By Owen Strachan

Jew-hatred is back with a vengeance.

In Washington, D.C., Jew-hatred came to horrifying expression when Yaron Lischinsky and his girlfriend, Sarah Milgrim, were gunned down on a city sidewalk. A pro-Palestine man named Elias Rodriguez is the suspect and was charged with first-degree murder on Thursday.

Details about Rodriguez are only now coming to light. According to The Times of Israel, Rodriguez voiced stridently woke ideology in 2017 about the “whitening” of Seattle: the “whitening of Seattle is structurally racist and a direct danger to all workers who live in that city.” In January 2024, an X account that is apparently linked to Rodriguez posted this message: “Happy New Year, Death To Israel.”

We cannot miss this: woke ideology is having a diabolical effect on America. Jew-hatred and Israel-hatred are seen as righteous causes by a growing number of young people today. Douglas Murray said it well: “Rodriguez does not appear to be a radical Muslim. He is someone who has been radicalized in America by radical left groups that believe that killing Jews makes them ethical people.”

This is a deplorable trend. Even among professing Christians, it has become shockingly common online to justify Hamas’s evil actions due to the supposed special sinfulness of Jews. Jews are regarded as “enemies” of God in a special way, a theological argument that is often wedded online to unproven conspiracy theories about Jewish control of world government and global events.

In these same circles, fascism has gained traction. Among some aligned with the dissident right (or “woke right”), Hitler memes proliferate, the Nazis are praised, and a vision of resurgent “whiteness” dominates. For those who are still trying to comprehend this emergent ideological stream, this post substantially summarizes its approach:

Fascism is pretty cool, actually.

It’s the most effective form of anti communism to have ever existed.

And what is “fascism” really?

Far Right ?‘???

Nationalist ?’???

Militaristic ?‘???

God & Country ?’???

Hierarchical ?‘???

Anti-communist/liberal ?’???

What’s not to like?

There is much “not to like” about fascism; it is not merely one viable option of many on an Applebee’s menu. One massive element of fascism’s evil legacy is its demonizing and savaging of the Jewish people. No Christian — no truly born-again person — should ever think that the Jews deserve such treatment. Scripture nowhere allows for such a vile conclusion.

According to the Bible, every Jew is a sinner, just like every Gentile (Romans 3:10). The Jews are indeed called the “enemies” of God in their current state (Romans 11:28); so too does Revelation 3:9 speak in very sobering terms about Jews who participate in a “synagogue of Satan.” Jews who walk in unbelief are in certain danger of eternal judgment, just as lost Gentiles are.

But this is not all Scripture says about the Jews. In terms of God’s saving promises, the Jews are even now “beloved” according to the Apostle Paul (Romans 11:28). They have strayed from God as a people, tragically, but there will be a future in-gathering of Jews in God’s saving plan (Romans 11:25-28). This is in fact what the book of Acts shows; as the gospel is preached, some Jews believe and turn to Jesus Christ (3,000 in Jerusalem alone per Acts 2:41, for example).

We do well to think more about the name we just cited: Jesus Christ. Jesus was not a generic human being. Jesus was of Jewish descent, “the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star” (Revelation 22:16). As he sits even now at the Father’s right hand, Jesus has Jewish blood pumping through his veins. Jesus was, is, and always will be Jewish in terms of his ethnicity.

Neither is God done with the Jews. Across the world, Jews are trusting in Christ today. Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, for example, were Messianic Jews who claimed Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Here is a terrible irony of the rising Jew-hatred of our day: even as well-known “conservatives” and professing Christian leaders attack Jews for being especially wicked, Jews are being saved by God.

In these ways and more, again, we see that God is not done with the Jews. Whether or not a given Jew becomes a Christian, however, we must be clear: there is no biblical justification for hating the Jews, targeting the Jews, and attacking the Jews. As Christians, we must rise in evil days and defend those who are hated and opposed. Satan is on the march, and we should oppose him however we can, with the words of Psalm 82:4 ringing in our ears:

“Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

Owen Strachan is Senior Fellow for FRC’s Center for Biblical Worldview.