Opinion | The author's opinion does not necessarily reflect Sarah Palin's view.
Actress Patricia Heaton has helped found the October 7 Coalition to speak out against the rising tide of antisemitism in the U.S. since last October’s conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Working with JewBelong, the group is organizing Christians nationwide to break their silence on the issue and publicly support the Jewish community.
“You could see that body cam footage from Hamas where they were gleefully murdering people, and I was astonished and horrified, and then I looked around, assuming that the churches would also be horrified and outraged, and I wasn’t hearing anything. It was like crickets,” Heaton said.
“So I posted on my Instagram, ‘If you had been a German during World War II, don’t you hope that you would have been a German who stood by your Jewish neighbors and hid your Jewish neighbors?’ Well, today is your opportunity, and I still believe that.”
They’re putting up billboards warning of hate and emphasizing that “you don’t have to be Jewish to protect Jews.”
Their efforts come as hate crimes targeting Jews on campuses and in businesses have increased.
Heaton says Christians must stand against antisemitism as “the Jews are only 2% of the country” and “need to know we will stand by them.”
“Those of us who are [speaking out] have been feeling very, very alone,” JewBelong founder Archie Gottesman said.
“The Jews are only 2% of the entire country, so even if all of them spoke out, it’s not enough. We need allies.”
The push backs growing reports of swastika graffiti, harassment of Jewish students, and other bigoted acts in the months since the Middle East conflict reignited longstanding tensions.
“Maybe back in 1939, people didn’t know what was going on. We know what’s going on, and it is up to us as Christians to do something about it,” Heaton said.
“The Jewish people are feeling very, very alone and they need to know we will stand by them,” she added.
