Even as a young girl, Fay Feder had no tolerance for injustices. When her pack of Wrigley’s gum was missing a stick or when her bag of potato chips did not deliver on the flavoring advertised, she took action, writing to the manufacturer. More often than not, her efforts elicited a response and product replacements.
Fast forward to adulthood. Given Feder’s disposition and strong Zionistic leanings, it’s not surprising that the rising tide of anti-Jewish hate following the events of October 7 triggered in her a ferocious commitment to fight back. When videos emerged of people ripping down posters of innocent civilians brutally seized as hostages, she would fire off emails to politicians and share links on her personal Instagram account to have the offenders dismissed from their jobs. After seeing so many buoyed by her postings, she decided to create a WhatsApp group for like-minded individuals, issuing a request for volunteer writers and editors in order to grow the volume of campaigns. The response was heartening. A movement had begun. As administrator of the group, Feder regularly prods members with posts such as: “We are still very much at war on many different fronts. Please continue to sign the letters and share our link via WhatsApp,” adding, “Our soldiers cannot afford to put down their weapons. We cannot afford to put down our pens!”
The movement has blossomed into an army of over 24,000, with Feder its general. They take to their keyboards, signing pre-formatted emails to universities, local towns and school boards, unions, professional organizations and event operators to counter or cancel those who wish to vilify the Jewish people or the State of Israel. The copy list is often long, and includes decision makers as well as local and federal officials. Since the group’s inception, several thousand campaigns have been initiated, with well over 600 outright wins.
Feder, a small business owner from Long Island, doesn’t wish for the WhatsApp group to be identified publicly, given the perilous climate of today and the real possibility of it being infiltrated and its efforts undermined. She explains that membership is by invitation only, but that they are encouraged to share with trusted friends and relatives. Although the app addresses antisemitism in all its iterations, everything she personally does is for the hostages. To that end, each day begins with a hostage dedication, including photo, bio and days held captive, along with a heartfelt wish for the hostage’s safe and speedy return. Her role, as she defines it, is quite simple. ”I’m a soldier and this is my tour of duty.” She explains that two of her friends have sons who are lone soldiers in the IDF, adding, “Given the sacrifices they are making, how could I not do this?”
Feder estimates that 10-12 email campaigns are launched each day by her team in response to efforts by the other side. Most arguments are quite detailed, clearly laid out, and professionally sourced with links. When questioned whether their length could be a hindrance, she replies that they are purposely written like legal briefs because “We need recipients to have all the necessary information to make difficult, important decisions.” She continues, “Every argument is factual, verified and referenced. Emotion does not come into play.”
Given the enormity of the task, with no shortage of haters, the core team of mostly female volunteers is surprisingly lean, about 20 in all. Feder shares that roles include writing, editing, email hunting, link development and strategizing. Group members, whom she addresses as “warriors,” represent a cross section of political and religious affiliations. A passion is to push back against the bizarre, irrational hatred unleashed since Israel was attacked is what unites them. On average, the turnaround from initial awareness of a situation to a composed, proofed, and factually verified response, including a compelling call to action with photo, is one to two days, remarkable given the sheer number of situations on the docket.
Those efforts do move the needle and Feder is in awe of the 24/7 level of dedication by the core team of volunteers. She mentions a Persian Jewish woman who escaped Iran as a child and partners with the group, then details the accomplishments of one particular volunteer, whom she has nicknamed “Erin Brockovich.” Not only is “Erin” an indefatigable writer for the cause, but a great sleuth. A while back she uncovered a nefarious, well-orchestrated town-by-town effort to demand support for an early cease-fire agreement and a vote to ostracize Israel. Although local town council voting obviously doesn’t influence national policy, the intentions of this group was to push through its campaigns unopposed, then forward results to the White House, in effect positioning their views as the will of the people nationwide. “Erin” shared her discovery with Feder and others, which led to a counter-campaign to rebut those efforts. It proved highly successful across scores of cities and towns, with council members often writing back in appreciation for the education they received.
Providing those reality checks along with inducing a healthy dose of pressure to do what’s right has proven to be a winning formula in turning situational tides. As Feder emphatically notes during one of her frequent exhortations “You know what happens when we are quiet? Nothing! Always. Make. Noise.” When asked if the overwhelming numbers in the opposition camp can be disheartening – a whack-a-mole on steroids – Feder’s response is, “Not at all,” adding:
“I’m very myopic. We put out our best effort each time, then keep going. Sometimes a loss later turns into a win.” She proudly shares that at times media organizations and politicians use her group’s wording verbatim to make a point.
Some of the situations the team contends with border on the bizarre. There’s the Director of Counseling Services at Villanova who, before an international conference of over 900 counseling professionals, introduced a chart called “The Colonized Mind,” which spoke of the need for psychotherapy to purge the “disease of Zionism” from the brain. Then, there’s the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics who took it upon herself to write a letter to then-Secretary of State Blinkin demanding to know the status of a detained Palestinian doctor and the state of children’s health care in the Gaza Strip, but not bothering to inform her nearly 70,000 members in advance that she was representing them with this one-sided concern. At the 2025 Creating Change Conference meant to foster inclusivity within the queer community, a stated goal was to create a “Zionism-free space.” These are just a handful of challenges that are uncovered and responded to on a daily basis by Feder’s army of warriors.
When Feder is asked to name some of her most satisfying wins, she returns to her raison d’être, telling of a staffer at the New York City Mayor’s office who was discovered ripping down a hostage poster, then assaulting the person who put it up. After being inundated with messages of outrage from their WhatsApp group, an exasperated representative of the mayor responded with “Please, we got the message. We already fired her.”
Another that came to mind was the infamous Kanye West (Ye) Super Bowl ad which directed visitors to his website featuring a tee shirt emblazoned with a swastika. Members shared the WhatsApp group’s response with others, resulting in nearly 100,000 angry emails that were at least partially responsible for Shopify pulling Ye off their platform, Fox making a statement about their affinity to Jewish causes, and the NFL issuing a release saying they were horrified at what he did.
Feder shares that not a day goes by without group members voicing how helpless they had felt watching the avalanche of ugliness following October 7 until they discovered this empowering vehicle to fight back. One confirmation of its effectiveness came from feedback Feder received and shared this past December. She posted that “Before Shabbat, we heard from an insider in the Knesset and the White House that what we are doing is making a big difference!” To keep the “troops” motivated, each Friday before she closes shop for Shabbat, Feder lists the wins for the week. It should be noted that not all emails disseminated to members for signatures are of the pushback variety. There is a healthy sprinkling of appreciative outreach to those officials who have been supportive.
Feder hopes to return to her “real” life and her business, which she says has suffered due to her singular purpose these past 17 months, but states, “I won’t stop until the last hostage is home.” Her wish is that she can pass the baton of her WhatsApp group to others who will continue what she calls “this holy work.” Until then, she’ll do what it takes to successfully complete her tour of duty, and, she’s not above guilting members into action to attain the desired results.
Back in November, when she felt response numbers weren’t high enough, she wrote, “I know you don’t like when I’m judgy, but if your homeland is at war on many fronts, you are losing precious soldiers daily, your hostages are still suffering terribly in captivity, your children are being harassed on American college campuses, and the entire world seems to have turned against you, AND YOU ARE NOT TAKING THE UNDER TEN MINUTES A DAY TO HELP OUT!” She concluded with “Please, please, please. Am Yisrael Chai but G-d wants us to do our part!”
