Letters

A wake-up call

Nearly two years have passed since that horrible event of October 7, 2023, which took place on what was supposed to be a festive holiday. I read the news daily and internet posts by the minute, portraying the State of Israel, the IDF, and Jews as aggressors and those seeking to subjugate the Palestinians. In nearly every part of the globe, there is a ground swell of public protests against Jews or anything having to do with Israel. Israelis and Jews are randomly attacked just because they are who they are.

I read the results of a recent poll taken in New York City, which showed an astonishing percentage of New York City Jews polled supporting Zohran Mamdani, who is running for NYC mayor. This same candidate sends out sound bites supporting the BDS movement, the Intifada, and promises to do away with (Jewish) organizations that support the IDF.

Look at the countries that have come forward in the past few weeks with public announcements of their promise to support the nomination of a Palestinian State this September at the U.N. General Assembly. France, England, Germany, Malta, and Australia.

As a political scientist, it is not difficult to account for why the twenty-somethings joined the anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses. They view the Holocaust, if they have even heard of it, as ancient history. They may not even know about 9/11. They have no collective memory of either historical event. What they know is the gaslighting on the internet, TikTok, X, and any other cellphone media posts.

Those of us who have memories of recent attacks against Jews and Jewish institutions, whether in Argentina, France, California, Pennsylvania, and D.C., must remind our fellow Jews, no matter their age, of the consequences of forgetfulness. It is called extinction.

Throughout Poland and Germany are ruins of extermination camps, reminding the World of Hitler’s attempt to extinguish any vestige of European Jewry. Today, we have worldwide media outlets and politicians gaslighting Hamas’ murderous October 7, 2023, attack, painting Israel the aggressor and portraying Hamas and the Palestinians as victims. Has there been any public outrage over the video released by Hamas of an Israeli hostage looking emaciated, digging his own grave, appearing near death, and pleading for his life? No. There is barely any mention at all in the media about the welfare of the twenty or so living hostages, just the continuum of concocted lies that Israel is a colonizer, with a premeditated scheme to “starve” Palestinians. This is so far from the truth.

In November, Jews must vote with their conscience and memory. The 1948 War of Independence, the Six-Day War, the 1973 War, and October 7, 2023, are not fictitious events. Let us remember, the Arab Block and the Palestinians refused to accept the U.N. vote creating the State of Israel, resulting in the partition of the land. Palestinians, no matter their leader, have refused to accept the notion that Israel is a sovereign country with a defined border, insisting that the land of Israel belongs to them and they have the right to return to it. A spot on assessment made by authors Adi Schwartz and Einat Wiif in their work “The War Of Return’’ sums it all up:

“It is not by coincidence, therefore, that seventy years after the war that created the Palestinian refugee problem there exists the problem of the perpetuation of the Palestinian refugee problem. This situation, with no historical precedent or international parallel, in which more than five million people are registered by a still temporary UN agency as refugees…is the outcome of deliberate choices of a clear goal:  continuing the war. The war that was started to prevent the implementation of the UN partition plan and the birth and consolidation of a Jewish state in part of the land has yet to end.”

It is Hamas and UNRWA, created in the 1950s, that have perpetuated the “refugee culture”, which has kept the Palestinians in misery for eighty years, perpetuating the false narrative.

Speaking of November 2025, 50 years ago, the UN passed its notorious resolution equating Zionism with racism. Since October 2023, there has been a spike in Anti-Semitic incidents. We, as Jews, have cause for concern. One way to address this concern is by electing candidates for office who support Israel and denounce Anti-Semitism in any form. We do have a vote. Use it wisely.

David B. Rosenbaum
Teaneck