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Shani Bechhofer

Those shamelessly cruel, anti-Israel October 7 protests

The 'any means necessary' 'pro-Palestinian' groups are pouring salt in our wounds as we mourn the victims of Hamas's massacre
Anti-Israel demonstrators mark one year of the war between Israel and Hamas, in New York, on October 5, 2024. (Leonardo Munoz / AFP)
Anti-Israel demonstrators mark one year of the war between Israel and Hamas, in New York, on October 5, 2024. (Leonardo Munoz / AFP)

October 7 is the anniversary of the single deadliest attack against Jews since the Holocaust, a vicious rampage of killing, burning, raping, and kidnapping. Two radical “pro-Palestinian” organizations in New York plan to celebrate it.

While civilized people throughout the world, including many actually pro-Palestinian groups, will acknowledge October 7 by solemnly focusing on the memory of the victims of the massacre – the dead, the rape survivors, the hostages – National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) and Within Our Lifetime (WOL) plan to pour salt on the wound with their public celebration and justification of the October 7 attack.

One of the most outspoken anti-Israel organizations “Within Our Lifetime” called on protestors to “flood New York City for Palestine” to mark the day. Instagram/hcw4pnyc

NSJP is stirring up a nationwide “Week of Rage” on college campuses, beginning on October 7, and WOL’s post on X reads“On Monday, October 7th, flood New York City For Palestine, stand with Gaza and uplift the Palestinian people resisting genocide by any means necessary since 1948 (emphasis mine).”

To call these gatherings “protests” is a misnomer. Protests against Israel’s actions in its war with Hamas have taken place and will certainly continue. Serious debates about Israel’s response to the October 7 attack will certainly continue. But these calls to action on October 7 are something else. They are cruel. They are a defiant refusal to care about Israeli victims, a shameless devaluation of Jewish lives, a proud repudiation of the norms and boundaries of civilized discourse about terrorism.

This becomes very clear from a close reading of the WOL statement’s wording, starting with the slogan, “Flood NYC for Palestine.” Hamas’s code name for the October 7 attack is well known: Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. By naming their planned rally after the October 7 attack, WOL expresses its endorsement and even pride in the actions taken by Hamas on that infamous day. They may see themselves as continuing Operation Al-Aqsa Flood by rallying and indoctrinating the American public, especially its college students, to join them in whitewashing that rampage as “resistance” and by villainizing and dehumanizing Israeli and Zionist victims. Turning the tide of public opinion against Israel’s right to safety and toward Palestinians’ right to fight Israel by “any means necessary” is part of Hamas’s long-term strategy.

As for holding the rally on October 7, this indicates a refusal to pay even one iota of respect to the victims or to those who mourn them. Not only will they not take a day off out of some sense of decency or sensitivity to the victims, they choose instead to refuse to acknowledge their humanity and seek to erase their suffering by rallying on this of all dates.

The call to “Stand with Gaza” is irrelevant to a rally held on October 7, 2024. Nothing happened to the people of Gaza on October 7. The slogan is included in this call to action because it is designed to recruit participants wishing to virtue-signal their support for the civilians of Gaza, distracting them from the rest of the message.

“Uplift the Palestinian people resisting genocide by any means necessary”: The actual message of these rallies is to uplift those Palestinians who engaged in violence, whether on October 7 or at any time. Propaganda point: terrorism is justified, if you think it is necessary. This is not a rally to uplift Palestinian civilians or to draw attention to their plight; it is to honor and normalize those who engage in violent “resistance.”

And finally, “…resisting genocide by any means necessary since 1948”: This is not a protest against the 1967 occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. This is not a protest against the current war in Gaza. This is not a protest against Netanyahu. This is not a protest of civilian casualties in this war. It is a protest against 1948 – against the very existence of the State of Israel, established by the United Nations as of 1948. Hamas, and its American representatives such as WOL, seek to reverse that United Nations decision, turn back history, and literally undo the Jewish state. This is extremist rhetoric emanating from Iran and its proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah. It is incompatible with peaceful coexistence.

Past “protests” by these organizations have been propaganda rallies that involve leading participants to shout slogans, over and over for hours on end. These slogans reject the existence of the State of Israel (“Israel is a terrorist state,”), reject the pursuit of peace negotiations or a two-state solution (“There is only one solution, intifada revolution”), and justify the October 7 attacks (“Anything is justified when you are occupied”). In other words, leading the crowds to chant Hamas talking points.

Do you remember how you felt when you saw videos of people celebrating the 9/11 attack? How would you feel if Juneteenth were marked by calls for huge widespread rallies for white supremacy? There is some constitutionally protected speech that has to be called out and rejected by people of conscience.

The October 7 rally organizers plan to publicly legitimize the barbarism committed on that date by Hamas. These rallies are a form of mockery and intimidation against Jews worldwide: Your experience of October 7 means nothing. We refuse to acknowledge your suffering. Your lives do not matter. And there are more of us than there are of you.

Shame on WOL, shame on NSJP, shame on those who would desecrate a day of mourning, shame on anyone who is inhumane enough to exacerbate the grief of Israelis and Jews around the world for the victims of the October 7 massacre.

About the Author
Dr. Shani Bechhofer is an independent Jewish education consultant and researcher in Monsey, NY. In addition to working with schools on strategic leadership, training and coaching principals, evaluating agency and foundation programs, and researching the Bais Yaakov movement, she is a local community advocate for good government and intercultural dialogue in Ramapo, NY.
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