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Source: https://www.jns.org/dermer-warns-of-international-threats-one-of-the-most-pressing-tehran/
Jews Must Fight Back Against Their Demonization
(JNS) Amb. Ron Dermer interviewed by Ellie Cohanim - International media coverage of the conflict in May between Hamas and Israel "played right into the hands of Hamas," whose strategy "is to essentially not only target our civilians, but embed their own civilians and essentially turn them into human shields." "And the media went for it. Unfortunately, I think it's not gullibility. I think it's more malicious. I think it's an attempt to cast Israel as the evil actor in this equation, as a force for evil." "The demonization of Jews is a very old problem. And many people believe that if we just educate people about the facts that the Jew-hatred will end. I don't believe that." "People thought that those decades after the Holocaust were a new normal, but it wasn't....What we have is the demonization of Israel, a return to the norm of anti-Semitism." "The difference now is that the Jewish people have a state, the Jewish people have sovereign power. We have a shield, we have a refuge, we have a voice and we're going to use it." "Jews have to begin to fight back against their own demonization. If we don't stand up for ourselves...no one's going to stand up for us." Ron Dermer is former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. (2013 to 2021). Ellie Cohanim is former U.S. deputy special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism.