by Mark M. BelloYesterday, fifteen people were murdered in Sydney, Australia, while celebrating Hanukkah.
Let that register for a moment.
This wasn’t a war zone or a battlefield. Nor was it a conflict zone or collateral damage in some geopolitical chess match.
This was a beach in Australia during the celebration of a religious festival.
Fifteen innocent lives were violently taken for the ‘crime’ of being Jewish.
Once again, we hear the same tired reassurances: “This is tragic,” “this is unacceptable,” “this is not who we are.” But it is who we are, and once again, I can almost guarantee, nothing fundamental will change.
This was not an “Australian problem” or a “Jewish problem.” This was and is a human problem—one the world has tolerated for centuries and continues to tolerate.
Hate Is Not Spontaneous. It Is Enabled.
Hate does not emerge in a vacuum. It is cultivated, normalized, excused, and rewarded. Across the globe, political leaders have learned that division mobilizes faster than unity, that fear energizes better than empathy, and that scapegoats are easier than solutions. Minorities, immigrants, journalists, LGBTQ+ people, dissidents, and religious groups become convenient targets—stripped of complexity, dignity, and eventually safety.
In the United States, we passively watch a sitting president make cruelty fashionable again. Hate speech aimed at immigrants, minorities, the press, political opponents, and anyone insufficiently loyal has been reframed as “strong leadership,” “tough,” “telling it like it is,” or “authentic.”
When leaders model contempt, the public learns permission. And when permission is granted, violence follows.
Jews Are the Canary—and Always Have Been
Jews make up roughly 0.2% of the global population. And yet, across centuries, continents, and political systems—monarchies, democracies, fascist regimes, theocracies—Jews are disproportionately targeted, blamed, expelled, and killed. This is not a coincidence. It is not theology. It is not an ancient grievance. It is the oldest, most portable conspiracy theory in human history.
But Jews are not alone. Hatred metastasizes. Once unleashed, it does not stop at one group. History is brutally consistent on this point: when hate is tolerated against some, it spreads to many.
Today it is Jews.
Tomorrow, it may be Muslims
or immigrants.
Journalists,
LGBTQ+ people,
or political dissidents.
It could be anyone a coward deems inconvenient.
While targets change, the mechanism does not.
If God exists—and reasonable people disagree—one thing is certain: no omnipotent being requires mass murder to defend Him. Wars fought over religion are not acts of faith. Murders committed over doctrine are not acts of devotion. Hate wrapped in scripture is still hate. Whatever name we use for God, whatever rituals we practice, whatever texts we revere—none justify violence against another human being for existing differently. Those who kill in God’s name do not honor Him. They replace Him.
Where Is the Global Response?
Here is the truly damning question:
Why is there no serious, coordinated, global effort to eradicate hate?
We have international bodies to regulate trade, manage air Travel, police nuclear weapons, or track pandemics. But when it comes to hate—arguably the single greatest accelerant of violence in human history—we rely on speeches, hashtags, and Memorials.
Why?
Because hate is politically useful and outrage is profitable. Because unity threatens entrenched power, and confronting hate would require leaders to confront themselves.
This is a direct challenge to the leaders of every nation:
Enough cowardice.
Enough selective outrage.
Enough condemnation without commitment.
The world needs a Global Anti-Hate Initiative—real, funded, enforced, and sustained. Not symbolic. Not voluntary. Not performative.
Such an initiative must include:
This is not about suppressing disagreement. It is about preventing dehumanization.
Humanity stands at a familiar crossroads. We can continue pretending that hate is inevitable, an unfortunate but permanent feature of civilization, or we can finally admit the truth:
Hate persists not because it is unstoppable, but because it is permitted.
The victims in Sydney did not die because the world lacked the tools to stop hate. They died because the world lacks the will. That failure belongs to all of us—but especially to those entrusted with power.
The world must come together to stop hate.
Not tomorrow. Not after the next massacre. Now.
Because silence is not neutrality. It is complicity.
