The brutal pogrom of October 7 has been transformative. It has been a painful wakeup call for millions of Israelis, including our political, military, and intelligence leadership.
It has been an existential slap in the face for a great many on the Left who thought they were on the right side of history in supporting what they believed to be the peaceful nation-building aspirations of Palestinians in Gaza, only to realize that they were giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Or that they were supporting the wrong “team” – to use US President Joe Biden’s expression.
Finally, and perhaps ultimately most significantly, the pogrom has proven to be the catalyst for a worldwide coming-out party of hatred by the supporters of Hamas.
What was thought to be the presence of radical Muslims only banlieues in France, no-go zones in Sweden, and down at the heels cities in mid-England has become a visible, angry, and threatening presence in major capitals and cities throughout the West.
If the thought was that exposure to Western norms and civilization would transform the tribal and theocratically driven ways of many Muslims in cities among us, then we were all in for a rude awakening.
For some time now we have been exposed to shows-of-strength type of gatherings such as mass Muslim prayer sessions in the middle of crowded downtown streets, and attempts to build mosques in central places.
These have been muscle flexing efforts, designed to reflect the presence and the importance of the Muslim population in a particular city. Less noticed was any messaging besides presence, although it was always clear that the emphases of these efforts were the extolling of Islam, never integration.
What changed with October 7 has been the vehemence of the messaging.
Yes, of course, there has been the hateful messaging of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) with their incessant chanting of “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Putting aside the nursery rhyme cadence, a brief moment’s thought makes one fully aware that the messaging here is simply genocidal. Palestine will be free… of Jews. The fact that this messaging has been tolerated, even celebrated, on campuses by a whole raft of progressive types, including Jews, has been the door opener to the type of hatred that we have been witnessing since October 7.
It has equated support for the Palestinians with a policy of expelling and undoubtedly killing, millions of Jews who happen to already live “from the river to the sea.” For, as anyone who knows anything about the Middle East knows, a “free” Palestine is a judenrein Palestine. Above all, it has made a “free” Palestine a “moral imperative.” Therefore, a full-throated defense of Hamas, brutality and all, is a logical outgrowth, and a hop, skip, and a jump from SJP’s imprecations.
After all, if defending Palestine is a moral imperative, then Hamas are freedom fighters, battling a war of liberation. This will inevitably blunt the impact and effect of the unspeakable massacre, rationalizing it as the inevitable expression of frustration and desperation borne out of the “occupation.”
What the Western embrace of Islam inevitably leads to
NOTICE WHAT is missing here: decency, humanity, and a visceral sense that perhaps something terrible was done, even if in the name of something necessary.
Now we move on to the next step, and that is massive and widespread presence. It is not just widespread, but it is provocative unto threatening. You have a community that feels the wind is at its back, that thanks to intersectionality and a bizarre obsession with a basically non-existent Islamophobia, the marchers can express their true feelings: Death to Jews, destruction for Israel, and doing whatever it takes to get there.
This, of course, is frightening in and of itself, but it is merely an opening gambit to what promises to be a future of hatred, rejection, and ultimately, usurpation.
Rest assured, as the old saw goes, what starts with the Jews, never ends with the Jews.
What these demonstrations will ultimately become will be anti-American, anti-Canadian, anti-name the host country expressions of hatred and rejection.
The shape of things to come in the US and Canada is being played out in the United Kingdom as I write these lines, with the Muslim community increasingly flexing its anti-Western muscles, while the authorities are reluctant and/or fearful to confront them.
In Europe, demographics are shaping up as a determinant factor, whereby Muslim populations continue to grow, while the non-Muslim majority is recording all time low birth rates.
North America is seeing some of the same trends, with the critical difference being that there is not the significant Muslim presence that has characterized Europe for the past couple of decades. Nevertheless, the situation is bound to deteriorate, certainly for Jews, and ultimately for those who cherish the values that have defined, until recently, Western civilization.
Woke-ism has been a primary midwife of the ascension of a Muslim population filled with hatred for Western values, without Westerners understanding that when circumstances warrant it, they will join the list of victims.
THERE IS no alternative but to shake off the torpor of acceptance that defines Western countries’ attitude towards increasingly radical and rejectionist Islam.
What could be telling is the current example of Israel.
We have been shaken out of a mindset that was mimicking the Western model of focusing on peace through economic development and opportunities to cooperate, only to realize that none of that mattered to a Hamas that has maintained a focus on Israel’s destruction despite head fakes to the contrary.
Today, Israel is experiencing born-again deterrence.
This much-needed change in attitude will not revert once Hamas is removed from power because there will continue to be the genocidal forces of Hezbollah on our northern border, as well as the Iranian-directed Syrian forces, as well as the concerns of the Palestinians in Judea and Samaria.
The wool has come off our eyes, and the same needs to happen throughout the West. Our democracies were not intended to be suicide pacts.
We must be willing to protect that which we cherish and do so with clarity and strength.
The writer is the chairman of the board of Im Tirtzu and a director of the Israel Independence Fund.