Thank You, Sinwar

Thank you, Sinwar

On October 7th, the Jewish community went numb.

On October 8th, the Jewish community got scared.

On October 9th, the Jewish community got angry.

As the phones beeped with incoming messages during the early morning hours on October 7th, everyone sat in shock. Eight dead. Ten dead. One hundred and then two. By morning the number had already risen to 600 murdered. Where was the army? How did this happen? What’s going on? How is our family? Is everyone ok? The minds didn’t stop. Until it went numb. The trauma too big to describe. Twelve hundred murdered. Over four thousand wounded. Three hundred kidnapped. The images uploaded onto social media by Hamas filled our phones and couldn’t leave our minds. They were ingrained in our eyes. The livestreamed family that was held hostage. The terrorist holding the two babies after they killed their parents. Shani’s limpness body. Soldiers butchered and thrown from tanks and lying in their own blood on the base’s floor. The blood-filled bomb shelters. The cars abandoned by the side of the road. Noa being driven off in a motorcycle crying for help. Grandparents taken hostage. Red headed babies being cradled in their mother’s arms as they were taken away and driven to Gaza. Naama’s blood-stained pants as she is moved from one vehicle to another inside of Gaza as people cheered. The images were endless. Each story was more frightening than the next.

But then, this fear came to the “safe” streets of New York. Chicago. London, Paris, Sydney and every major city in between. The joy. The celebration. The blaming of Israel.

Never could the Jewish community imagine that after the world saw the bloody massacre committed by Hamas, would the world rejoice and blame Israel for the attack.

But that is exactly what happened. Anti-Semitic incidents rose by 360%. Daily protests filled the streets of major metropolitans all across the world – protests that celebrated the attacks and called for the globalization of the intifada.

Cities that experienced major attacks from terrorist groups – such as New York and London – had people marching with the flags of Hamas and Hezbollah, supporting the same terrorist organizations that brought carnage to their own streets.

College campuses became a hotbed of anti-Semitic rhetoric and rallies. Students prevented Jews from walking on campus and students wearing Jewish identifiers were openly attacked. Universities admitted that they were not prepared to protect its Jewish community on campus as the attacks became more and more vile. Just like in Germany in the 1930s, where anti-Semitism first reared its ugly head in colleges and universities, Jewish students were harassed while trying to study in school libraries and were told by college staff to hide in the attic for safety.

Our friends were silent about the attack of October 7th but were quite vocal about our response to bring security to the residents of Israel.

The massacre of 1,200 Israelis opened the floodgates of anti-Semitism worldwide.

Sinwar, thank you for October 7th.

You thought you would weaken us. You thought you would erase us but massacring families, slaughtering our children, and raping our women. You thought we would cower. 

Instead, you strengthened us as a nation and you opened our eyes to the reality on the ground. We will never forget the cruelty of the people of Gaza that took part in the massacre of October 7th along with Hamas’ soldiers. We will never forgive the celebrations in the streets. You, Sinwar, opened our eyes to the reality on the ground. When you and your supporters chant “From River to Sea” we now understand what you mean. When they proudly declare “Globalize the Intifada” we understand what that entails. 

October 7th didn’t just happen. The signs were on the wall for decades. But we ignored them.

We ignored the Hamas training camps across the fence. We ignored the intelligence briefings that noted movement by Hamas the days before the attack.

We ignored the $13 billion given to American universities from foreign governments that leveraged their donations for their interests.

We ignored the anti-Israel teachings in college campuses and the anti-Semitic events under the guise of free speech.

We lived in a bubble. And we were content.

We felt safe in Israel. We were content with the status quo. Yes, we have enemies surrounding us, but, hey, it was livable. Stabbings, Molotov cocktails thrown at us, shootings and car rammings. All “liveable” in the grand scheme of things. Every few years Hamas would cross the “red line” – which both sides were aware of – there would be a three-week operation until Israel got the order of “enough”, and then life went on. As usual.

Our children in the Diaspora went to school and got good jobs. If there was a teacher or event that spewed hatred, we would close our eyes and move forward. It was only one lecture, one teacher, one event. In the grand scheme of things. It, too, was livable. No reason to ruffle feathers and risk getting a bad grade.

On October 7th, this bubble exploded.

Israel understood that it could no longer abide by the status quo. It could no longer tolerate terrorist organizations – organizations whose manifestos call for the destruction of Israel – to be on its borders.

Israel could no longer allow foreign countries to dictate its security.

Israel could no longer show restraint when it comes to the security of its people.

The Jewish people could no longer show restraint in the face of hatred.

The anti-Semitism that exploded throughout the world following Hamas’ attack of October 7th made the Jewish community find our voice again.

We would no longer sit idly by as our places of worship are attacked or are children being forced to hide their Jewishness.

We will no longer silence our voices as our enemies educate the next generation of leaders.

Sinwar, I thank you.

Today, one year later, Israel is a stronger nation than ever before. It has fought its enemies with its interests in mind. Hamas has been severely weakened, as well as Hezbollah. Israel had the courage to do what it should have done decades ago: cut the heads of the snake, one by one, until no head remains.

Iran has shown the length of its tentacles and our enemies in Yemen and Iraq have emerged from underwater, giving Israel the opportunity to act against them, as well.

Jewish parents and alumni are standing up to anti-Semitism on campus and are calling out universities who refuse to keep Jewish students safe.

Sinwar, you helped us find our voice before it was too late. You brought the nation of Israel back together again – no matter where we are scattered throughout the globe, we are one nation again. You prevented another Holocaust from occurring in the Diaspora by bringing the raging anti-Semitism to the surface and you protected Israel from a greater attack orchestrated by Iran and allowed us to weaken our enemies before that attack occurred.

And now, Sinwar, since you helped bring the nation of Israel back together again, I wish you much luck in meeting your maker soon, inshallah very soon, with your drove of 72 virgins by your side. You deserve them. Thank you.