We recently went to the Nova Exhibition in London. Not that we didn’t know what had happened, but more to just show support. So many people were walking around in shock after seeing the videos and hearing the testimonies on display. The Shoes reminded me of the shoes lining the Danube in Budapest.
But the one emotion I didn’t feel that day or on the day of October 7th, when we were hearing from those trapped by Hamas and the awful news was filtering through was shock at the atrocities committed against the people . The shock we felt was the absolute failure of the Israeli security services to have safeguarded the area and to have allowed the festival to go ahead without adequate security.
The brutality and the cold blooded murders should have shocked us, but if you bother to look back on Arab behaviour towards Jews, this was not in fact anything new and they had been openly promising such an event for a long time.
Although it may seem a long time ago, August 16th 1929, during the fast of Tisha B’av, which in fact, was only during the time of parents and grandparents, the Arabs who had become offended that the Jews as Dhimmi (second class citizens ) had the audacity to put benches and a mehitzha at the Western Wall. The rumours were inflated with charges of threats to the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, baseless accusations that have been used time and again for 100 years to inflame Islamic passions and still swallowed by the gullible
Arabs attacked Jews, stabbing ,shooting , beating with rocks defenceless civilians in Mea Shearim and other Jewish neighbourhoods. Yeshiva students peacefully studying Torah in the mystical Safed were mowed down in cold blood.
By Yom Kippur, the terror moved to Hebron, a Jewish city with the tomb of Abraham, where today a few Jews still live under threat. They committed the same heinous killings as October 7th, beheading, castrating and slicing people up alive. No man woman or child, young or old, was spared with the Arab police looking on. Hebron ran with Jewish blood as they knifed and axed their way through the city shouting “Allah Akbar”.
People watched from hidden closets as their family was slaughter in front of their eyes in the exact same way those who hide on October 7th witnessed the carnage. The town’s baker had his head roasted in his own oven - and we heard similar tales from October 7th.
So, when we hear the nonsense that this attack was by some Hamas militants when every evidence showed the complicity of the civilians, the doctors, and those with the weapons hidden in every household school and mosque, it is surprising that Israel’s response was not a 100 times more .
9/11 killed nearly 3000 people in one day in a country that has a population of over 300 million. The war that followed saw the USA kill ,perhaps an excess of 300,000.
The death toll on October 7th of 1,200 in a country that has only 10 million people was huge.
Israel has been accused of genocide in her response to Hamas, It is estimated that 70,000 plus have been killed, but we don’t know how many were non combatants, we do know that Hamas have always militarised children and used them against Israel (with no protests from the UN). We also know that many civilians participated in the October attacks. So it is impossible to know the proportion of dead fighters, usually in wars more than half the casualties are civilians, so charges of genocide are nonsense. The destruction of Hamas’ capabilities is an absolute necessity in order to prevent future similar attacks.
People seem to have conveniently forgotten ISIS, the 600,000 of his own citizens that Assad killed and the many thousands of terrorist attacks suffered in Israel over the past 78 years since independence . 30,000 Israelis are remembered on Yom HaZikaron !
The Arabs start all the wars, then complain when they lose ! Arab terrorists have killed over 5,000 civilians in carefully planned terrorist attacks. The security services prevent thousands of attacks each year , the latest they discovered and prevented was planned to open fire at the Beer Sheva bus station- probably the busiest bus station in Israel .
These are genocides, these are crimes against humanity, not a defensive war trying to destroy an enemy.
As we now enter the 9 days of mourning leading up to Tisha B’av, Jews, both religious and secular understand very well their history, and while we hope and pray for peace, we must always keep one eye on history and try to learn from the mistakes.
Israel is pretty much hated in Europe who have adopted a liberal cowardice approach to threats and are slowly letting go of their culture and allowing their countries to be taken over by alien cultures that do not respect the rights of woman, gays or anyone who disagrees with them.
Israel may feel dangerous, but the streets of Europe are running with criminals and this week Anne Widdecombe, an aged polictician was battered to death in her own home. In the UK, woman cannot walk the streets at night and even in daylight there are many dangers. Children must be accompanied outside of the house, there is little freedom for the vulnerable. Those who look visibly Jewish have been attacked in the street in broad daylight. Jewish children attend schools surrounded by security guards. Jewish patients are now cancelling operations as some NHS doctors have openly said they will kill Jews !
Today, the children of Israel are free, protected by the brave IDF, and enjoy their childhood, ( when there is no war and they are not running to the shelters ) and no one needs to hide their identity.
But these countries just love to tell Israel what to do and what not to do. Piers Morgan is a fine example of an uninformed armchair critic, spewing his criticism of Israel daily, who has zero idea of the reality on the ground in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, young IDF soldiers are risking their lives daily to protect the population. Since October 7th, 1150 Israeli soldiers have paid the ultimate price in defending the country. 26,000 soldiers have now entered rehabilitation to cope with their injuries. No one is hearing the price Israel is paying and the UK government are once again funding UNWRA who were proven to be complicit with Hamas.
Trump still hasn’t woken up to the fact that Iran’s words and promises are worthless and if he doesn’t find the courage now to completely destroy the IRGC and open the door to a new reality in Iran, he will be leaving the world a dreadful legacy that for now may be confined to the Gulf States and the Middle East, but will quickly seep its way into Europe via Turkey.
Carolyne Davis