Ashley Church
IINZ
A year ago the world changed.
At 6.30 on the morning of October 7, 2023 Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel. Thousands of balaclava-clad terrorists crossed the border between Gaza and Israel and indiscriminately killed civilians in their homes, on roads and at a music festival. More than 1,200 people were murdered, including a large number of internationals, and the atrocities that were committed during the attack included rape, torture, and the beheading of babies.
Additionally, more than 240 people were taken hostage and dragged into Gaza – some to an as yet unknown fate.
But as brutal as these atrocities were, it was the events which followed in the months after October 2023 which defined the true horror of what was taking place. Even as Israel mounted a war to rid the world of the evil scourge of Hamas, another war was waging in the west – a war for the truth.
Inexplicably, in the weeks and months that followed, the world turned on Israel and the Jewish people. Acts of antisemitism increased sixfold, protestors marched in the cities of the west, international agencies convened sham courts to try to blame Israel for the escalation in tensions and students occupied the campuses of Ivy League Colleges in the United States.
Instead of supporting Israel in their mission, governments, gullible activists and an ideologically captured media sloganised an attack on Israel using words such as ‘apartheid’ and ‘genocide’ – despite these words having no factual basis in respect of Israel’s conduct.
The United Nations and international ‘aid’ agencies exposed the fetid rot at their core – relentlessly chastising Israel for imagined indiscretions and constantly repeating their demand for a ‘ceasefire’ while treating Hamas with impunity – turning a blind eye to its outrageous claims and contempt for the lives of its own people.
Revelations that the UN agency responsible for providing support in Gaza had been acting as an arm of Hamas were dismissed – with the UN even demanding that those involved should be granted diplomatic immunity from their crimes, which included murder!
The US, long an ally of Israel, engaged in a year-long game of ‘Guess what I think today’ – alternatively expressing iron-clad support for Israel one day then ruthlessly stabbing it in the back, the next.
Yet, despite this extraordinary symphony of coordinated evil – Israel has now all but eradicated the military wing of Hamas in Gaza – only to face new enemies in Lebanon, Yemen, and ultimately Iran and, a year on from the initial terrorist attack, there is no end to this conflict in sight.
But the Israeli spirit remains undeterred and, during my recent visit there, I was encouraged by the resilience of this extraordinary people. Israeli Jews, Arabs, Druze, Christians and Bedouins may disagree in matters of day-to-day politics – but they are united in their determination to defend their nation.
Only a fool would bet against their ultimate success in that endeavour…
This article was originally published by the Israel Institute of New Zealand.
