Individuals take part in a vigil at Columbia College for the hostages in Gaza, on the two-year anniversary of the lethal Oct. 7, 2023 assault on Israel by Hamas from Gaza, in Manhattan, Oct. 7, 2025. REUTERS/Ryan Murphy
REUTERS/Ryan Murphy
“Those who fail to remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
The well-known phrases of Twentieth-century thinker George Santayana rang true because the world marked the second anniversary of the horrific terrorist assaults on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that left hostages nonetheless being held, each useless and alive, to at the present time — a cataclysmic occasion that sparked a brand new, horrible wave of antisemitism world wide, together with right here in New York.
The assaults led to struggle between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, one that would have ended a lot sooner had Hamas listened to the appeals of the world and rapidly launched the hostages they took on that day of infamy. As an alternative, this struggle has gone on for 2 bloody years.
Alongside the best way, New York — dwelling to the biggest Jewish inhabitants exterior of Israel — has seen a wave of protests condemning Israel for the violence.
Jewish New Yorkers have needed to hear requires a free Palestine “from the river to the sea” and for Israel to not be a Jewish state — which might successfully finish Israel’s existence. Such calls shake the depths of those that know the grave penalties that will come to cross if that ever had been to occur, which is the loss of life of the Jews within the land of Israel.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel completely summed up these penalties in a speech practically 40 years in the past: “Israel is the only nation in the world whose existence is threatened. Should Israel lose but one war, it would mean her end and ours as well.”
Israel was based in 1948 out of the previous British colony of Palestine as a everlasting homeland for Jews world wide; additionally it is the ancestral homeland of the Jewish folks.
The state of Israel was created within the aftermath of the Holocaust, when Nazi Germany exterminated 6 million Jewish folks — lots of whom had been unable to flee the hateful wrath of Hitler, or had been even turned away by different nations due to their religion.
These information are forgotten or outright ignored immediately because the world debates the continuing struggle and securing a simply and lasting peace within the Center East — and it’s actually perilous.
Antisemitism has surged in New York since Oct. 7, 2023; the NYPD says that greater than half of all hate crimes within the Large Apple contain Jewish victims. This wave of antisemitism has made many Jewish New Yorkers wonder if they’re actually secure on this metropolis, and about their households’ future.
Hateful phrases and actions finally flip violent. Historical past has confirmed that repeatedly. Even because the push for peace within the Center East continues, we should reject antisemitism universally, and we should advocate for and acknowledge Israel, which is a Jewish state.
This trigger, whereas worldwide, impacts New York like no different metropolis in America. We can’t preach tolerance right here at dwelling and overseas by calling for a state’s and a folks’s destruction. We should acknowledge everybody’s proper to coexist and worship freely.
Solely then will we have now actually realized the teachings of historical past — and keep away from the condemnation of repeating our horrific previous.
