We were supposed to learn a lesson about the dangers of antisemitism and the depths of evil it can drive from the terror inflicted on Oct. 7, 2023.
The world watched in horror as Hamas murdered about 1,200 Israelis, including hundreds of civilians in their homes, on the streets of their neighborhoods and at a music festival. Hamas took at least 250 people hostage; about 100 remain in captivity, including seven Americans.
We saw, through video and photos taken during the Oct. 7 attack, a barbaric terrorist organization, driven by hate and antisemitism, rape and murderwithout mercy.
We were moved as Israel, grief-stricken and shocked, found strength to fight Hamas − and now Hezbollah and Iran − with all its might.
But we soon realized that not everyone in America and other countries has learned the lesson of Oct. 7.
Far too many continue to harbor hate, to let discrimination fester toward Jewish people, and it's not just in Gaza and Iran − it's in America, too.
Aside from the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, I have not seen anything like the Oct. 7 attack that Hamas perpetrated on Israel. Like much of the world, I was aghast.
I'm not Jewish, but count many Jewish Americans as friends and colleagues. As a Christian, I believe they are God's chosen people. I don’t have to be Jewish to be horrified by what transpired or to empathize with Israelis' desire for safety.
The aftermath of the initial attack, including first-person accounts of rape, murder and mutilation, is seared into my mind. I found myself in shock. How could this happen in our modern-day world? It looked like something from a horror film or in a dystopian universe.
After being rescued, several women held captive in tunnels in Gaza revealed that members of Hamas tortured and sexually assaulted them.
Hamas took about 30 children hostage. The youngest turned a year old while in captivity. In other words, babies. Hamas took babies captive. It's nauseating.
This is not just a war about land. This is not just about religious and ethnic hostilities going back millennia.
This also is about the depths of human depravity and what people will do to one another in the name of hate.
A year after the attack, it's still hard to believe a crime of this magnitude happened on our watch.
To my horror, antisemitism didn't just spread to the United States after the attack. It was already here. The Oct. 7 attack unearthed it and galvanized antisemites to be more vocal than ever before.
In America, pro-Palestinian pleas for a cease-fire turned into violence. Protesters on university campuses harassed Jewish students, damaged university property and launched into antisemitic tirades.
In April, Jewish students were told to flee Columbia University for fear of bullying and violence. Administrators announced the university would hold classes online as a precaution. Similar demonstrations also happened at Yale.
Protests blurred the lines between being pro-Palestine and anti-Jewish or anti-American.
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