Tell us about yourself.
My name is Anaya Ach, I’m 23 years old. I made Aliyah on my own three years ago from Strasbourg, France. After completing my national service in the north and an academic Ulpan, I began studying Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies at Bar-Ilan University. I’ve been volunteering with FOA since November 2024.
What inspired you to volunteer with FOA? Had you encountered online antisemitism before?
I joined FOA through the Shahak program, as part of my tuition scholarship from the Israel Student Authority. I was already volunteering with StandWithUs, and FOA felt like a natural next step. The mission spoke to me, and I saw it as a way to deepen my understanding of antisemitism – especially online, which I was less familiar with since I don’t use social media myself.
Can you tell us a bit about your role at FOA?
I’m part of the monitoring team. I search for antisemitic content across various social platforms and report it—both to FOA and directly to the platforms. Over the past year, I’ve also helped onboard new volunteers, guiding them through the process and showing them how to report effectively. In addition, another volunteer, Avner, and I have led a new project to help increase FOA’s visibility on social media.
What do you enjoy most about volunteering with FOA?
Definitely the flexibility – and the people. The FOA team is welcoming, supportive, and genuinely committed. That makes it easy to stay involved and feel like what I’m doing really matters.
Has anything you’ve learned about online antisemitism surprised you?
Absolutely. Since I didn’t have social media before, I was shocked by the level of hatred that exists online. Seeing fake or doctored images used to spread lies about Jews was really disturbing. I also learned that not every anti-Israel post is antisemitic – but sometimes the line is very thin, and it takes real awareness to tell the difference.
What are your hopes for the future in this fight?
I hope that social platforms will adopt stronger policies and take more responsibility. Ideally, one day, antisemitism online will be a thing of the past. But realistically, I hope AI moderation tools continue improving so harmful content can be flagged and removed automatically – before it does damage.
