Reflections on October 7, 1,000 days later

Last week marked the one thousandth day since the massacre of 10/7, the greatest single tragedy in Israel’s history. 

What is so striking about thinking back to that sad day are the many things that have been different from other major terrorist events such as 9/11, which resulted in huge numbers of civilian deaths. 

First was the immediate reaction to the massacre. Whereas in the case of 9/11, where there were occasional outliers who rationalized the terror attack, the overwhelming international response was one of great sympathy, severe condemnation of the perpetrators and solidarity with the US. 

In this case, while there was a good deal of sympathy for the people of Israel, we were hearing too many rationalizations and even justifications for what had taken place. Many ignored the fact that not only was the attack brutally inhumane, murdering innocent men, women and children, raping women and taking hundreds of hostages, but the group behind it, Hamas, was never hiding its goal: the destruction of the Jewish state and killing as many Israelis as possible. Hamas had never shown any interest in improving the lives of Palestinians, and so no matter what one’s view of how Israel was handling the Palestinian problem, it was irrelevant to what had taken place. 

And, of course, things went from bad to worse once Israel launched its defensive war against the terrorist group. While it is conventional wisdom to focus on the damage that Israeli attacks in Gaza were causing, a complicated subject considering how Hamas deeply embedded itself in civilian areas and Israel repeatedly issued warnings to civilians to leave certain areas, a possible underlying factor for the anti-Israel hostility was the perception that, for the first time in a long while, Israel was weak and vulnerable on October 7.  

While Israel may not have always been loved by international players, its strength commanded respect, and that respect played a significant role in shaping public reactions. Now, even though condemnation of Israel took on the main form of focusing on what bad strong Israel was doing to Palestinians, the real theme that may have been generating this unprecedented hatred of the Jewish state may have been the sense that here was an opportunity for the first time in years to seriously undermine Israel’s security. 

One might posit the same idea to some extent to the surging antisemitism in America and elsewhere since 10/7. While antisemitism is often framed as a response to Jewish power, with blame placed on Jews for all kinds of things due to that alleged power, the opposite is often a factor as well. When Jews are perceived as strong there may be resentment, but it doesn’t necessarily translate into assaults. But here, by extension, there could have been an unstated supposition that Jews are once again vulnerable for the first time in years. If Hamas could succeed as it did against powerful Israel, maybe Jews are vulnerable as they were before there was a Jewish state. Perception of weakness generates new opportunities for haters. 

As we mark the thousandth-day anniversary of the 10/7 massacre, we have much to be thankful for: for the hostages who were returned to their families, and for the very existence of the Jewish state, where once again when Jews are attacked, there is an IDF to defend them, unlike in the long history of Jew hatred. 

Mostly, however, we remember the day with great sadness for the many who perished and suffered. And we remember it for providing the moment for anti-Zionism and antisemitism to surge in a dangerous way we haven’t experienced in years. 

Am Yisrael Chai.