As a Jewish leader, that chills me to my bones, because it is the other side of the coin of the intentional strategy to appropriate and twist Jewish fear of antisemitism in order to win elections and divide communities. President Donald Trump’s administration is going on tour in battleground states talking about fighting antisemitism, while on that same tour they are using supposed concerns about antisemitism as a smokescreen to justify their dangerous immigration policies in ways that meaningfully threaten Jewish safety.

The right’s antisemitism and Islamophobia come from the same ideology: white Christian nationalism. In this ideology, both Jews and Muslims are the “other,” the threats to society and a way of life. This ideology holds Jews responsible for the “great replacement” of white people with immigrants, Muslims, and other people of color and uses antisemitism to deflect blame for the failures of those in power, to remove fundamental freedoms, and to weaken democracy. It is a certain brand of Christianity that seeks to supersede the Constitution, while wrongly accusing religious minorities of holding dual loyalty to their texts and teachings.

Antisemitism and Islamophobia are intertwined in the white Christian nationalist ideology, and Jews and Muslims must be intertwined in our collective fight for our safety. That means Jews should be on the front lines of pushing back on Islamophobia when we encounter it, and feel both an empathy and a personal stake in the safety of our neighbors.

Religion is not the problem, it is also not the solution to division, the solution is empathy.