It is 2023. There has not been a declaration of war by Israel since 1973. That is fifty years ago almost to the moment of the prior conflict, so there is no shock that such a date was chosen. Make no mistake everyone, not much has changed in those fifty years. The aggressor may have changed but the thought process is still the same. Age-old conflicts and generations of human beings, some Palestinian and some Israeli have been brought up and taught that there is no possibility of peace in ours or their lifetime.
If you look back on history, each and every time there is an attack on a nation by a sworn enemy, there is always support from the international community. Let us look at the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Billions of dollars in aid and support have been sent to Ukraine from many countries around the world. Why? Well, this goes back to the age-old concept of supporting democracy, freedom, and human rights throughout the world. Oh, and the notion that allowing Russia to take control of a neighboring country based on its own desire, is a path backward, maybe even to feudal times.
The world condemned Putin’s aggression and military campaign against Ukraine. The leaders of countries around the world, in a coordinated effort, confiscated Russian Oligarchs’ yachts, homes, and other trappings of wealth, in an attempt to sanction Putin’s inner circle. It outwardly chastised Putin for his crimes against humanity.
But today, we have new players. Israel, like Ukraine, is a country that may or may not have been on the right side of every decision over the past fifty years, but recently has made enormous strides in peace negotiations with Saudi Arabia as well as other Emirates countries. Obviously so much so that the militant Palestinian group Hamas decided to put together a calculated effort that took intense planning to strike fear in the hearts of the ones they despise so much, Israel and the Jewish People.
So early in the morning on the Sabbath and a Jewish holiday, Hamas fighters overran police and military installations, bombarded the Israeli Defense Forces Iron Dome anti-rocket system, (which they have been testing for weakness for years) with thousands of rockets, and took to the sea to come at many targets from different points, although all coordinated. This was not an attack from an incident in Gaza. This was not an attack from a demonstration or other such instance. This was a coordinated, militarized strike against another country, by Hamas, a terrorist group whose only purpose, and this according to them, is to rid the world of Israel and the Jews. You don’t have to take our word for it, you can very easily search the Hamas charter, it is spelled out and publicized for all to see, this is not a secret. Yet individual citizens take to social media and journalists take to their news organizations, blaming Israel, speaking about these attacks like there is a background that must be understood as to why it is acceptable that a young woman was undressed, raped, murdered, and then paraded around Gaza while Hamas troops spat on her. There is no background information needed to know that there is nothing okay about that picture. There are no ‘two sides’ to this brutality. Nor is this about a decades old land dispute, it is about fulfilling Hamas’ one true goal.
As proud Jews, we find it hard to write and even harder to say. Rid the world of the Jews. Why? Why so many years after the Holocaust and the countless terror events that have transpired are we still nowhere? Why do so many groups want to exterminate a whole religious group, still after all this time? This reminds me of stories of the Middle Ages and how countries became empires only to be overthrown by the next one. Or the Crusades that threatened anyone who did not have the same religious beliefs. These are stories we learned about in grade school but now our grandchildren will learn about the Israeli-Hamas war of 2023.
We are quite astonished that there is not more of an outpouring of solidarity watching the videos of helpless, defenseless civilians being shot, blown up, kidnapped, and left for dead on the side of the road like slaughtered animals. How dare anyone not to stand with the victims here and come together demanding Hamas release the innocent civilians they have taken hostage, some of whom are not even Israeli citizens. How dare any politician, especially here in the United States of America to call for restraint by Israel and an end to any retaliation on the part of the Israeli Defense Forces. No one called for us to stop when 9/11 happened. No one dared to suggest maybe we shouldn’t find those responsible for killing thousands of men, women, and children in the name of Jihad. But when it comes to Israel and the Jewish people everyone has an opinion or is up in arms over it. Sad and true everyone.
These are some of the most horrific images and videos I have seen in my lifetime but what is even more scary is the comfort level that people either have to say nothing at all or even better, to take to their platforms and support the attacks that Hamas is carrying out. We cannot even begin to try and understand the rationale behind that belief because it is simply void of all humanity. It’s rather ironic because those same people claim in their argument that they have these beliefs because they stand for freedom against oppression and human rights, yet support the brutality and murder of human beings and turn their back on the only true supporter of freedom and human rights in the Middle East. To the mainstream media, especially in the United States, we see you. Your clear hate and bias against Israel and the Jewish people is repulsive. You should be ashamed, but you won’t be. No one asked for your belief system, we asked for the news. The Washington Post’s slogan is “democracy dies in darkness,” to every person who works and writes for the Washington Post, you should change your slogan, because you’re a bunch of hypocrites, every democratic ideal dies on the pages of the Washington Post, where they blame a country for defending itself against terror.
Before you take to social media, we urge you all to recognize that this attack has nothing to do with a land dispute. Israel has tried time and time again to come to some resolution of peace, even taking all of their people out of Gaza and giving the Palestinian people the land for their own governance. They were given land; they chose to turn it into a terrorist enclave dedicated to trying to get rid of the Jewish people and their homeland. The idea that the same people brutally murder and kidnap innocent civilians and parade them around like they are animals, as their trophies are civilized enough to sit down and discuss a peaceful solution is absolutely hysterical. We are not dealing with an opposing nation-state, these are terrorists, and they don’t want to live peacefully next to Israel. They want to kill us, all of us, that has been their sole goal since before the land of Gaza was given to the Palestinian people and way before Hamas took over control of Gaza. I implore you to ask yourself what ‘freedom’ for the Palestinian people looks like.
Why does the world not see Hamas for what it is? A group that does not represent all Palestinians but wants to get rid of Israel and the Jewish people. This is not an oppressed group living under a faction that is keeping them down and they are embarking on a revolution. While this was a masterfully coordinated effort on Hamas’ part, they knew that once they did something like this there was no turning back. They know who their enemy is. Israel is a young country that has stood on its own and won some unwinnable conflicts, all because of sheer perseverance. The more this situation escalates, the more power it has to become regional, and then global. That is right everyone, Global.
But maybe that is the goal. Use Israel as the catalyst to remind other Arab countries not to make peace with the Jews and then target other countries around the globe until there is a full-scale conflict. All the while the world responds by allowing once again these things to occur with no accountability. It is 2023 and we are still experiencing genocide as Jews. What did our family members who died in the Holocaust die for? How can anyone condone the murder of innocent civilians and the taking of women and children as hostages by a terror group?
The countries of the world, even those in the Middle East, must band together, denouncing what Hamas has done with the backing of Iran and demanding that this conflict comes to a temporary resolution in the hope of reaching an accord in the near future after the blood, dust, smoke, and rubble have settled.
It is time to stop the antisemitism and hatred surrounding Israel and the Jewish people. It is time to stop the bloodshed. How anyone can support a group of people who believe strategic killing and destruction is a way to make a point is beyond human comprehension. The mere fact that they would attack without provocation and then cry and complain to the world when their victims fight back is ludicrous.
Do not ask Israel for restraint. Ask Israel for forgiveness for not doing more to stop this current situation and maybe, just maybe stop it from ever happening again.
Signed,
The Ribotsky Institute
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The Ribotsky Institute Stands with Israel and all Jews around the world. Now and Always.
By: Skylar Ribotsky and Corey Ribotsky
RibotskyInstitute.com 
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