Veteran Hollywood actor Michael Douglas penned an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times in defense of Jews after his son Dylan experienced anti-Semitism first-hand while on vacation in Southern Europe.

Douglas said that last summer, Dylan ran to him in tears after a man harassed him by the pool at the hotel where the family was staying. It was then Douglas notice his son, 14, had a Star of David around his neck and immediately knew what had happened. Douglas went to the man to confront him. "It was not a pleasant discussion," Douglas wrote. He then had to tell his son that he had just experienced anti-Semitism for the first time.

Douglas said he is raising his children within the same parental arrangement under which he was raised: his father Kirk Douglas, born Issur Danielovitch, is Jewish, his mother is not. Douglas' wife, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones is not Jewish, although according to Jewish law, neither is Douglas..

Douglas recounted his own brush with anti-Semitism which first came when he was in high school: "A friend saw someone Jewish walk by, and with no provocation he confidently told me: 'Michael, all Jews cheat in business.'"

From then on, Douglas explained, "I found myself passionately defending the Jewish people."

Then Douglas gave three reasons anti-Semitism is on the rise. A summary is below:

• "The first is that historically, it always grows more virulent whenever and wherever the economy is bad."
• "A second root cause of anti-Semitism derives from an irrational and misplaced hatred of Israel."
• "The third reason is simple demographics."

Douglas acknowledged the increased presence of Islamic radicals -- though he called it "an extremist fringe" -- in Europe. He explained that the "new epidemic of anti-Semitism" in Europe is the result of "amplified effects of that small, radicalized element" through the use of the Internet.

"It is time for each of us to speak up against this hate," stated Douglas, and he charged all political leaders and religious leaders to begin doing so.

Douglas issued the following goal for the future:

So that is our challenge in 2015, and all of us must take it up. Because if we confront anti-Semitism whenever we see it, if we combat it individually and as a society, and use whatever platform we have to denounce it, we can stop the spread of this madness.

My son is strong. He is fortunate to live in a country where anti-Semitism is rare. But now he too has learned of the dangers that he as a Jew must face. It's a lesson that I wish I didn't have to teach him, a lesson I hope he will never have to teach his children.

Read Douglas's entire piece here.