October 7, 2023 was the deadliest day for Israel and the Jewish people since the Holocaust. At least 1,200 Jews died. A Brutal attack that was launched by the air, land, and sea. This attack was launched by Hamas, the government of the people who inhabit the area known as the Gaza Strip.
253 hostages were also taken in the attack; some have not been seen again, including a whole family with an infant child. Horrible acts of terror and torture, along with rape, have been reported by the survivors of the Hamas raid in a small Israeli town and a music festival.
Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Hamas following this attack.
The calls came for Hamas to release the hostages, with many negotiations failing or falling apart and both sides caving in to pressure from hostile protesters.
Many on both sides of the issue say that the situation has been handled “horribly” and more needs to be done.
Here in the United States, the breakdown of negotiations and continued bombing has been overshadowed by the protests that have been going on not only on the college campuses. Some city streets that have had bridges shut down in support of Hamas. Many see these anti-war protests as a rise in Anti-Semitism.
There is no question that many of these protests have gone way too far, with many calling for the deaths of Israelis and “Zionists.” Many of the Jewish students on these campuses no longer feel safe with their classmates wishing for their annihilation.
With such chants as “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” referring to the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, which encompasses the whole Jewish State. Other chants have referred to the gas chambers.
Calls to divest from Israel from the far left have left many in Congress faced with a hard choice to give aid to the Israeli-Hamas war compared to the war with Ukraine-Russia.
Certain members of Congress known as “The Squad’ took to the airwaves and expressed views that some say were taken as anti-Semitic like Rep. Talib, “I grieve the Palestinian and Israeli lives lost yesterday, today, and every day. I am determined as ever to fight for a just future where everyone can live in peace, without fear and with true freedom, equal rights, and human dignity; the path to that future must include lifting the blockade, ending the occupation, and dismantling the apartheid system that creates the suffocating, dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance” and adding, “ The failure to recognize the violent reality of living under the siege, occupation and apartheid makes no one safer. No person, no child anywhere should have to suffer or live in fear of violence.”
This is not the first time Rep. Talib has referred to Israel has an apartheid state. Rep. Talib is also of Palestinian decent.
Ilhan Omar, who is also Muslim, has said “I condemn the horrific acts we are seeing unfold today in Israel against children, women, the elderly, and the unarmed people who are being slaughtered and taken hostage by Hamas” while also noting “such senseless violence will only repeat the back and forth cycle we’ve seen which we cannot allow to continue. We need to call for de-escalation and ceasefire; I will keep advocating for peace and justice throughout the Middle East.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar, who is no stranger to controversial rhetoric, has repeatedly said that Jews were “All about the Benjamins.”
Another member of the squad is Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), who also added on the issue, “I condemn Hamas attack in the strongest possible terms. No child or family should ever endure this kind of violence and fear, and this violence will not solve the ongoing oppression and occupation in the region.”
Is it any wonder that the debate amongst our government officials is spilling into society and igniting the chaos we are now witnessing on college campuses.
