The figure I “woke up” to this morning is 600. The current death toll in Israel is 600 civilians murdered by Palestinian terrorists. Contextualizing numbers may appear gauche but right now it is necessary to nurture an understanding of the devastation. Relative to America's population size, that would amount to some 24,000 lost. It is the largest number of Jewish people killed in a single day since the Holocaust.
Re-read that.
[Brandenburg Gate in Berlin yesterday evening]
Last night, I gathered with Iranian Jewish friends whose families fled to America. The outside world once again feels like one we Jews have to be hyper vigilant in. Our schools, our synagogues, our businesses are heightening security levels. Many of us who can are removing visible reminders of our Jewishness, tucking our Magen Davids under our shirts. As with any escalation in Israel, never mind war, communities around the Diaspora become targets, too. It may be an ugly pill to swallow, but among us are those who watched the brutal imagery yesterday and saw a green light to behave in celebratory and intimidating ways towards Jewish people in their own communities. We have to brace for the potential impact of that.
There was optimism around one of my friends that perhaps this time it will be different. Perhaps the media will report responsibly, and continue to contextualize Israeli efforts as a response to the terror of October 7. That the usual omissions and minimizations by the mainstream media will be virtually impossible. I just don't have enough confidence yet to buy that.
Here, for example, is today’s front cover of UK broadsheet The Observer. A glorifying triumph of terrorism.
When talking to my community in London during their evening yesterday, I learned that there have already been videos taken that document cavalcades of protestors in cars donned with Palestinian flags, and “dance parties” in the streets, celebrating the deaths of Jews. Today in Times Square there will be an “All out for Palestine” rally in Times Square to honor the “heroic resistance” of Hamas yesterday. So while we can be at least somewhat optimistic that yesterday's horrors have been witnessed by more people than just us, we cannot afford to pull the wool over our eyes that as fast as Israel's retaliative operations increase in severity, every bad faith actor who has thus far said nothing (AOC, we see you), will strike with the usual script if and when the media tide turns, and that this will ignite the usual echoes of antisemitic displays of hate in our own cities and towns.
In short: hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Past behavior informs future behavior. Stay safe.
Every Jewish person you know will be connected to this. There are only 15 million of us. We are a small people. If we don't know someone who is still missing, we know someone else who does. Any and all support is incalculably reassuring. Now is the time to remind your Jewish friends, coworkers and neighbors that you care. It is the most basic of human displays of kindness.
As for us, Golda Meir said it well:
"We refuse, absolutely, to be the only people in the world which consents to having its fate decided by others."
Enough is enough. Do not fear standing up for yourself. We must be loud and we must be proud.
Continue posting, Eve.
If Mexican Cartels attacked the US border such as Hamas has done to Israel, retaliation would be harsh beyond description. I hope that Israeli forces wipe the Hamas from the face of the earth.
Israel is the only Country in the world that is criticized for being attacked by terrorists… how ignorant and thoughtless!