Michael Abrahams | Empathy for the Jews

In observance of Human Rights Week, I was invited to address a church congregation on the first Sunday of December 2023 about current human rights issues. The war in Gaza had erupted two months earlier following the horrific attack led by Hamas on October 7. Israel, like any other state, has a right to defend itself, but by this time, it had become evident that its response extended beyond defence and into the realm of destruction and annihilation.

I decided to share my perspective on the conflict and arrived at the church wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with the words “FREE PALESTINE” next to an image of the Palestinian flag. Upon entering, I was introduced to a woman who was also asked to speak. During our conversation, she revealed that she was Jewish. My immediate response was to ask if she knew anyone in Israel who was affected by the October 7 attack. She did – a family who had lost two members. I was horrified. I expressed my condolences and embraced her. We went on to discuss the situation involving Israel, Hamas and Gaza, and found our views to be closely aligned: the October 7 attack was an indefensible act of terror, but Israel’s ongoing carpet-bombing and destruction of much of Gaza was also worthy of condemnation. When we later addressed the congregation, our messages converged, not only in denouncing both atrocities, but also in expressing empathy for the victims of October 7 and for civilians in Gaza.

The experience illustrates two important points. First, expressing empathy for both Israelis and Gazans is not mutually exclusive. If you genuinely care about humanity, this should not be a binary issue. The second is that it is unfair to paint all Jews with the same brush by homogenising them or holding them collectively responsible for the actions of a state.

ALARMED AND ANGERED

And the actions of the State of Israel have alarmed and angered many. The October 7 attack resulted in over 1,200 fatalities in Israel. Since then, Israeli forces have killed over 75,000 in Gaza, over 2,200 in Lebanon and, along with US forces, over 3,400 in Iran. In addition, over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by members of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and Jewish settlers since the October 7 massacre. With the level of aggression being displayed by Israel, it is easy to blame the misery of the victims of these assaults on “the Jews”. Indeed, anti-Semitism has surged since the October 7 massacre, with 2025 recording the highest number of deaths from anti-Semitic violence in 30 years. Incidents of physical harm, vandalism, and online hate have also escalated. The daughter of a Jewish friend of mine, who is attending university in the UK, recently told me that she stopped wearing her Star of David necklace due to fear of persecution.

Jews are by no means a monolithic group. Some are religious. Some are secular. Some are Zionists and strongly believe in the existence of national sovereignty in their ancestral homeland. Some are not. And among Zionists, there is variation. Some are right-wing extremists who want to ethnically cleanse Gaza and the West Bank and expand the State of Israel, and some are progressive and desire a state but reject Israeli occupation. One of these progressive Zionists recently befriended me on Facebook and invited me to join a group he founded, which opposes the death penalty, including the one recently prescribed in Israel for Palestinians only.

Along with my recognition of this diversity, there is also empathy. Jewish history is marked by centuries of persecution, from as far back as 597 BCE, when the Neo-Babylonian Empire conquered the Kingdom of Judah and persecuted and exiled its Jewish subjects. Anti-Semitism therefore long predates the Holocaust, when Nazi Germany attempted to exterminate the Jews. In the aftermath of World War II, the State of Israel was established in 1948, after British-ruled Palestine was partitioned into separate Jewish and Arab states. Since then, tensions between Israel and its Arab neighbours have persisted, beginning with the Arab-Israeli War of 1948 and continuing in various forms to the present day.

The Holocaust was so traumatic that research has found that children of survivors may inherit vulnerability to trauma-related mental health issues, including higher risks for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety. Unfortunately, rhetoric advocating the eradication of Israel–and by extension its people–has persisted. Iran, Syria, Egypt and Iraq have, at different times, expressed the desire for Israel to be wiped out. Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis (Ansar Allah) and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) have also openly advocated for Israel’s destruction.

IRON DOME

In response to ongoing security threats, Israel developed the Iron Dome missile defence system in 2006 to intercept short-range rockets and other explosive projectiles. When sirens sound, civilians often have only minutes or seconds to reach shelters inside homes or communal bunkers. Living under such conditions, amid constant vigilance and the threat of sudden attack, must be profoundly unsettling for Israeli citizens.

I draw a clear distinction between the policies of the Israeli Government and the Jewish people as a whole. Many Jews are unjustly stereotyped and vilified, labelled as “baby killers” or “terrorists” by individuals who know nothing of their personal beliefs or experiences. At the same time, successive Israeli governments, including the current one, have been accused of grave human rights violations including allegations of apartheid, ethnic cleansing, genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and dehumanization of Palestinians in the occupied territories

Like many around the world, I strongly oppose much of what the Israeli state is doing today. Its actions are widely perceived as harsh, unfair and inhumane. However, to respond by fostering hatred toward Jews would be to mirror the very prejudice, cruelty and injustice I condemn.

Michael Abrahams is an obstetrician and gynaecologist, social commentator, and human-rights advocate. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and michabe_1999@hotmail.com, or follow him on X , formerly Twitter, @mikeyabrahams