It is not an ‘opinion’ – terrorism is a fact

Hardly a week since the Hamas pogrom-like massacres in Israel, and left-wing activists are already attempting to redefine terrorism. The BBC, the most anti-Israel broadcasting service in the world has downgraded the Hamas terror group to militants, giving them a milder image of a quasi-social protest organization rather than the murdering thugs they are. Other media outlets called them freedom fighters, conjuring up a Les Miserable partisan group ensemble wrapped in flag and song. The fact that Hamas took the pleasure of videotaping themselves on their murderous rampage seems to escape the majority of those attempting to downplay the atrocities. Some are even stupid enough to deny them.

Since the massacres and hostage taking occurred, most of the civilized world and communities stood by Israel and mourned with her the loss of the hundreds killed, and those taken hostage. The obscenity of filming the attacks for posterity should leave no doubt in any intelligent mind that Hamas are terrorists in a league of their own. They have an intrinsic hatred for Jews that manifests in acts of savagery without remorse. These were Nazi-like acts of horror without any moral compass and hesitation. The indiscriminate gunning down of 250 people at a music peace festival and the elation afterwards is no different than the pride Nazis took in killing Jews in Europe. They are below any species of human beings, they are barbarians.

The Holocaust didn’t happen in a day, a month, or even a year. It was a combination of time and slow deliberate rhetoric ignored and downplayed by the masses until it was too late. It was an opinion, so many said. So, the anti-Jew editorial tropes, subtle harassment, and eventual open unabashed Jew hatred prospered and remained unchecked. Eventually, the opinion became mainstream thinking which led to pogroms and the 1938 Kristallnacht. After the liberation of death and labor camps in Europe, local residents were forced to enter the camps and witness firsthand the carnage and horror they were neighbors to. When faced with horror, one cannot pretend any more that it was just an opinion or fake news. It wasn’t until the Nurnberg trials that the world woke up to reels of the unspeakable.

On October 13^th, in an insidious solidarity with Hamas, protestors took to the streets in several major cities in the US and Europe. Images of university students and pro Hamas activists threw us back to Europe in the 1930’s. The hatred against Jews and a Jewish State foamed at the mouth of those shouting slogans and refusing to accept the truth. Once again, Jews and their Jewish state were being demonized and selected for retaliation and even extermination. Hiding behind the first amendment, hostile marchers chanting “Gas the Jews” and “from the river to the sea”, roamed major cities protected by law enforcement, because unfortunately they have rights that allow them to spew such garbage with immunity. For those with any doubt about the intentions of those chanting “from the river to sea”, it means the destruction of Israel and the Jews living there. This is not opinion, it’s a fact.

One European country did not follow the anti-Israel playbook. Germany banned a pro-Palestinian group Samidoun from any protests because they openly supported the Hamas attack on Israel. Pictures circulated on social media showing similar pro-Palestinian groups giving out candy in Berlin in celebration of the attacks.  Chancellor Scholtz addressing parliament on Thursday the 12th of October said that: “Our law governing associations is a sharp sword. And we, as a strong constitutional state, will draw this sword.” The group Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is being monitored by Berlin’s domestic intelligence agency for its public support of Hamas. Germany says: never again.

To add insult to stupidity, several of the major US Ivy league universities, Harvard and NYU being the two prominent ones, allowed student organizations to write letters and affidavits blaming Israel for the massacres citing its “apartheid” policy. Not a surprise. Anti-Israel organizations on prominent US campuses have been participating in Apartheid Week and other anti-Israel and anti-Semite events for years with full corporation and immunity from faculty and administrators.  Anonymous sources have said that major universities are afraid of these groups. For years, Jewish students have been subjected to intimidation to the extent that some hide their Jewishness. These universities who elevated antisemite opinion to some sordid truth, are now facing a hard-core fact, that donors and potential employers do not want to hire or support terrorist sympathizers. They find them morally deficient.

Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, a major hedge fund, issued a letter to Harvard, asking for names of all members who belong to Harvard organizations that are “supporting actions of terrorists” so as not to be considered for hiring. He said that he was contacted by several CEO’s with similar concerns. Harvard is in danger of losing serious donor money from people like Bill Ackman if they don’t get their finger out and start taking a stand against the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish narrative prevalent on their campus. Ackman is not the only corporate CEO who did not find the anti-Israel rhetoric endearing. Winston & Strawn, a prestigious law firm, rescinded a job offer to a New York University law student for publicly writing that “Israel bears full responsibility” for the massacres on October 7^th. The Corporation stated that her “words profoundly” go against the values of the firm. Go figure.

Is America finally waking up to the rise in anti-Semitism disguised as activism? There are people like Ryna Workman, New York University Law School Bar Association President, who published a statement where she condemned the violence of the “apartheid regime” and blamed Israel for the “tremendous loss” to Israeli life. She signed it “Palestine will be free”. When someone in a leadership position and in the legal profession defiles that sense of moral order with bias, hatred, and prejudice, that person is unfit to be a lawyer, let alone president of the Bar Association. The University’s Dean promptly condemned Ms. Workman’s statement and as of this writing, there is “talk” of removing her from the position of president of the Bar Association. I doubt that this is the first public anti-Israel stance this woman has taken, however, since the backlash is now monetary it hurts the very existence of these universities.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) came under fierce criticism for not acting quick enough in getting access and assistance to the hostages. However, according to Sarah Davies ICRC representative, the ICRC offered immediate support to Israel on October 7^th. Ms. Davies said that the ICRC prefers to negotiate quietly on behalf of those “…we want to help behind closed doors, directly with those who have the influence to make a difference.” We will give her the benefit of the doubt. Allegedly, the ICRC has been in personal contact with higher level Hamas to have access to the hostages, Israeli and foreign, who are being held against the principles of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). IHL prohibits the taking of hostages, and it regards hostage taking as a “heinous” war crime. The ICRC, under IHL provisions on prisoners of war (POW) is mandating that Hamas promptly provides information on the hostages to Israel and other foreign countries whose citizens are being held hostage. This should include the number and identities of those being held. The ICRC are also demanding unrestricted access to the hostages and transfer of the wounded, elderly, or those who have a medical condition to Egypt, a neutral country. Don’t hold your breath.

As former White House Envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt said, it is about time that we stand up against the Jew haters and Israel haters who claim to support the Palestinians but are truly supporting terrorists. He specifically pointed out Students for Justice for Palestine, who with other toxic individuals like Ryna Workman “hide behind” the justice fighters’ persona while calling for the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews. Their insidious false narrative does nothing for the Palestinians. When opinion turns to public hatred, it is time to throw in some hard-core facts.

Talk show host and longtime entertainer Bill Maher has never been known to mince with words. To the point and often crude, Bill has a way of honing on the obvious. Discussing the atrocities of October 7^th, Bill said that even if one is totally ignorant of the historical and geopolitical history of the region, “…it takes much more than a functioning conscience and a pair of eyes to denounce the barbaric tactics deployed by Hamas militants…” He succinctly wrapped up the unforgiveable into two sentences: “War is one thing.  Sitting on a woman who appears to have broken legs while others laugh and spit on her lifeless body? That should be rather easy to denounce wholeheartedly, no?”

Blaming Israel for the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust is not an opinion, it’s an obscenity. Hamas did not hide their heinous actions. They purposely published them with clarity and pride for the world to see. Ignoring these atrocities under the false narrative of “occupation” and “apartheid” is not only ignorant, it’s morally obscene. There is no “opinion” on this premeditated terror attack. Hamas provided us with facts.

Malul, Dol. October 13, 2023. US pro-Palestinian activists lose contracts, could be blacklisted after campus outrage – www.israelhayom.com

Dr. Schwarz, Adi.. October 10, 2023. Red Cross must be given immediate access to Israeli hostages held by Hamas (ynetnews.com)

Berman, Lazar. October 15, 2023. Red Cross demands Hamas grant immediate access to hostages held in Gaza (msn.com)

Chai, Brian. October 14, 2023.  Fed-Up Bill Maher Roasts Lesbian Berkeley Professor: ‘Your Moral Compass Is Broken’ (msn.com)

Reuters. October 12, 2023/ Germany bans pro-Palestinian group Samidoun | Reuters