Imagine posting more than 1500 times a year about Israel. Sharing facts that are accessible, documented and verifiable. Facts about history. Facts about law. Facts about war and peace. Facts that most educated people can easily confirm for themselves. And still being told that it is unnecessary. That it is a weak argument. That it is better not to mention certain details because they make people uncomfortable.

Imagine explaining that a passport issued by Pakistan explicitly states it is valid for all countries except Israel. That this exclusion is written in black and white. That it reflects a policy of non recognition toward Israel. And the response you receive is not concern about discrimination or exclusion, but dismissal. Why mention it. It is not important. We do not want Pakistanis in Israel anyway.

That reaction is precisely why it is important.

Because silence normalizes. Silence erases context. Silence allows double standards to flourish unchallenged. When one state is singled out for exclusion and the world shrugs, a message is sent. When Jewish sovereignty alone is treated as temporary, conditional or illegitimate, a message is sent. When terrorism against Israelis is explained away as resistance, a message is sent.

History has shown us what happens when messages of hatred go unanswered.

Before and during the rise of Adolf Hitler, there were countless moments when people could have spoken louder, earlier and more consistently. The antisemitic rhetoric was not hidden. The scapegoating was public. The ideology was printed, broadcast and cheered. What if more intellectuals, more clergy, more politicians had confronted it relentlessly instead of accommodating it. What if every speech blaming Jews for society’s problems had been met with overwhelming moral outrage instead of strategic silence.

What if, when Jews were stripped of rights, boycotted and isolated, more neighboring societies had said this is unacceptable. Not once, not symbolically, but persistently and loudly. Imagine if the normalization of discrimination had been challenged at every step. Perhaps the machinery of hatred would not have found such fertile ground.

During the Second World War, knowledge about deportations and extermination reached the Allies. There were debates about bombing the rail lines leading to Auschwitz. Some argued it was militarily impractical. Others said it would divert resources. History still asks the question. What if. What if those railways had been destroyed. What if thousands, tens of thousands, could have survived. Even earlier, when Germany was rearming in violation of treaties, what if more nations had taken the threat seriously. What if appeasement had been replaced with resolve.

Silence and hesitation have consequences.

Today, when people suggest that speaking up for Israel is excessive, unnecessary or provocative, they overlook that lesson. The most inefficient reaction to a pro Israel advocate is to ask for silence. Silence is never neutral in the face of sustained delegitimization. Silence is interpreted as consent by those who chant for destruction.

When crowds shout that Israel should disappear, when Israeli civilians are targeted, when Jewish students on campuses feel compelled to hide their identity, the issue is not abstract geopolitics. It is the normalization of hatred. And normalization grows in the soil of indifference.

Speaking up repeatedly is not extremism. It is prevention.

It is saying that killing Jews is not political expression. It is saying that murdering Israeli families is not resistance. It is saying that Jewish self determination in their ancestral homeland is not a colonial experiment but a historical and legal reality. It is reminding people that Israel is a democracy with Arab citizens who vote, serve in parliament and on the Supreme Court. It is reminding them that complexity does not erase legitimacy.

We do not want a world where people begin to think that killing Jews, killing Israelis, is somehow understandable or inevitable. We do not want another generation taught that Jewish blood is cheaper than others. We do not want textbooks, protests or diplomatic forums to single out one small state as uniquely evil while ignoring the far greater crimes of regimes elsewhere.

The lesson of history is not that words are dangerous. The lesson is that silence in the face of dangerous words is far more so.

Every time someone says it is not necessary to mention discrimination written into a passport, it is necessary. Every time someone says do not bring up antisemitism, it is necessary. Every time someone says tone it down, it is necessary to explain why we will not.

Because we have seen what happens when society grows tired of defending Jews. We have seen what happens when the world decides that Jewish vulnerability is not its problem. We have seen how quickly hatred can move from slogans to laws to trains.

Speaking up one thousand times may feel repetitive. But if even one mind reconsiders, if even one person understands that delegitimizing Israel feeds a much older hatred, then it is worth it.

Never again is not a slogan. It is a responsibility.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)