Hen Mazzig

I call on all Jews to recognize our common roots and to oppose those who want us to assimilate and erase our identity.

Former national security and strategic affairs minister Gilad Erdan was appointed this week as the next Israeli ambassador to the UN and later to be the ambassador to the USA at large.

To a group of radical anti-Zionist students at Vassar, however, all of this made me a threat on campus. As an Israeli who knows a thing or two about legitimate threats, this was chilling.

It happens every year on Holocaust Remembrance Day.

While America had closed its gates to the Jews of the Middle East, my family heard word of a safe haven for the Jewish people: Israel.

Our people were always told to be ashamed of something: who we are, our religion, our attire, and even the fact that we have national aspirations.

The core of our struggle is to protect our community members everywhere, to defend their lives and freedom.

I wish these people had half of the sympathy they have for the Palestinians for the millions that were and still are truly oppressed by imperial power.

We are a family, indeed and you’ve made a mistake.

The IDF has made strides in its PR, but we've still got a long way to go.