Thursday, October 1, 2026
Europe ignored radical extremism for years. Politicians dismissed it as “activism.” Universities normalized it. The media softened it. Entire neighborhoods across Europe are now plagued by fear, antisemitism, anti-Christian hostility and radical movements that openly reject Western civilization itself.
New Yorkers should stop pretending it can’t happen here.
Earlier this month, anti-Israel mobs once again gathered outside synagogues in New York City, including demonstrations near Young Israel of Midwood, in Brooklyn, and the Park East Synagogue in Manhattan. Protesters screamed anti-Israel slogans, clashed with counterprotesters, and created an atmosphere of intimidation outside places where Jewish families gather to worship and pray.
These are not peaceful demonstrations anymore. These are intimidation tactics aimed directly at Jewish Americans. The examples are becoming impossible to ignore.
At Columbia University, radical encampments took over portions of campus while Jewish students reported being harassed, intimidated and warned to avoid certain areas. Protesters occupied Hamilton Hall, glorified “resistance” and openly displayed support for groups tied to Hamas ideology. At Cooper Union, Jewish students were forced to shelter inside a library while protesters pounded on the doors and screamed antisemitic chants outside.
At UCLA, violent clashes erupted after anti-Israel encampments blocked Jewish students from accessing parts of campus. Across the country, university administrators responded with weakness, hesitation and excuses while radicals violated rules that ordinary students would never be allowed to break.
The message being sent to these extremists is clear: Intimidation works.
Swastikas have appeared in New York City parks and public spaces. Protesters openly praised Hamas after the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust, in which terrorists murdered families, kidnapped civilians, raped women and burned innocent people alive.
This is not political disagreement. This is organized hatred.
Christians should understand something very clearly: history has shown that movements willing to target Jews never stop there. Across the world, Christians are facing escalating persecution and violence. Churches have been burned in France and Canada. Christians in Nigeria are routinely massacred by Islamist terrorist groups, with entire villages attacked and worshippers murdered during church services.
In parts of the Middle East, ancient Christian communities have been driven out through violence, intimidation and terror. In China, churches are raided and crosses torn down. Even in America, Christianity is increasingly mocked, attacked and treated as something backward or offensive.
The same radical ideology that targets Jews also despises Christianity, patriotism, law enforcement, and Western civilization.
For years, politicians like Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Zohran Mamdani have helped normalize anti-Israel extremism by attacking the accepted definition of antisemitism, excusing radical demonstrations and empowering movements that openly hate Israel, America, capitalism, police and traditional values. Others on the radical left have remained silent while mobs target Jewish communities and excuse terrorist organizations as “resistance.”
Europe made this mistake already. It tolerated radicalism because confronting it became politically inconvenient. Leaders ignored growing extremism while law-abiding citizens were expected to simply adapt. Today, many European communities are dealing with rising antisemitism, attacks on churches, violent extremism, and neighborhoods in which citizens no longer feel safe openly practicing their faith.
America cannot afford to repeat that failure.
The Jewish and Christian communities must recognize that they are standing on the same front line. Radical extremists do not distinguish between a synagogue and a church, between a Star of David and a cross. Their hatred is directed at faith itself, at Western civilization itself, and at the values that built America.
Americans have defeated fascists, communists and terrorists before. History also teaches us that evil grows when decent people are too afraid to confront it early.
The mobs outside synagogues today are testing whether America still has the courage to defend its people, its faith and its civilization. We cannot afford to fail that test.
Ari Brown, of Cedarhurst, represents the 20th Assembly District.
