“Those who fail to remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
The famous words of 20th-century philosopher George Santayana rang true as the world marked the second anniversary of the horrific terrorist attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that left hostages still being held, both dead and alive, to this day — a cataclysmic event that sparked a new, horrible wave of antisemitism around the world, including here in New York.
The attacks led to war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, one that could have ended much sooner had Hamas listened to the appeals of the world and quickly released the hostages they took on that day of infamy. Instead, this war has gone on for two bloody years.
Along the way, New York — home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel — has seen a wave of protests condemning Israel for the violence.
Jewish New Yorkers have had to hear calls for a free Palestine “from the river to the sea” and for Israel not to be a Jewish state — which would effectively end Israel’s existence. Such calls shake the depths of those who know the grave consequences that would come to pass if that ever were to happen, which is the death of the Jews in the land of Israel.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel perfectly summed up those consequences in a speech nearly 40 years ago: “Israel is the only nation in the world whose existence is threatened. Should Israel lose but one war, it would mean her end and ours as well.”
Israel was founded in 1948 out of the former British colony of Palestine as a permanent homeland for Jews around the world; it is also the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people.
The state of Israel was created in the aftermath of the Holocaust, when Nazi Germany exterminated 6 million Jewish people — many of whom were unable to flee the hateful wrath of Hitler, or were even turned away by other nations because of their faith.
These facts are forgotten or outright ignored today as the world debates the ongoing war and securing a just and lasting peace in the Middle East — and it is truly perilous.
Antisemitism has surged in New York since Oct. 7, 2023; the NYPD says that more than half of all hate crimes in the Big Apple involve Jewish victims. This wave of antisemitism has made many Jewish New Yorkers wonder whether they are truly safe in this city, and about their families’ future.
Hateful words and actions eventually turn violent. History has proven that repeatedly. Even as the push for peace in the Middle East continues, we must reject antisemitism universally, and we must advocate for and recognize Israel, which is a Jewish state.
This cause, while international, impacts New York like no other city in America. We cannot preach tolerance here at home and abroad by calling for a state’s and a people’s destruction. We must recognize everyone’s right to coexist and worship freely.
Only then will we have truly learned the lessons of history — and avoid the condemnation of repeating our horrific past.
