Civis Americanus Sum

Outrage dissipates with time. Left unattended, and the aggrieved become inured. Allow wrongdoers to go unpunished, and forgiveness is presumed. The once extraordinary, improbably, becomes quite ordinary. The moral universe demands justice, but not in a world of moral ambiguity.

We just passed the 23-year anniversary of 9/11. While there was some gridlock in lower Manhattan to mark the reading of names of the 3,000 pulverized by the evil of Islamic extremism, the collapse of the Twin Towers has, for far too many, become a distant memory that evokes little reaction at all.

We are coming upon another landmark date imbued with anti-American animus, the first anniversary of the October 7 massacre at the Nova Music Festival in southern Israel. So recent is this atrocity, no reminder is necessary—at least not yet. It’s too soon to forget that 1,200 were murdered, many in unspeakable ways, and hundreds kidnapped and taken hostage.

The perpetrators of those crimes were Islamists, too. No other people on the planet has such affinity for beheadings and torching their victims alive.

Why do I refer to 10/7 as an “anti-American” attack? It took place in Israel, after all, and Jews were its primary victims.

Yes, but 43 Americans were killed on that day, and of the 11 Americans taken hostage, one, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, was found murdered just two weeks ago. Several still remain captive in Gaza: Omer Neutra, a 23-year-old from Long Island, 64-year-old Keith Samuel Seigel from North Carolina, and 20-year-old Edan Alexander from New Jersey.

Meanwhile, at pro-Hamas encampments and violent demonstrations around the United States, including at this nation’s capital, the American flag has been set aflame and the words “Death to America!” widely chanted.

The Israelis don’t resemble canaries or coal miners, but they have been providing early warning signals that we share the same enemy: Islamic terrorists.

The Israelis don’t resemble canaries or coal miners, but they have been providing early warning signals that we share the same enemy: Islamic terrorists.

What is the Biden administration doing about it? Is anyone doing anything to induce Islamists to reverse course or face the consequences?

Actually, antisemitism, and its anti-American offshoots, has only gotten worse since 10/7. Pandora was no Jew, but she did have the Midas touch when it came to unleashing a newly lethal strain of antisemitism that comes with a buyer’s warranty: Go ahead. Kill Jews. No one will stop you, especially if you are an Islamic terrorist.

World leaders have actually shown themselves to be decent recruiters of Islamic extremism. Great Britain has suspended some arms exports licenses to Israel while at the same time renewing its aid to UNRWA—yes, the same refugee agency that we have since come to learn actively participated in killing Jews on October 7, and maintained a presence directly above those tunnels.

Unlike the United States, Europeans have expansive hate speech laws, but they don’t seem to apply to the open hostility toward European Jews on the streets of major capitals.

Meanwhile, in America, Biden blames Bibi for the failure to reach a ceasefire, has delayed arms shipments, nonchalantly advises him to “take the win,” and informs the press that Israel’s self-defense is “over the top.” I don’t recall anyone berating George W. Bush and Barack Obama that America’s war against al-Qaeda and search for Osama bin Laden was excessive.

Certainly not Israel, which was among the first Western nations to erect a 9/11 memorial—a slightly different reaction to Palestinians, in both the West Bank and Gaza, who threw candy in celebration of all those dead Americans.

Does the United States have any commemorative plans for October 7? I hear that the good Muslims of Dearborn, Michigan have been baking a cake for weeks.

No surprise that the morons at the University of Maryland granted permission, which has since been retracted, to celebrate October 7 as that glorious day when Hamas successfully outwitted the Israelis and barbarically murdered 1,200.

Why not just turn 10/7 into a nationwide Homecoming? After all, the violence that took place on college campuses last year—the harassment of Jewish students, the death chants against Israel and America, and the seizure of university buildings— resulted in no one forfeiting a diploma, or facing suspension or criminal charges. Instead, they all became avatars of the First Amendment.

Pro-Hamas sentiment has already returned to the campus green. We can look forward to another year where antisemitic academics convince their brainless charges that hating Jews is the only subject that doesn’t get graded on a curve. And supporting murderous Palestinians is deemed far more important than reading Proust.

Pro-Hamas sentiment has already returned to the campus green. We can look forward to another year where antisemitic academics convince their brainless charges that hating Jews is the only subject that doesn’t get graded on a curve.

This past week, Jewish students from Manhattan’s City College found themselves barricaded into a Jewish deli on Broadway with an angry mob taunting them to come out. I hear that this entire throng of keffiyeh-wearing thugs will be inducted into Phi Beta Kappa this week.

Why shouldn’t they? The day after six hostages were found murdered in one of those Gaza tunnels, giddy, pro-Hamas celebrants marched through Manhattan pounding on drums. A Muslim from Toronto with ISIS ties was apprehended before fulfilling his mission: a mass shooting at a Brooklyn Jewish center.

New York City was once derisively referred to as “Hymietown.” Today, it is more visibly a Hamas bastion.

Speaking of those hostages, especially the Americans: How is it possible that we have allowed nearly a year to pass without demanding their release, or rescuing them ourselves? The United States should have reclaimed Goldberg-Polin long before his murder. Isn’t that the very least to be expected of a Superpower?

A citizen of ancient Rome knew that no matter where he or she traveled, no harm could ever befall them. No faraway land would dare. All they had to do was deliver the following warning: “Cīvis Rōmānus sum.” (“I am a Roman citizen.”)

Those simple words would bring foreign despots and lawless pirates to their knees. The Roman wrath was so mighty, its demonstrated capacity for lethal retaliation so fierce, the citizen would be instantly placed on a chariot, along with a fruit basket for the Emperor, and returned safely to Rome.

After World War II, and the end of the Cold War, wasn’t the United States declared the world’s most powerful nation? Obviously, not in the same way as the Roman Empire. In 1979, American hostages were taken in Iran. Al-Qaeda delivered a mortal blow on 9/11. Dead and captive Americans resulted from 10/7.

Clearly, Islamists burn the United States in effigy, and celebrate our defeats, because they have nothing to fear.

Our American hostages, tormented in the tunnels of Gaza, must have lamented that it would do no good to proclaim: “Civis Americanus Sum!”

Thane Rosenbaum is a novelist, essayist, law professor and Distinguished University Professor at Touro University, where he directs the Forum on Life, Culture & Society. He is the legal analyst for CBS News Radio. His most recent book is titled “Saving Free Speech … From Itself,” and his forthcoming book is titled, “Beyond Proportionality: Is Israel Fighting a Just War in Gaza?”