The kind of free speech that can kill Jews

America’s founding fathers valued the privilege to speak one’s mind, so much so, that it became a constitutional law which guaranteed the ability for each person to freely express their thoughts with impunity.

But what happens when those expressed opinions become a hateful ideology which then imperils a certain segment of humanity?  That is when those demonizing words cease to be free speech and, instead, become the convincing justification for listeners to conclude that the world would be a better place without those people. 

Ever since the tragic events of October 7th, a verbal campaign has taken off – focusing on the vilification of Jews, accusing them of despicable actions, such as genocide, deliberate targeting of civilians, the starvation of children and all the horrors actually perpetrated by Hamas terrorists.

At the same time, Hamas was rebranded, characterized as freedom fighters, justly fighting for the rights of their oppressed people. It didn’t take long for that deceitful message to gather worldwide support, resulting in Jews being painted as the scourge of society.

Further piling on, the International Criminal Court of Justice added their legitimacy to the accusations, aided by 124 countries which agreed to arrest Israeli soldiers, political figures or others deemed to have participated in the Hamas-Israel war, as a way of bringing about their twisted form of justice.

At that point, vacationing Israeli soldiers were forced to flee European venues, at a moment’s notice, for fear of being arrested. It wasn’t long before other vacationing Israelis were met with anger and scorn for daring to arrive on the shores of countries that no longer welcomed their tourism.

Now, a place which was always regarded as a second home to Israelis, due to its close geographic proximity as well as the traditional warmth extended to them, has become the location where hearing the Hebrew language can nearly land you at death’s door.

According to Israel Live News, “a young Israeli tourist was brutally assaulted in Limassol, Cyprus after speaking Hebrew on the phone.”  It is said that local young people, who overheard his conversation, recognized the language he was speaking. Once he ended the call, they “began to verbally abuse him, followed by beating him up repeatedly until he lost consciousness.”

One report claims that the victim lost his left eye as a result of the brutal attack which began with words, considered to be free speech and protected under law.

While it’s true that our speech should never be silenced, do we not, at the same time, have a moral responsibility to make sure that the words we speak do not result in imperiling a race of people whose great sin becomes the ethnicity into which they were born?

Words are what usually precede war, annihilation and the worst crimes known to man, because they hold a power within them that is unmatched. No one expressed this better than Canadian singer Hawk Nelson in his popular song called, “Words,” which, in part, says:

Words can build you up
Words can break you down
Start a fire in your heart or
Put it out

Sadly, words are often used as weapons and the pre-cursor to a battle, after having stirred people’s hearts to action. And that is what has happened over the course of the last two years when it comes to the Jewish people and their ancestral homeland.

For unexplainable reasons, the Jews have been at the forefront of a hateful campaign which has been waged against them for millennia. Vilified, disparaged, denigrated and reviled, God’s chosen people have been slandered and defamed by nations, leaders and individuals. Societal rights were often taken from them as they were relegated to an enemy status.

Their hateful words were the cause of Jews being burned at the stake, during the 15th century, and gassed or placed in ovens in the 20th century. Today’s malicious words, directed at the nation of Israel, have become so abhorrent that anyone born Jewish, regardless of where they live, has also fallen prey to vicious physical attacks with the potential of their being killed.

In fact, some have lost their lives simply for the reason of their ethnicity. We saw that in the case of the two Israeli embassy workers who, on May 21, 2025, were gunned down in cold blood just for their ties with Israel. Whose words were responsible for the hate which filled the heart of their killer?

Should that speech have been protected? Once its ugly message found a body in which to inhabit, it made its way to the barrel of a gun, whose trigger was pulled by a man who put into action the horrible sentiments that Jewish lives should be extinguished.

Much to our regret, popular and once respected voices are using their platforms to sow the seeds of doubt, suspicion and irreverence, making deep inroads into those who hang on to their every word. That poisonous message then rises up as a toxin within them.

It's no wonder that these podcasters are called “influencers,” because their words have the ability to sway and affect the emotions and passions within each one of us. Consequently, their ability to damage Israel and the Jewish people is not inconsequential.

They can literally determine the destiny of innocent individuals who came to enjoy a carefree vacation but, by no fault of their own, end up being physically attacked and beaten within an inch of their life. This is how serious it has become.

Israelis are now thinking twice about getting on a plane and leaving the safety of their own country, knowing that if their language is detected, in a foreign location, it could mean the difference between life and death for them.

There is a type of free speech which cannot be held as a “right.” That is when it spills over into the kind of hateful, impassioned message of hurting others or destroying their land. Because those words are a call to uprising and armed conflict, being acted upon.

The old adage – “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never harm me,” no longer applies. Because, sometimes, the power of words can and will kill when taken to their fullest potential. It’s important to remember that free speech is only worth protecting when it doesn’t lead people to destroy other people.