let me be absolutely clear: I have nothing against Muslims.

I do not divide........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)