As antisemitism resurges across the Western world, one Jewish voice issues a warning many don’t want to hear. For Samoans, many of whom hold deep ties to Israel through faith, family, or shared values, this piece offers both a call to awareness and a challenge to act. It’s uncomfortable, personal, and urgent.
I’m fed up.
Really fed up.
I’m sick of people telling me “it won’t happen again.” I’ve had enough of being told “this isn’t Europe in the 40s.” I’m tired of hearing “this time is different” or being called hysterical and alarmist.
Are you blind?
How can anyone in their right mind still say, “it won’t happen again”?
What exactly won’t happen?
Jewish businesses won’t be targeted again? Synagogues won’t be vandalised and windows shattered? Jews won’t be banned from working or doing business?
Let me tell you what’s already happening.
On Wednesday, April 30, two Jewish friends—neither Israeli nor affiliated with the IDF—were denied business opportunities because of their faith. The excuse? “Protesting genocide in Gaza.” They weren’t part of any war. They were just Jewish.
So again, what is it you think won’t happen?
Jews won’t be harassed in universities?
There won’t be openly antisemitic politicians in positions of power, in Congress, in parliaments?
No more antisemitism in international courts?
No Jew-hating diplomats supporting hate under the flag of justice?
Go on Twitter. Search the word “Jew.” See what you find. It’s everywhere. The hate is viral, and it’s loud.
People say: “This time is different.” That’s exactly what the German Jews said. Germany, they believed, was enlightened. Civilised. They were German citizens. Some thought they were more German than Jewish. They ignored the signs. They mocked those who left. And then it was too late.
Today, you can’t even pretend not to see it. We have social media. We have proof, every day.
And still, we hear, “It won’t happen again.”
So I ask you,
What has to happen before you admit it is happening again?
Do we need concentration camps?
Do we wait for mass executions?
My whole life I wondered why German Jews didn’t flee when they had the chance. I no longer wonder. I now know what they told themselves.
They told themselves they were safe.
They told themselves they’d stay and fight.
They called those who left “paranoid” or “cowards.”
They saw the writing on the wall. They just refused to read it.
Today, it’s not just on the wall, it’s on your phone screen.
Every antisemitic crime is now followed by a digital crowd cheering it on. The hate isn’t in the shadows anymore, it’s celebrated, reposted, amplified.
And still, people tell me. “It won’t happen again.”
You know what’s different this time?
We have Israel.
The one place on Earth built for us, by us, and with us in mind.
You say, “Israel isn’t perfect.”
Of course not. No place is.
But in Israel, we know who the enemy is. In Israel, people will stop to help you on the street. In Israel, the army exists for one reason, to protect Jews.
Yes, 10/7 was a terrible day. We failed that day. But we also fight back. We bury our dead and stand up again, because we have no choice.
And if you’re still doubting this, let me say what some German Jews couldn’t say in time:
It’s happening. Again. Now.
You may say, “Well, I have nowhere to go.”
But you do. You have Israel. We are here. We are fighting. We are building. We are waiting for you.
Yes, things are hard. But this is your home. Not because you’re escaping something, but because you belong here.
And just to lighten the mood,
I’ve promised many people I’ll buy them shawarma when they arrive. It’s a real offer. Ask around.
We’ve prayed for generations to return to Jerusalem. The planes are flying. The borders are open. The army is here. The shawarma is hot.
So stop praying for the return.
Start packing.
Note to the Reader:
This piece was submitted as a personal opinion. The views expressed here are the author’s own and reflect the urgency and emotion felt by many in Jewish communities worldwide today. Samoa Newshub publishes it in the interest of global awareness, shared faith values, and the universal fight against hate.
