We are in a Manichaean conflict
Jewish institutions need to acknowledge the reality of an existential conflict and embrace the fight.
By Alan Newman
JNS
Sep 18, 2025
The adjective “Manichaean” derives from a mostly forgotten but complex and significant religion founded by a prophet, Mani. It was practiced from the third through the fifth centuries, and his beliefs were spread from what today is Iran to as far as Britannia and China. Central to Mani’s preaching was a clear “duality” revealing the personal and cosmic struggle of extreme light and goodness against darkness and evil.
On Sept. 11, 2001, we watched United Airlines Flight 175 bank to the northeast behind the already burning World Trade Center North Tower. The sunlight shimmered off the Boeing 767’s wings just before striking the South Tower. The moment we saw the black and orange explosion and the shower of wreckage, we knew life had changed. We came to know that it was Islamic terrorists who killed nearly 3,000 Americans.
Twenty-two years later, on a Shabbat and holiday morning, we awoke to see the first reports of the Hamas attack and massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7. Because the invasion had begun seven hours beforehand, we watched horrific images of the kidnapped, the overrun kibbutzim and strewn corpses everywhere. In shock, we dressed and traveled to join fellow congregants at our synagogues to observe Simchat Torah. We came to learn that about 6,000 Gazans, including the Hamas terrorists, participated in killing some 1,200 people, mostly Israelis, and taking about 250 others hostage.
It is evident that we are in a Manichaean conflict, and it’s all around us.
In the next few weeks, we will watch the U.N. General Assembly sessions as spineless countries ignore the reality of Islamic hate. Western nations that have been overrun and ruined by Muslim migrants will vote in favor of a resolution supporting “Palestinian state recognition,” rewarding Hamas for its murder, rape and torture. Their votes will combine with those of the large Islamic bloc and others that are historically anti-Zionist. Once again, Israel will rely on a few dissenting votes, including that of the United States.
The equivocating, unaffiliated, indifferent and ignorant masses will go along with this travesty. And some of them will be Jews. They will look to their critical race theory and intersectional doctrines to find common cause with the bad guys. All this obfuscation strengthens the evil-doers and postpones the coalescing of the clear-thinking parties to fight.
Just recently, we learned that 4,000 Hollywood personalities, A-list actors and filmmakers among them, have pledged to boycott Israeli films. No surprise here, as these liberal elites, in addition to reading scripts, have mastered virtue-signaling as part of their hollow persona. Even legendary Jerry Seinfeld is under fire from these celebrities for decrying the “free Palestine” movement as equivalent to the Ku Klux Klan for biased messaging. For Seinfeld, defending the one, little Jewish state is worth being canceled.
For real stomach upset, know that only a few weeks after the U.N. fiasco, thanks in part to the progressive Jews, the Big Apple will most likely be led by Socialist Democrat Zohran Mamdani, a full-fledged antisemite. The mayoral candidate has already received endorsements from New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Jewish progressive politicians.
Over time, America and the West have been lulled into a self-satisfied complacency. Concurrently, Islamic nations have waged an effective war of indoctrinating our children and funding progressive institutions. To quote Sir Niall Ferguson, from his article “The Treason of the Intellectuals,” in The Free Press: “I have also witnessed the willingness of trustees, donors and alumni to tolerate the politicization of American universities by an illiberal coalition of ‘woke’ progressives, adherents of ‘critical race theory’ and apologists for Islamist extremism.”
The explosion of anti-Zionism and pro-Hamas sentiments that we have seen played out in our streets and at our universities is a direct result. Qatar has cleverly and duplicitously sidled up to Washington. While the Gulf state has allowed a huge American military presence in its country, it has also hosted, in regal quarters, the leaders of Hamas. We have been suckered, and we have looked unprincipled.
More particularly, Jewish institutions need to acknowledge this conflict as existential and embrace the fight. Billions of dollars are funneled into Jewish organizations, and their donors need to demand support and cooperation for fighting antisemitism, coupled with a willingness to cross political lines.
Pure evil exists in our world. Will we choose to confront it, or will we dance around it until we are consumed by it?
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