This war united Israelis like never before — and we will continue to fight for peace
Israelis donate blood at a hospital in Tel Aviv on Oct. 7, 2023, after a barrage of rockets were fired and fighters from the Gaza Strip infiltrated Israel, a major escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Photo by Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images
Contributing Columnist Dany Bahar October 8, 2023
Since Hamas started its mass terror attack on Israel —a modern-day pogrom — I’ve been in deep distress. I imagine most others following the events in Israel are, too.
As I write these lines, the Israeli press reports a death toll of over 600 people and some 2,000 wounded. As if these numbers weren’t scary on their own, there is an unknown — likely very large — number of civilians that have been kidnapped by the terrorists and their supporters in Gaza. Many of them, including elderly people, women and young children, have been paraded through Gazan towns, tormented and broadcast on social media in a sick form of propaganda for the world to see.
As Hamas terrorists were making their way through Israeli towns, murdering and kidnapping civilians, the stories I was hearing from friends and family (the ones I could reach) brought to mind the worst possible memories of the dark times throughout Jewish history. Times when we, as a people, were forced to hide in our own homes behind locked doors to avoid being killed.
The terrorists attacked every place they could reach. They attacked Sderot, the 30,000-person city that has likely suffered the most from constant rocket attacks from Gaza for over the years. They also attacked small kibbutzim, such as Kibbutz Gvulot, where my good friend Dario lives. Gvulot is the home of hundreds of pro-peace activists who have been condemning the occupation for years.
Over the past nine months, Israeli society has been in a deeply divisive debate regarding the future of the country. We’ve had deep debates since the founding of the state.
But something that we have long known became increasingly clear as this attack unfolded: Hamas does not care about whether we are pro- or anti-Netanyahu, pro- or anti-occupation. They do not care if we are sympathetic or not to the Palestinian cause. Hamas couldn’t care less about who they kill, as long as they are Jews. For them, the more vulnerable — innocent civilians and children — the better.
Their hate is the same hate of those who have tried to kill us for centuries.
Despite this horrible attack — Israel’s 9/11, as The Jerusalem Post’s Avi Mayer put it — there are two important truths we must keep in mind.
Those of us Israelis who have been speaking out for a peaceful resolution with the Palestinians will continue to do so, even if Hamas or other Palestinians continue to try and kill us. Our desire for peace is driven both by our love toward Israel and our moral conviction that peace is the only way (even if it is unattainable right now).
Second, know this: The people of Israel are more united than ever. Even in the most polarizing moment in the political history of Israel that resulted in five elections in four years and after months of ongoing massive protests, the people of Israel will put our differences aside as we deal with this brutal attack.
Exactly 50 years after we were attacked in a similar fashion, we will again stand together in this new war we did not ask for. And we will prevail.
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