Three years ago, on Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists and hundreds of civilian Gazan accomplices committed a massacre in Israel that is equivalent to about 16 times our own Sept. 11, 2001 tragedy based on Israel’s total population. Imagine 9/11 on that scale, and you will understand why this date will always be met with deep grieving for Israelis and Jews and others around the world who value humanity.
First, a bit of background. Jews are a people predating Islam and Christianity by thousands of years. As a people, we existed long before humans started using categories such as religion and race. We have endured expulsion and other rulers in our homeland, and we have survived small-and-large scale pogroms throughout the world, century after century in a diaspora that was not of our making. Time and time again, we were denied citizenship and the benefits of basic human rights in European and Middle Eastern countries. We have held to our traditions as a diverse tribe, and even when we attempt to assimilate and demonstrate loyalty in the countries where we reside, we are treated as “the other” because, what, we don’t fit the mainstream script?
The concept of Zionism — Jews returning to our homeland — was developed in the late 19th century by Theodore Herzl and other diaspora Jews as it became increasingly evident that Jews were perennially at risk of persecution and sanctioned horrors such as mass rape and murder when scapegoats were needed for others’ failings. Meanwhile, the actual colonizing rulers of the land of Israel had renamed the territory Palestine (it was never a country in this form), and Jews, Arabs, and others lived there for centuries. Zionists began returning to Israel in substantial numbers at and after the turn of the 20th century. Early Zionist leaders such as Henrietta Szold believed in a state that included Jews and Arabs, and integrated hospitals and schools were created to lift up the lives of both demographics. Egalitarian communities — kibbutzim — were formed with principles of sharing resources and innovations.
When the modern State of Israel was formed, 900,000 Jews from surrounding Arab countries were expelled without assets despite having lived there for generations. Arabs did not accept a deal to share the land then, and they continued to turn down viable offers decade after decade since 1948. Why? Because it would mean legitimizing Israel.
The Palestinian Authority was given full control of Gaza in a deal with Israel in 2005, and over 8,500 Jews were evicted because the Palestinians refused to have even one Jew live in their territory. Meanwhile, over two million Arabs live in Israel. They have more freedom and rights than they would have in any surrounding country or territory.
Hamas was elected to rule Gaza, and they literally killed the opposition. For 20 years, they have squandered billions of dollars in aid meant to assist residents — instead building an arsenal and tunnels with their charter-stated mission to kill Jews and other Israelis first and then all the world’s Jews afterwards. Hamas had lobbed thousands of rockets and bombs into Israel in the years leading up to 2023. They killed Israeli civilians and soldiers in planned attacks before 2023. What other democracy in the world has to live with safe rooms and bomb shelters because it is under constant threat?
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas burned babies, children and entire families alive, they raped and gang-raped girls and women before killing them; they tortured and murdered a total of 1,195 people while filming themselves laughing and celebrating their sociopathic rampage. Then they paraded live and dead victims through the streets of Gaza lined with Gazans applauding them. Included in the murdered that day were 46 U.S. citizens and 150 other foreign nationals. The entire world should have mourned with Israel, but it did not. If you are reading this, I implore you to grieve appropriately today even if you failed in earlier years. To any who think Hamas and their civilian accomplices are the good guys, read Ahmed Alkhatib’s book, “Hamas and its Two Million Hostages.”
Those casually throwing out words such as genocide, apartheid and colonizers may want to get a grip on reality. It’s a war. When the IDF advanced to rescue kidnapped victims and to capture terrorists, they dropped leaflets and called civilians on their phones to warn them to evacuate! Hamas prevented Gazans from leaving areas where they wanted civilian cover. They also prevented food aid from Israel as they hoarded it for themselves. Hamas started the war and could have ended it quickly by releasing hostages. Instead, they enjoyed the world stage where moral inversion elevated them to hero status. What other military operation after an unthinkable massacre offers food aid and warnings to enemy civilians to evacuate? Enough of this madness where Jews are dehumanized, demonized and wrongly convicted in the court of willfully ignorant moral perversion disguised as “social justice.” Insistence on this false narrative is harmful, and the pontificating helps no one. The illusory truth effect is frightening.
Against constant attack and all odds, Israel is a nation of lions. Look up Yaniv Hayoun —plumber to some and national hero to others — to understand. Am Yisrael Chai.
J.M. Sorrell is a monthly columnist. She dreams of a day when inexplicable hatred against Jews is unimaginable.