Special Issue: October 7th, One Year On
While the West wrangles its antisemitic elements, Israel stands united.
On this day one year ago, Hamas carried out the worst atrocity against the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Within hours, voices in the West were calling for “ceasefire” and protesting Israel for being an “apartheid state.” In Sydney, Australia, there were chants of “Gas the Jews.”
Some have already forgotten this crucial bit of context: the protests started before Israel went into Gaza. They started before Israel fired any artillery or rockets into Gaza. They started before Israel responded in any way to the attack, other than killing some of the terrorists in the act on October 7th itself. The protests, which we have been constantly told are about peace and about dead children in Gaza, began before the IDF engaged in any combat and before there were any dead children in Gaza.
Indeed, it was about a month before the IDF went into Gaza, and many voices worried that the Israeli government was being too hesitant. At the time, it seemed that those voices might have been right, because it allowed the anti-apartheid crowd to lay the groundwork for what would become a full-fledged, antisemitic rhetorical assault as the war broke out in earnest. Those protesters who jumped on Israel out of the gate on October 8th knew what they were doing. They saw an opportunity and they knew they had to move quickly to establish a narrative. It’s amazing that this happened in full daylight, quite obvious to anyone watching, and yet so few seemed to understand it. Just as Donald Trump claimed the 2020 election was stolen before there was any conceivable reason for anyone to believe him, these protestors denounced Israel before Israel had even done anything. And people fell for it. The cries about Israel committing a genocide began on October 7th and 8th.
In the year since, we’ve heard a great deal in the West about how there’s a difference between being anti-Zionist and anti-Jewish. We hear about how college kids with larger hearts than brains get easily swept up in a fervor about oppression (a fervor which it frequently goes unremarked is stirred by organizations with ties to Iran and terror groups). Just like right-wingers falling for Russian propaganda about Ukraine, lefty protestors bought a narrative manufactured by the Muslim Brotherhood and Ayatollah Khomeini.
Those of us on the right are often told that we can’t ignore the racists on our side and we can’t wash our hands by saying that they don’t represent our views. Well, the anti-Zionist, pro-peace crowd needs to do the same for the Jew-hating bigots in their midst, too. Sure, the weirdos praising Hitler don’t represent the average pro-Gaza protestor. But the average pro-Gaza protestor needs to do a better job of making that clear.
But while America and Europe have been tearing ourselves apart for the last year, the people who were attacked on October 7th have been united. They are the heroes of this story. As they did in every unprovoked war which has been launched at them since 1948, the Jews have managed to turn a tragedy into a tremendous victory. In the past year, they have routed Hamas in Gaza. They have killed Mohammed Deif, Ismail Haniyeh, Fuad Shukr, and most recently Hassan Nasrallah. They have killed more terrorists on the US list of wanted terrorists in six weeks as America has in twenty years.
They have decapitated Hezbollah, turned back vicious Iranian assaults, and rained fire on the Houthis. In the past year, Israel has fought the battle for civilization and the West almost alone. And they are winning.
Here in the West, there are those who have become convinced that radical Islam is the winning side of history, just as their historical forebears were convinced that Soviet communism was the winning side of history. The embarrassing treatment of Hassan Nasrallah by Western press and politicians reads like something out of a satire. Luckily, Israel appears to be pressing ahead regardless of what the “right side of history” crowd thinks.
In recent months, it has become possible to hope for peace in the Middle East again. Arab nations are watching Israel, and secretly or not-so-secretly rooting for them. Protests – righteous ones – are breaking out in Lebanon and Iran against the evil men who have tried to destroy Israel. But most importantly of all, Israel is defeating radical Islamic terrorism on all fronts.
There is much farther left to go and there will be a much longer fight. But once again, the Jewish people, when faced once again with the realization that the world is not going to save them and that if they are to be saved it is going to be by their own hands, are doing what it takes to ensure the survival of their nation. Within our lifetimes, Israel may establish peace – a full and lasting peace, brought about by the destruction of Islamic terrorism – in the Middle East. If and when peace comes to the Middle East, the United Nations will no doubt try to take credit. But that will be a lie. It will have been Israel’s doing.
Ben Connelly is a writer, long-distance runner, former engineer, and author of “Grit: A Practical Guide to Developing Physical and Mental Toughness.” He publishes short stories and essays at Hardihood Books. @benconnelly6712