Remembrance, resolve and solidarity
Three years on, we must remember October 7, stand with Israel and refuse to let its victims be forgotten.
Wednesday marked three years since the Hamas-led onslaught in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, the largest loss of Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust.
1200 were murdered amid a gory and sadistic rampage of killing, torture and sexual violence. 251 were taken hostage into Gaza. Only 168 of those souls returned to Israel alive.
Many of the victims from the kibbutzim in southern Israel were “peaceniks” who championed coexistence with Palestinians in Gaza. They were butchered nonetheless, along with their families – men, women, children.
Those taken into Gaza experienced horrific treatment and conditions. The Bibas boys, Ariel and Kfir, were strangled to death in captivity. A supposed human being looked down at their beautiful, innocent faces and went through with their heinous murders. Think about what kind of monster would do that.
Yet there are those who wish us to be gaslighted into thinking Israel is the problem. We hear over and over the slanderous cries of “genocide”.
The Jewish state is no more perfect than any other country. It is a tragedy that innocent Gazans have been killed in the war against Hamas. But beyond libellous accusations and biased reports, there is not a shred of credible evidence that Israel’s actions constitute a genocide. It is Hamas propaganda – for which the terror group wants as many dead as possible – echoed through a Western loudspeaker.
Yet, we write this week of newly minted Greens leader David Shoebridge again parroting the lie and excluding and othering mainstream Jews who refuse to believe it.
Some antizionist groups even had the gall to plan their own vigils for Wednesday, saying Israel should not be allowed to “steal the date” – a perverse moral inversion that ignores the barbaric terrorism perpetrated on innocent Israelis, without which there would have been no war in Gaza, and no Palestinian casualties.
This is yet another reason why the events of October 7 must never be forgotten. It is up to us – we must keep reminding the world what happened.
But beyond that, and on this date in particular, we also owe it to our Israeli brothers and sisters to remember their loss, to let them know we share their pain.
We are family. We stand with the people of Israel.