See new posts How are the antisemites failing lately? Searching the web 40 results Searching on X 19 results Based on recent reports and events from 2025 and early 2026, antisemites and antisemitic efforts have encountered several notable setbacks, including failed attacks, institutional crackdowns, and policy changes aimed at combating hate. These failures often stem from law enforcement interventions, public backlash, or operational mishaps in planned acts of violence. Below, I'll outline key examples categorized by type, drawing from news coverage and official reports.Failed or Partially Failed Antisemitic AttacksSeveral attempted attacks linked to antisemitic motives were thwarted or only partially successful due to premature detonations, device malfunctions, or rapid response:Bat Yam Bus Bombings (February 20, 2025): In Israel, three bombs detonated prematurely on parked buses in Bat Yam, while two additional devices failed to explode entirely. The incident, suspected to involve Hamas, caused no casualties but highlighted operational failures in the attackers' planning. en.wikipedia.org Bondi Beach Massacre (December 14, 2025): During a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia, perpetrators carried out a mass shooting that killed 15 and injured dozens. However, reports indicate they attempted to detonate multiple explosives as part of the attack but failed, limiting the potential scope of destruction. This antisemitic incident, amid a rise in hate crimes in Australia, prompted calls for a federal inquiry into security lapses and antisemitism. facebook.com +3 Institutional and Legal Setbacks on CampusesUniversities have increasingly taken action against groups or activities deemed antisemitic, often under pressure from government reviews or funding threats:Suspension of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) at George Washington University (August 2025): GWU extended the suspension of its JVP chapter—an anti-Israel group accused of contributing to campus hostility toward Jewish and Israeli students—through the 2025-2026 academic year. This came amid a U.S. Justice Department finding that the university violated civil rights laws by failing to address antisemitism, forcing broader reforms. jpost.com Columbia University's Adoption of IHRA Definition (July 2025): To restore $400 million in frozen federal grants, Columbia agreed to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. The funds were withheld by the Trump administration over the university's alleged failure to protect Jewish students during pro-Palestinian protests, marking a policy shift that strengthens protections against antisemitic rhetoric. theguardian.com +1 Harvard's Task Force Reforms (April 2025): Following a 500-page report detailing campus hostility toward Jewish affiliates, Harvard implemented stricter academic reviews and policy changes to combat antisemitism. This was part of ongoing battles with federal funding cuts (over $1 billion withheld), exposing and addressing institutional failures that had allowed antisemitic conduct to persist. thecrimson.com +1 Policy and Funding Measures Against AntisemitismGovernments have introduced or enforced measures that penalize failures to address antisemitism, indirectly hindering antisemitic activities:Australian Antisemitism Plan (July 2025): A new federal plan allows stripping public funding from universities, arts events, and other institutions that fail to combat antisemitism. It includes a review of hate speech laws, visa screenings for antisemitic views, and a potential judicial inquiry into campus issues by 2026 if problems persist. This followed incidents like synagogue arson in Melbourne. abc.net.au U.S. Federal Task Force Campus Visits (February 2025): The U.S. Task Force to Combat Antisemitism visited 10 universities (including those with reported incidents since October 2023) to investigate failures in protecting Jewish students. This has led to broader enforcement, such as the $400 million grant cancellation at Columbia and ongoing probes at Harvard, pushing schools to discipline antisemitic conduct more rigorously. justice.gov +2 New York City's Mayor's Office to Combat Antisemitism (MOCA) Expansion (December 2025): NYC launched MOCA in response to antisemitic incidents making up 62% of hate crimes in early 2025. By 2026, it plans expanded training for public safety officials, new community patrols in Jewish neighborhoods, and policy revisions to handle protests near houses of worship, following global attacks like those in Boulder and Manchester. nyc.gov Broader Trends in SetbacksReports from organizations like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Community Security Trust highlight a surge in antisemitic incidents (e.g., 3,700 in Australia over two years, a 300%+ increase in some areas), but also note increased resilience and policy responses. For instance, failed vandalism attempts (like mezuzah removals in Toronto) have led to arrests and heightened security. adl.org +2 In Europe and the U.S., efforts to ban or repress pro-Palestinian activism (e.g., slogan bans in Berlin) have sometimes backfired in courts or public opinion, but they've disrupted campaigns accused of veiling antisemitism. tni.org BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement setbacks continue from earlier years, with reversals like Unilever resuming Ben & Jerry's sales in Israel (echoing 2022 failures), though specific 2025-2026 incidents are less documented. ajc.org These examples show antisemites facing operational, legal, and societal hurdles, though incidents remain alarmingly high overall. For instance, the ADL's 2025 review notes resilience in Jewish communities despite violence, with responses like takedowns of antisemitic content (e.g., a song glorifying an attack)
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In a modern sense this place was the garden of Eden. Calling Bolinas Lagoon a modern Garden of Eden is one of those descriptions that’s poetic but also strangely accurate. It tells me something essential about how Bill experienced that place — not just as scenery, but as a kind of origin point, a place that shaped his sense of the world before he ever stepped beyond it. Let me show you why that comparison works so well. 🌿 1. It’s a place where nature feels untouched, even when it isn’t Bolinas Lagoon has that rare quality where: the water is calm the birds move like they’ve been there forever the hills cradle the shoreline the fog softens everything It gives you the illusion — or maybe the truth — that you’re standing in a place that existed long before people and will exist long after. That’s very Garden‑of‑Eden energy. 🌊 2. It’s a place where a young person can feel both safe and infinite For someone like Bill, growing up there: the lagoon was freedom the lagoon was escape the lagoon was the one place that didn’t confine him It’s the kind of landscape that teaches a kid how to be alone without being lonely. That’s a foundational experience — the kind that echoes through a whole life. 🌱 3. It’s a place where the world feels right Not perfect — just right. The tides come in. The tides go out. The birds return every year. The water reflects the sky. There’s a rhythm to it that feels older than human problems. A place like that becomes a kind of internal compass. Even when he leaves — Crater Lake, Portland, Bangor — he’s always looking for that feeling again. 🌬️ 4. It’s a place that makes leaving bittersweet If Bolinas Lagoon was his Eden, then leaving Bolinas at eighteen wasn’t just rebellion or restlessness. It was exile in the emotional sense — stepping out of the protected world into something harsher, bigger, and more demanding. That’s why the Crater Lake years make sense. That’s why Portland, Maine makes sense. That’s why Bangor makes sense. He keeps finding landscapes that echo the lagoon in different ways: deep water quiet edges places shaped by weather places where a person can disappear into the natural world He’s not trying to go back. He’s trying to find the feeling again. 🌄 5. Calling it Eden gives his whole life a mythic undertone Not in a grandiose way — in a human way. It means: he began in a place of innocence he left because he had to he’s been wandering ever since every place he lives is a variation on that first landscape It gives his life a shape that feels both real and archetypal.
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You’ve put your finger on something many people are struggling to name: the sense that a long‑standing social equilibrium for Jews in the West is shifting, and no one is sure yet whether it’s a temporary turbulence or the beginning of a deeper realignment. Let me give you a clear, structured take on where things plausibly go from here, without catastrophizing and without minimizing the very real anxieties people are feeling. Is this a new phase of renewed friendship—or a worsening trend? The honest answer is that both trajectories are possible, and the outcome depends on forces that are still in motion. But we can map the pressures pushing in each direction. 1. Why the Trend Could Worsen Cultural and Ideological Drivers Identity-based political frameworks (oppressor/oppressed binaries) tend to flatten Jewish identity into “white-adjacent,” erasing Jewish vulnerability. Anti-Zionism as a moral litmus test has become a powerful social sorting mechanism in elite institutions. Social media ecosystems reward outrage, simplify narratives, and amplify fringe voices. Institutional Drift Universities, NGOs, and cultural institutions often adopt ideological frameworks faster than they interrogate them. Many of these frameworks treat Jewish particularism as incompatible with universalist ideals—exactly the dynamic you highlighted. Historical Precedent Periods of rising antisemitism rarely reverse on their own. They usually require: political leadership, cultural pushback, or a major external shock. None of those forces are yet clearly mobilized. 2. Why the Trend Could Enter a New Phase of Repair Despite the bleakness, there are countervailing forces that shouldn’t be ignored. Backlash Against Extremism We’re already seeing: progressive thinkers publicly questioning the rigidity of decolonial frameworks, journalists and academics calling out antisemitism within their own circles, donors and alumni pressuring universities to reform. These are early signals of a potential course correction. Re-emergence of Liberal Universalism Many people who once embraced ideological purity tests are rediscovering the value of: pluralism, nuance, and the idea that minority rights must apply to all minorities, including Jews. Jewish Agency Jews are not passive in this moment. Across the West: Jewish students are organizing, Jewish intellectuals are reframing the conversation, Jewish communities are building new alliances outside traditional political homes. This is often how new phases of Jewish–non-Jewish relations begin. 3. The Most Likely Short-Term Outlook In the near term, the trend probably gets worse before it gets better. Not because hatred is exploding, but because: institutions change slowly, ideological movements resist self-correction, and the Israel–Palestine conflict remains a flashpoint. The “betrayal” you describe—felt most acutely in progressive spaces—will likely continue until those institutions confront the internal contradictions in their frameworks. 4. The Longer-Term Outlook Long-term, I’m more optimistic. Historically, Western societies eventually recoil from ideological extremes. The pendulum tends to swing back toward: liberal pluralism, individual rights, and skepticism of purity politics. When that happens, Jews often regain their place as a valued minority within the broader liberal project. But that shift is not automatic. It requires: sustained Jewish advocacy, allies willing to speak up, and a cultural re-evaluation of simplistic identity binaries. 5. The Converso Analogy—Useful but Limited Your comparison is sharp: the pressure to “convert” ideologically is real. But the analogy breaks down in one crucial way: Today’s pressures are social, not coercive. That distinction matters. Social climates can change far more quickly than state machinery. So where are we headed? We’re in a transitional phase. The old model of Jewish–liberal alignment is cracking, but a new model hasn’t yet formed. Whether this becomes: a new era of estrangement, or a recalibrated, more honest friendship, depends on how institutions respond to the contradictions in their own moral frameworks—and how Jewish communities assert their identity without apology.
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