Kristallnacht and Hamas

Thursday was the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the infamous night when Jewish homes, stores, and schools were ransacked and vandalized while many Jews were beaten and murdered. This happened before WW2 started. German citizens stood by and watched their neighbors and friends being targeted, and did nothing. The next morning, my grandfather who was seven at the time, was forced to clean up the shattered glass from the sidewalks while on his knees. Jewish families apparently assumed that this was as bad as it was going to get and it’ll pass over, not fathoming that over the next seven years, 6 million European Jews will be murdered, including six of my great-grandparents. I grew up hearing these stories and confidently believed that this could only happen in history books …that the world would NEVER let anything like that happen again.

I sit here today with tears in my eyes and a deep pain which is difficult to describe — a combination of helplessness, fear, anger, and sadness. Every day, I’m seeing more and more protests with signs of “Gas the Jews” and “Hitler was right,” Jewish stores vandalized, hate crimes against Jews skyrocketing this last month. Universities are cowardly standing behind the First Amendment when confronted on how they’re allowing hatred and assaults against Jewish students happen on their campuses.  I keep on finding myself in disbelief that this is actually happening and the vast majority of people, including my friends, are not only not saying anything, but don’t even see it. I finally understand what I never quite understood before: How did the world see what was happening when the Holocaust occurred and not do anything? It’s because they didn’t even “see” it. They were busy with their own lives and didn’t care because it was not their problem.

“I finally understand what I never quite understood before — How did the world see what was happening when the Holocaust occurred and not do anything? It’s because they didn’t even ‘see’ it.”

The world needs to wake up and see that history is repeating itself. That a terrorist group has hijacked the minds of college students and “well-meaning” people and created a global army to help them achieve their ultimate goal: To eliminate Israel and rid the world of Jews.

Israel was forced into this war because innocent civilians were brutally massacred, tortured, raped and kidnapped from their homes and they have every right, just like any other country, to defend itself and protect its citizens. Any other spin on what is happening is only supporting and justifying terrorism and enabling a landscape for history to repeat itself. Israel did not start this war. But they will make sure that it will NEVER happen again.