YouTuber and influencer Loay Alshareef grew up in Saudi Arabia, where he was taught deeply ingrained anti-Jewish stereotypes.
“They told me Jews have fangs,” Alshareef told Unpacked. “They said Jews were all evil and wanted to kill me.”
However, a transformative experience changed his perspective. While on a trip to France, he stayed with a Jewish couple. Initially, he was startled when he saw a Star of David in their home, but his fears quickly subsided. The couple welcomed him with kindness, introduced him to Shabbat dinners, and through his own study of archaeology and history, he discovered that Jews are indigenous to the land of Israel.
Today, Alshareef shares his pro-Israel message with a vast audience, boasting over 212,000 Twitter followers, 167,000 Instagram followers, and 108,000 YouTube subscribers. While he receives support, he also faces criticism — especially after Oct. 7, which, he says, solidified his commitment to speaking out.
“Some pro-Hamas supporters call me a ‘Zionist wannabe’ or a ‘traitor,’” he said. “I tell them, ‘I am not a traitor. I speak with knowledge and facts. If you want to talk, let’s talk.’”
Wearing an Al Jazeera critique as a badge of honor
Alshareef recalled how Al Jazeera once attacked him as a “normalizer” for supporting Israel, a label he now considers a badge of honor. Since becoming an activist in 2017, he has been dedicated to debunking anti-Israel misinformation.
“I tell my Arab audience and my fellow Muslims the story of Purim and how it parallels today’s reality,” he said. “Haman advised King Achashverosh to obliterate the Jewish people, and it didn’t work. The modern-day Hamans will also fail — just like they have in the past and will in the future. We must stand against them.”
Alshareef, who visited Israel last year, recounted his experience of having to seek shelter when Hezbollah launched missiles into Israel.
Alshareef joined influencer and comedian Zach Sage Fox, TikTok content creator Melinda Strauss, and brand expert and author Aliza Licht for a panel discussion on March 3 as part of the Anti-Defamation League’s “Never Is Now” Conference.
Using comedy to show the sad truth
Fox gained significant attention for his bold, on-the-ground interviews with Palestinians in the West Bank, many of whom openly expressed their hatred for Jews and Israel. In one instance, he said he was Italian to avoid hostility.
His satirical video “Gaza Graduation: The Game Show” amassed over 15 million views on Instagram alone. In the skit, Fox, dressed in a green cap and gown, offers $100 to anti-Israel student protesters who fail to answer basic geography questions — such as identifying which river and sea are referenced in the chant “From the river to the sea.”
Fox, who has 172,000 Instagram followers, began performing stand-up comedy right after his bar mitzvah. He admitted that before Oct. 7, he held back from engaging in political discourse. Now, he’s unapologetically vocal, despite receiving online threats.
“We’re on the right side of history,” Fox said. “You have to be fearless. You have to think about our ancestors and everything they endured. My family fled pogroms in Europe just before the Holocaust so that I could live the American Dream. What was the point of it all if I was going to stay silent at a moment like this?”
Read more: Zach Sage Fox is teaching truth through humor
In one of his more controversial interviews, Fox spoke with a pro-Hamas supporter who compared Oct. 7 to “Braveheart.”
Fox emphasized the importance of reminding people that Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza nearly two decades ago and that there is only one Jewish country, while there are more than 50 Muslim-majority nations.
Food for thought: Fighting antisemitism through TikTok education
Licht said as a granddaughter of four Holocaust survivors, she became an accidental activist because she felt obligated to speak up, despite not previously being political online about antisemitism or her support for Israel.
“It became clear very quickly it was not about clients or followers, but will my grandparents look down on me and be proud,” she said.
She encouraged people to make content or posts that show off their Jewish pride.
“As of this moment, make it on brand for you,” she said.
Strauss, a TikTok influencer with a staggering 1.4 million followers, is best known for her food content but has increasingly used her platform to advocate for Israel.
During a recent trip to Israel, she heard discussions about hasbara, the practice of explaining Israel’s position to the world. But she believes the approach needs a shift.
“We’re not on the defensive,” Strauss said. “That’s not our job as Jews — to constantly be explaining ourselves. I combat antisemitism through education. If people understand us even a little bit better, they won’t be so easily convinced to hate us.”
Strauss has been dragged into countless online debates over whether Middle Eastern foods — like falafel, hummus, and Israeli salad — are “Palestinian” or “Israeli.” She refuses to take the bait.
“Falafel was invented in Egypt. Some foods are simply Middle Eastern, and they don’t have to belong to only one culture,” she said. “Bamba was invented in Israel. Israeli couscous is Israeli. But not every food has to be a battleground.”
Strauss has also used her platform to highlight antisemitic double standards, to which she has received backlash for. She pointed out that while the name George Floyd became globally recognized after his tragic death, few people know the name Rabbi Josef Neumann.
Neumann was one of several Hasidic Jews brutally attacked with a machete in Monsey, New York, during a Hanukkah celebration in 2019. He died from his injuries three months later. His attacker, Grafton Thomas, was ruled mentally unfit for trial and remains in a psychiatric facility.
“The world was silent,” Strauss said.
She also emphasized that Jewish unity shouldn’t be driven by tragedy alone — it should be about pride.
“Why Doesn’t Israel Have Better PR?”
Licht, a branding expert with 63,000 Instagram followers, addressed the common frustration that Israel struggles with public relations. She explained that Israel prioritizes survival over PR and often resists American-led PR efforts.
She also noted how anti-Israel messaging thrives because it simplifies the narrative into a black-and-white binary:
“The other side has a machine. Their message works because it’s simple — oppressed versus oppressor. ‘River to the sea.’ ‘Genocide.’ ‘Apartheid.’ Meanwhile, if you put every Jew in this room together to create a PR strategy, you’d get 5,000 different opinions. We have to stop looking for outside validation. Nobody is coming to save us. We have to do it ourselves — by being loud and proud.”
Strauss added that anti-Israel rhetoric is fueled by hate, and that she refuses to use hate as a weapon.
“I’d rather lose the PR war than use hate to try and win,” she said.
Alshareef agreed but reminded the audience that before the PR battle, Israel must first win the actual war.
“I admire Egyptian President Anwar Sadat — he gave his life for peace. I am willing to do the same,” Alshareef said. “I want to meet the Lord and tell Him that I did my best to bring the children of Ishmael and Isaac together, rather than working to divide them.”
Licht concluded with practical advice for online advocacy:
“Not every comment deserves a response,” she told Unpacked. “Before engaging, check the profile — who are you talking to? After Oct. 7, I got tons of death threats. Some were bots, but some were real. I do respond to certain negative comments if I think I can turn it into an educational moment.”
Alshareef left the audience with a final, powerful statement:
“God blessed us. He gave us 22 states and oil. We are blessed enough. Let the Jewish people live in their tiny land.”
Originally Published Mar 10, 2025 06:23PM EDT
