After watching part of the funeral of Matilda, the 10-year-old girl murdered by terrorists in the Hanukkah Massacre on Bondi Beach, Australia, I cannot stop thinking about the hate speech that led to it.
What most distresses me are those who shout, “Globalize the intifada” or “Free Palestine” or “From the River to the Sea,” because they have her blood on their hands. When it is a Jewish person who has turned away from supporting the survival of Israel and instead seems to be supporting Hamas, I really cannot stand their actions.
When I see these words, I think, “Do you realize when you say ‘globalize the intifada,’ that includes you. Jihadists do not care if you are a Hamas-supporting Jew or not. They will kill you.
When people hear that 1,250 Israelis were killed on Oct. 7, 2023, they assume those murdered were all Jews. Not true. Among the dead and hostages were other Muslims, Christians, Buddhists and Druze.
When they say Israel was the occupier, they are deluded. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2004. It just protected its borders from the constant missile attacks from Gaza that came every year like clockwork on certain holidays. The Western media seem to have never reported on those attacks because Israel built bomb shelters, so most attacks were futile. It seems at times that Western media is promoting Jew hatred.
Now we have Jewish young adults who are so ignorant of Jewish and Israeli history they are siding with the terrorists. I guess they think that makes them morally better because they stick up for the “underdog.” I think they have the underdog confused.
Some say, “I am not antisemitic, I am anti-Zionist.” Is there a difference? Every year we end the Passover Seder with, “Next year in Jerusalem.” What do they think that means? It is a prayer for all Jews to return to Israel. Zionism means to return to Israel, the land of our ancestors.
It is time that young Jews acknowledge the truth. The proof shows that Hamas started the war; that Hamas hid food from the people of Gaza; that Hamas built tunnels to care for its terrorists and left the people of Gaza to suffer; that Hamas murders innocent Gazans who disagree with them; that no genocide happened.
Finally, some countries, like the United Kingdom and Australia, are pushing back against this hate-filled phrase since the killings in Manchester and Bondi Beach. A little late in calling it what it is — a cry for violence. They will arrest people who chant it as well as other phrases that call for killing Jews.
Even Amnesty International had to release its report that acknowledges what Hamas did was a war crime. From their website: “Amnesty International research confirms that crimes committed by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups during their attacks on October 7, 2023, and against those they seized and held hostage were part of a systematic and widespread assault against the civilian population and amount to crimes against humanity.“
I feel for the people of Gaza, the women and children who have been used by Hamas for terror. I feel for them living in tents during the rainy season.
Do I think all Muslims are terrorists? Of course not. We see that with the brave shopkeeper in Australia who risked his life in an effort to stop the gunman. We see the truth by the many Israeli Muslims who stand up for Israel, their homeland. We see the truth in the imams who said the terror attacks are not the true way of Islam.
Do I like Netanyahu or Ben Gvir? No. I think both are bad for Israel in the long run. Should there be an inquiry as to what happened on the lead up to Oct. 7? Absolutely. But on the other hand, should they have sat back and let Hamas kill more Jews? Never. Never.
It is time for everyone, especially Jews, to face the reality of extremist jihadists, to look at what is happening in Sudan, Nigeria and Yemen, where jihadists are killing people, and realize that this horror is increasing globally.
Those who support the violence and hate of Hamas and chant “globalize the intifada” are just as evil as the ones who kill, murder, rape, brutalize all in the name of a false view of religion.
Ellen Portnoy has a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. She is an active community volunteer who has traveled to Israel many times.