Good Jew, bad Jew

Welcome to the newest edition of the classic board game, “Good Jew, Bad Jew.”

The objective is simple: Accumulate as many “Good Jew” cards as possible by repeating generic accusations, moral inversions and direct lies about Israel’s right to exist.

The end goal? Wipe Israel—and the “Bad Jews”—off the map.

If an Israel-supporting player refuses to yield, simply read them the instructions again—and again and again. The rulebook features a comprehensive list of mandatory buzzwords, branding Israel as a colonial, genocidal, apartheid, baby-killing state. Updated manuals are printed daily, courtesy of the Hamas Ministry of Information.

Don’t fret about the clock. The game’s creators are highly patient. Those weaponizing anti-Zionism to target Jews are perfectly willing to wait for your total conversion—first to their political dogma, and eventually, perhaps, to their religious faith.

Numerically, the deck is heavily stacked in the “Good Jew’s” favor. At least for now.

* * *

My father, a sergeant in World War II, was inadvertently swept into the game when one of his privates, John Kelly from the Midwest, wrapped his arms around my dad, and told him he was a “White Jew.” John had never known a Jew before, but he believed every maligning word he had ever been told. He figured that my father, with his congenial and protective nature, must be the welcome exception to the rule.

Nearly a decade before John Kelly discovered a label for the first Jew he ever met, Jews were drafted into the game in 1933 Germany. The “Fatherland” allowed a limited number to migrate to Palestine, ridding the country of some of its detested pests, while simultaneously developing a market in British-mandate Palestine for its manufactured goods. Around the same time, the Nazis briefly tolerated ultranationalist Germans of Jewish descent and other assimilation advocates. They used them as temporary pawns to divide Jewish resistance movements and to demonstrate that not all Jews were treated poorly—just the “wrong” type of Jews.

That is, until they decided that all Jews, by definition, were the wrong type, and shipped them off to death camps.

In the 19th century, when the term “antisemitism” was first introduced, European monarchs and some conservative, wealthy leaders tolerated wealthy Jewish financiers to secure state loans and stabilize national debts. The majority of 19th-century Jews, especially those in Eastern Europe and Russia, were working-class, impoverished “bad Jews” (or at least unprotected ones). As such, these unprotected Jews bore the brunt of mob attacks, riots and multiple forms of state-sanctioned antisemitism and hostility.

There were times when the “good Jews” were even socially acceptable. Before Spain expelled its Jews in 1492, Jewish diplomats, physicians and advisors who held massive power in the royal court. By virtue of their social station, poor Jews met a similar fate to their 19th-century European counterparts.

Antisemitism was less rigorous for Jews in Muslim-controlled lands, dependent on the ruler, the region and the era. For the most part, Jews remained inferior to the Muslim population: dhimmis required to pay the Jizya tax to protect their lives, property and religious freedom.

Even this “protected person” status failed to keep Jews safe, especially during periods of massive Jewish influence.

During the Taifa Period of Islamic Spain (1031-1086), culturally assimilated Jewish elites gained substantial political and military power, sparking jealousy and backlash, resulting in the 1066 Granada Massacre. First, the “good” (influential) Jews were killed. Then the mob indiscriminately transformed both good and bad Jews into dead Jews.

We can go further back historically. Suffice it to say, Jewish status has never been a secure one.

* * *

The same dynamics are at play today: Only the definitions of the “bad Jew” and the “good Jew” have changed, using support for Israel as the societal moral barometer.

In a world shaped by migration, war, conquest and displacement, Islamists and some radicals on the political right seek to dismantle only one country: the majority Jewish country, which was legally created by the United Nations in 1948. It is a land in which Jews have thousands of years of indigenous historic, cultural, legal and religious ties.

These radical Islamists publicly court favor of the anti-Zionist “good Jews,” who lend legitimacy to their anti-Israel and anti-Jewish legislation and talking points. They use this alliance as proof they are not antisemitic, much like the Nazis had. If the “bad Jews” and other Zionists happen to find themselves in the crossfire of radicals who voice violent threats, launch physical attacks and even commit murder, their plight is dismissed as a well-deserved consequence—just as Jewish suffering has been justified throughout most of history.

How do “Bad Jews” navigate this latest game board? They continue speaking truth to lies and propaganda. Facts show that Israel retains the moral high ground.

Hamas and Palestinians in Gaza brutally attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, with the explicit goal of killing as many Israeli citizens as they could—war crimes under international law, for which there are no political exemptions or justifications. Their rationale aligns with the actual definition of genocide—the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.

Israel responded by invading Gaza to rescue its hostages and prevent Hamas from repeating the atrocities they have promised to commit “again and again and again” until Israel is wiped off the map.

UNICEF, the organization devoted fully to child safety, has affirmed that Israel did not starve anyone in Gaza, sending more than 3,000 calories per person per day.

Unlike most of Israel’s surrounding 22 Arab states, Israel grants full civil and religious rights and participation to its minority citizens, including about 2 million Arab citizens and their progeny who chose to remain in Israel during its War of Independence. Since its rebirth, Israel has forfeited territory to make peace, despite continuous attacks, intifadas and multiple wars that its Arab neighbors began.

While the rhetoric began with anti-Zionism, antisemitic attacks have become increasingly mainstream. A recently released FBI report shows that in 2025, anti-Jewish hate crimes accounted for two-thirds of all religion-based incidents in the United States, despite Jews representing only 2.4% of the population. The reality is that anti-Zionist culture fuels and validates traditional Jew-hatred, as the “Jewish crimes” of being too rich or too poor, too assimilated or not sufficiently assimilated, and others have in the past.

Antisemitism is nothing new. History proves that dividing Jews into categories of “good” versus “bad” has never kept our people safe. Do not let them divide us now.