Knowing something of the Israeli people’s pain and longing for peace, my heart yearns to comfort, but also to confront—with truth—the plethora of falsehoods and fabrications Israelis are forced to endure.

I was writing an article aimed at debunking anti-Israel and anti-Semitic slurs crowding the social media platforms. I counterattacked with all the objectivity I could muster against the arrogance of those who posture out of their ignorance and misguided sense of justice.

And yet, while putting the final touches on that article, I realized my factual rebuttal had a fundamental flaw…

Facts don’t persuade; feelings do.

Sobered by that realization, I penned this closing paragraph…

“While the merit of these facts should persuade, they are yet unlikely to sway the ardent activist committed to the false narrative that drives their anti-Israel rants. Armed with the facts, truth-lovers might influence more by confronting with a question… 

Why do you want to blame Israel?”

There it is—the poisonous fruit of the anti-Semitic root: An insatiable desire to blame the Jews for the world’s problems. It is as evil and ancient as it is irrational. Anti-Semites feel no particular need for the facts when their feelings create the false reality in which their blame game thrives.

And so, contrary to my nature, I appeal here to the reader’s emotions by exploring the feelings of the peace-loving Israeli people in the hope that how they feel might persuade at least a few hardened hearts where the facts have failed. Consider with me, then…