On Saturday, October 7, 2023, early in the morning in Israel, Hamas terrorists attacked civilians and military personnel in over twenty locations. It didn’t take long for the world to realize that this was not a localized terrorist attack. This one was big and it was planned. Prime Minister Netanyahu first declared that Israel was in “a state of war,” and soon after, he officially declared that Israel was “at war” by invoking article 40 aleph. This had not happened since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, under Prime Minister Golda Meir. It has been less than a week, and casualties are over 1,200 in Israel. More than 150 were taken hostage and some might have been executed in the last few days. It breaks my heart to even say this, but Israel is at war, and this is going to be a long and messy one.
One thing we cannot say about Hamas is that they didn’t tell us how they feel about Israel and the Jewish people. The Hamas Covenant is clear, “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it (Preamble.) “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: ‘O Moslem, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him. (article 7.)”
Hamas is a terrorist organization. UN Security Council Resolution 1566 defines terrorism very clearly: “criminal acts, including against civilians, committed with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury, or taking of hostages, with the purpose to provoke a state of terror in the general public or in a group of persons or particular persons, intimidate a population or compel a government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act.” This is exactly what Hamas did on Saturday, Oct 7, 2023, and I certainly wish I could say that the whole world is seeing through them. I wish I could say that Hamas is not fooling anyone, but unfortunately, I can’t!
All over the world (Canada, Europe, USA), people have gathered on the streets to protest and speak up. While there were people coming to show their support to Israel, many more came with a pro-Palestinian agenda and unashamedly voiced their support for Hamas, chanting, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Shall be Free!” which is a euphemism for killing all Jews in Israel. How in the world could anyone support the barbaric torturing and killing of innocent civilians (children, teenagers, adults and the elderly alike, including beheading? This is not about occupation or a two-state solution. This is pure, evil antisemitism. There were even people displaying swastikas during a protest in Time Square, NY.
Jewish people worldwide do not feel safe anymore. When on the street, they have to watch their backs. When at services in Synagogue, they fear armed intruders at any moment. They stay home, lock their doors and pray for the best. This is no life to live, but safety first, I understand, yet, even that, might not be safe anymore.
Apparently, a hacker has claimed that he has stolen genetic data from millions of users on the DNA ancestry service 23andMe. The company originally stated that they had not been hacked, but they eventually requested that all their users change their passwords immediately. The hacker also claimed that he was willing to sell a million names of individuals with Ashkenazi (Eastern European Jews) lineage. If the hack actually happened, it means that Jewish people are now being identified at the individual level, including personal data and home addresses. We are now seeing the stage being set for the rounding up of Jews. I do not take the Holocaust lightly, considering that I lost my grandfather in Auschwitz, but we have to start drawing parallels between the 2023 open season on the Jews and the 1930s open season on the Jews.
In 1935, the Nazi regime announced two new laws related to race: The Reich Citizenship Law and The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor. They were meant to identify and ostracize the Jews. As they were first introduced in Nuremberg, they became known as “The Nuremberg Laws.” This was the start of the Nazi death factories. But, before the Nazis could kill 6,000.000 Jews in the Death Camps, they had to transport them there, and before they could transport them they had to gather and keep them together in ghettos, but before all that, the Jewish people had to be identified, thus the Nuremberg Laws.
Once the Nuremberg Laws were put in place, the domino effect started. In August 1938, all Jews had to have the names “Sara” for females and “Israel” for males, added to their identification papers for quick identification. Three months later, the stamped red letter “J” was added to the passports of all the Jewish people. One month later Kristallnacht took place in Germany. It has been recognized as the official start of the “Final Solution to the Jewish Question.” In September of 1941, the Yellow Star patch (that my parents wore in France) became mandatory.
Even if the hacker’s story is not true, the mere fact that someone thought of doing such a thing, shows the world’s obsession with the destruction of all Jewish people. Maybe this hacker is a fake and he has nothing, but the idea is now in the open and someone will find a way to get Jewish addresses. This is pure evil and it validates Satan’s main agenda: The destruction of Israel and all Jews. The dominos are in place and it only takes one push.
This war is going to be won by Israel one way or another. Bibi stated it very simply, “Hamas started the war, but we will finish it!” Hamas will be stopped and incapacitated. The biggest lesson might end up being that it is no longer safe for Jews ANYWHERE including Israel. Antisemitism has been constantly repackaged by Satan over the centuries and even in the last few decades. Today, in a vicious race to get the Jews everywhere, global antisemitism might have reached the point of no return!
So, the only remaining safe harbor for Jews is now–on a more individual level–in the homes of loving Christians who will do anything to help Israel. The challenge is that most Jewish people don’t know if they can trust their Christian neighbors. It is time to reach out to your Jewish friends and open your home and your heart to them. Let us all model our behavior after the Tribulation sheep of Matthew 25:31-46, “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.“
These Gentile Christians are reminiscent of the Yad Vashem Righteous Among the Nations who saved Jews during WW2, including my mother and her two cousins. I call them the New Righteous Among the Nations.
Bibi Netanyahu called all Israeli reservists to duty. Maybe it is time for all New Righteous Among the Nations to respond to the call of duty as well.
Israel and Diaspora Jews can certainly use a few friends right now!
