At a pro-Hamas, anti-Israel rally in London a new level of what I can only call a mixture of absurdity and disbelief was presented. These rallies are almost commonplace nowadays, but this one – this one was a game changer.
Mohammed el Kurd, a Palestinian from East Jerusalem, a writer and a poet, spoke to the crowd and said: “Our day will come but we must normalize the massacres as the status quo.”
I heard him say it. I saw the clip. Then I watched it again to make sure I really had heard what I thought I had heard. I did.“… we must normalize the massacres …”
El Kurd was preaching to the converted. He had the crowd in the palm of his hand. A man of letters, he knows how to build up to a crescendo. He began slowly.
“This is a moment for transformation. There have been 30,000 martyrs. This is our moment to transform the world... We must reject Zionism in all of our institutions because to be anti-racist is to be anti-Zionist.”
He continued. “It does not contain multitudes, it does not contain double meanings, it is not romantic. Zionism is apartheid, it’s genocide, it’s murder, it’s a racist ideology rooted in settler expansion and racial domination and we must root it out of the world. We must de-Zionize because Zionism is a death cult.”
And then, the zinger. Then came the words, the declaration, the call to arms: “we must normalize the massacres as the status quo.”
October 7 has warped the world. Evil has overtaken good. It has subsumed good. Before October 7, thoughtful, reasonable people would never have even thought this. Today, too many welcomely embrace these ideas.
There is no other interpretation to the call to “normalize massacres” presented in this context than a call to murder more and more innocent Jews. And yet, reasonable people hear this message and agree. Even the antisemites of old would have disagreed with this statement.
That’s how warped our world has become.
A new reality after October 7
By now, other calls for the destruction of Israel have become more common. Much ink has been spilled about the chant – actually, the rant, “from the river to the sea.” A call to wipe Israel off the map, it is another license to massacre, mass murder, mass rape, burn, decapitate and take Jews hostage. And according to the chants, their intention is to do so. Another frequent banner reads “Liberate Palestine by any means.” Now we know what “any means” really means.
Reasonable people would say that this is not acceptable. Reasonable means sound judgment, sensible, fair, appropriate, fitting, proper. These calls are exactly the opposite of reasonable. And almost no one is calling them out.
Reasonable people would be sympathetic to the plight of the hostages. But people are ripping down their posters all over the world.
Placards displayed outside the International Court of Justice (IJC) in the Hague, supporting South Africa’s charge that Israel is perpetrating genocide in Gaza proclaim: “For global peace, Israel must be destroyed” and “I do not recognize Israel’s right to exist.”
And yet “bring them home” is considered offensive.
Some of the posters are simply absurd. One from a recent London rally blamed America and Israel for the October 7 massacres – in attempting to take Iran’s oil.
The hatred of Jews has filtered down to the most absurd levels.
FELIX HASSON is a 20-year-old college student and professional (video/computer) gamer. I’ve watched him grow up. He’s full of personality and I’ve taken pride in his success in the very competitive world of gaming. And then suddenly, it came to an abrupt end.
Felix has been removed from a tournament because of his posts on X. Felix, who spent his gap year in Israel, supports Israel. For posting this support and condemning Hamas, he was removed from the competition. His story, which was originally covered by Israel365, is – while shocking – unfortunately, not unique.
Jew-hatred is running amok. It is running deep.
The tournament “Luminosity Makes BIG Moves 2024,” or LBMB, took place January 5-7 in New York. It was hosted by Even Matchup Gaming, in partnership with Luminosity.
According to Israel365, the tournament organizer Aerodusk made it very clear that Hasson was dropped due to his support of Israel. In response to a tweet posted by Junglist Soldier asking “Why is this racist (sic) zionist weasel allowed at your event?” Aerodusk wrote: “Have been running events all day, just got to this and he has been removed.”
“Game Guys Entertainment” tournament organizer Jordan Lewis then wrote Felix: “While being a Zionist does not deem you as a bad person, and your opinions and how they are expressed are your own, it is of my decision that sometimes these expressions have consequences.”
Gamers and these tournament organizers have been radicalized. They are supporting the terrorist organization Hamas. Radicals are setting up tournaments that are free of Jewish people who support Israel.
From London to the Hague, to New York City we are confronting a world that is reminiscent of the not-so-long-ago dark and ugly days in Jewish history. These events hark back to the days of the pre-civil rights era when communities, clubs, and neighborhoods hung signs that read “No Jews allowed.”
Jew-hatred is running amok. It is running deep. But it will not defeat us. Good will triumph over evil.
The writer is a columnist and a social and political commentator. Watch his TV show Thinking Out Loud on JBS.