2 No. 70 JUSTICE ctober 7, 2023 is a day that will go down in infamy as one of the most terrible dates in the history of the State of Israel and the Jewish People. The atrocities committed by Hamas-led terrorists ‒ including murder, rape, torture, kidnapping, wounding, desecration of bodies, the burning of people and their homes, represent one of the worst acts of terror in the modern era. In their severity, these events recall the pogroms of Eastern Europe and the horrors of the Holocaust. During the perpetration of the atrocities, more than 1,200 people were slaughtered and more than 250 kidnapped and taken hostage ‒ men, women, children and elderly persons. We bore witness to some of the worst war crimes and crimes against humanity. Immediately following the events of October 7, Israel declared a state of war in order to eliminate the military capabilities and political regime of the Hamas terror organization, and to free those who were kidnapped and taken hostage. The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. More than two million people live in an area of only a few hundred square kilometers. Hamas uses the local population as a human shield. There is almost no public institution (hospital, school, mosque) that does not serve as a military installation or for military purposes. Many residential homes are also used for these purposes. The suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza cannot be ignored. The tragic casualty toll and scenes of massive destruction that are seen in Gaza may appear both incomprehensible and disproportionate, unless we look at the facts and see the undeniable direct intertwining between military infrastructure and civilian population deliberately made by Hamas and the other terrorist organizations in Gaza. Israel’s actions since October 7, 2023, are not acts of vengeance for the events of that infamous day, but rather, clearly and unequivocally, acts of self-defense. Meanwhile, in parallel to the events of October 7, Iran’s proxy organizations, foremost among them Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as pro-Iranian militias in Syria and Iraq, the Houthis in Yemen, and even Iran itself, are engaging in hostile activities against Israel. Perhaps October 7 will open the eyes of the world to the fact that Iran and its proxies are committed and determined to destroy the State of Israel, the state of the Jewish People. There is no doubt that the purpose behind these events is the genocide of the Jewish People. There is a shameful level of cynicism in the “inversion” made by those who see the acts of self-defense of the State of Israel as acts of genocide against the Palestinians. The events of October 7 and the war in Gaza have stirred up a massive and repugnant wave of antisemitism around the world. The masks are off, and the distinction between the State of Israel and Jews has been blurred. Even though the State of Israel failed in protecting its citizens on October 7, the Jews of the Diaspora still see Israel as a place of refuge against present or future persecution. I hope that the enlightened world, and enlightened individuals, will fight against any attempt to undermine the legitimacy of the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish People. President’s Message O Meir Linzen Photo: Ami Erlich
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