October 7
There are about one hundred hostages still being held in Gaza.
I shouldn’t have to remind anyone of that fact. It should be the first thought for anyone commenting on the conflagration burning though the Middle East. But I do have to remind people because it is often not the first thought. It is often not a thought at all.
There are about one hundred hostages still being held in Gaza.
They were captured one year ago today, October 7, 2023, when a horde of Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel, coming over, under and through the barrier separating Israel from the Gaza Strip. They marauded across Israel, murdering, maiming, kidnapping and sexually abusing any Israeli they could get their hands on. They slaughtered 1,200. They dragged 250 back into Gaza. They had no goal, other than to destroy the Jewish state. More than 300 victims murdered by Hamas terrorists were teenagers attending a music festival.
These are facts. They are not in dispute. Anxious to rally their supporters, the invaders used their smart phones to record the atrocities as they committed them. They posted the videos all over social media.
Instead of acknowledging these were acts of barbarians, today the first words you often hear attempt to justify the brutality by claiming the acts represents a “resistance” movement. It is nothing of the sort. These terrorists are not fighting against “colonialists” or “occupiers”. Is it “resistance” to go from home to home and shoot civilians on sight?
In 2005 Israel removed all its citizens and its military from Gaza. It left behind homes, greenhouses, farms, schools, a water and sewage system and an electric grid. With billions of dollars in assistance flowing into Gaza, the people had an opportunity to build a successful Palestinian Arab state. As early as 2011, reporters were predicting Gaza, building luxury hotels on the Mediterranean Sea, would become a center for tourism.
But as early as 2006, the people of Gaza held an election and choose the Iran supported terrorist organization Hamas to lead them. Hamas bulldozed the Israeli built homes. They tore up the water and sewer system and used the pipes to build rockets. They built an underground tunnel system larger than the New York Subway to hide their soldiers, their ammunition supplies, and their rocket factories. They built their tunnels and storerooms under civilian hospitals, schools and apartment buildings, daring the Israelis to bomb. Hamas knew the international community would blame Israel for the loss of civilian life. And Hamas cared nothing about the sacrifice of Palestinian Arabs.
They fired their rockets indiscriminately into Israel. Israel responded by bombing suspected rocket launching sites in Gaza and tightening controls on shipments of goods into Gaza to block war material. The slaughter of 2023 was only the next gross escalation by Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Hamas had declared war of Israel and Israel would engage Hamas and render it incapable of staging another attack. Today Gaza lies in ruins. Many Hamas leaders lie in graves.
And there are about one hundred hostages still being held in Gaza.
Gaza was an experiment. Would the Palestinian Arabs accept the two-state solution recognizing that two people have claims on the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. It failed. The Palestinian Arabs seem adept at snatching defeat from the arms of victory. They have repeatedly turned down the offer of an independent state.
But Israel has also suffered in a manner few appreciate. The shock of the surprise attack has shaken the Israeli psyche to the core. Israelis have resigned themselves to a long and costly defense of their nation. The fight now includes Hezbollah, which has spent one-year firing rockets into Israel from Lebanon, and Iran itself. Iran funds the anti-Israel terrorists and openly declares a policy not only of destroying Israel but also of killing the Jewish people wherever they may be. Iran has now fired a barrage of medium range ballistic missiles at Israel, the largest ballistic missile attack in the history of warfare.
As Israelis contemplate their response to Iran, the world urges “caution” and “restraint”. President Joe Biden specifically warns the Israelis not to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities. Biden has been warning Israel for the entire year. President Emmanuel Macron of France calls for all nations of the world to stop sending military equipment to Israel. France, which surrendered quickly to the Nazis in World War II and then turned over its Jewish citizens to the Nazis for extermination, has actually never sent military material to Israel.
And on college campuses around the world, protests have erupted in support of those who committed the atrocities against Israel. Students actively stand in support of those who slaughtered women, children and the elderly. Many Jewish students do not feel safe on their own campuses. Pro-Palestinian protesters also have disrupted cities around the country, from blocking major freeways to shutting down events with of threats of violence. Today, the first anniversary of the massacre will be marked by pro-Palestinian demonstrations throughout New York City.
It is ironic that pro-Hamas rallies occur daily in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union. They are banned in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emerites, Jordan, Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain.
Also today in New York, Columbia University students began to walk out of class at 11:45 a.m. and gathered on the steps to Low Library. Pro-Palestinian students chanted, “Free, free Palestine,” and held flags and posters that read “Free Gaza, Free Speech” and “Join us Alumni.” Pro-Israel students held Israeli flags and posters with faces of those kidnapped and killed by Hamas and spoke about the people killed at the music festival a year ago.
There are about one hundred hostages still being held in Gaza.
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