The Jewish Code

Where to even start? To say this past month has been tumultuous would be the understatement of a decade already riddled with tragedy. This will likely be a long read, and as the world's attention span grows shorter, and expert opinions are formed from short-form videos and quick social media posts —if you take the time to see this through, I appreciate you.

I often joked about the cynical Jew stereotype. Many in my family and community always wore a cautious look when encountering new places or people. Their explanation: as Jews, we must remain wary, for history has a way of repeating itself.

This sentiment, coded into us through generations, has been difficult for many to grasp fully, because surely not, right? Not in today’s world, no shot. That is until Hamas’ barbaric attack on October 7th, 2023, which unbelievably, was less horrifying than what followed in the weeks after.

It is so surreal that on the day innocent civilians were indiscriminately targeted, women, men, the elderly, children and babies butchered, decapitated, raped, burned alive, and kidnapped; instead of sympathizing on a human level, and condemning these atrocities, the world took to the street to make a case for, and to justify them.

Antisemitism, at levels not seen in nearly a century, reared its ugly head again. And it is shell shocking. Every year, we say never again on Holocaust Remembrance Day, as if it’s a given, taking our right to exist for granted, something that shouldn’t even be up for debate, and yet has been a point of contention at all times during our history.

We’ve become desensitized to the threat of antisemitism, despite being told it still exists by those who knew the brunt of it. Recent weeks have been an eye-opener for many Jews worldwide, I’m sure. We’ve seen friends show their support, some remaining neutral; while others showed sides, they might later grow to rue. A friend asked me this, if the Holocaust happened again, would our (non-Jewish) friends hide us from death? Something to ruminate over… but I digress.

The aftermath of October 7th confirmed that this is not merely a territory dispute. It reaffirmed the deeply ingrained belief that many wish us death, and that they live among us. This is a sad and tragic truth, and it has left every Jew in the world with a sense of fear for our well-being. And so, the aftermath of October 7th all but confirmed the profound necessity for the Jewish State of Israel.

Let’s talk about that. Some of you will be shocked to find that history did not start in 1948, although revisionist history and occupation criers like to believe it did. The history of the Jewish people in the land of Israel dates back centuries. From the days of Exodus, through the Iron Age and the Jewish Kingdoms of Saul, David, and Solomon, the Jewish connection to the Land of Milk and Honey, Judea, Judah, and Israel, is indigenous.

The name Palestina, derived from the word philistine —a person who is?hostile to culture and who has no understanding of it, was imposed by the Ancient Romans as an attempt to diminish Jewish identity after a second failed insurrection. After the Romans, came the Ottomans and Turks, followed by the Brits. The name carried over, and that is all it ever was, a name born from spite of the people, the Jewish people, who fought to regain sovereignty over their land.

No land was stolen or occupied. Jews have always inhabited the land, and densely so, in the areas eventually designated to Israel. Worth noting that Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan occupy more of the Palestine Mandate, yet face far less scrutiny. Whereas Israel, who made far more concessions for peace, who has often been on the defensive surrounded by enemies, has had to react to threats under standards that no other nations would bare to tolerate, since its inception.

The cries of "occupation" and "apartheid" are often raised together, so let’s address that. Arabs can work, reside, receive education –anywhere in Israel. They can run for office with naturalization. All of this is fact. The sad irony is that many of the terrorists that were killed in the villages on the 7th, had Israeli work authorization cards on them. Isn’t that a kicker? They butchered the people and terrorized a nation that let them work and provide for their families. It’s how they knew where to go once they breached the border.

In Jordan, who had the largest territory and occupancy of Arabs in the Mandate, Palestinians have limited rights and can never obtain citizenship. While countries like Iran sees them as proxy cannon fodder to be used to achieve their Shia goals. The likes of Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan see them as threats, after Black September in Jordan, and failed coups in Lebanon and Egypt too. The hypocrisy doesn’t stop either of them from openly criticizing Israel, using the conflict to push propaganda that gains favor and legitimacy from the 2B Muslims and ‘underdog’ sympathizers in the world.

How mad is that? I’ve tried to engage multiple people in debate who, once they’ve run out of lines they memorized, admitted their support stems from rooting for the underdog and oppressed. Clearly, the underdog here isn’t the only tiny democracy of 7M Jews and 2M Arabs, sandwiched in a largely authoritarian Islamic region that historically tried to eradicate them, on multiple occasions; but the Palestinians of course. A moral and peaceful bunch that the evil Israelis with their terrorist IDF that keeps indiscriminately destroying their homes and committing genocide. Disgusting isolated behaviors that definitely weren’t direct results of continuous acts of terrorism, suicide bombings, and artillery barrages. Just completely unwarranted heinous acts.

Let’s talk genocide for a moment. 1967 recorded a population of 394K Palestinians in the area. In the early 2000s, it more than tripled to 1.2M. Today, that number doubled, setting the population at well over 2M. Consistent linear growth with each year, so, where is the genocide exactly? This is not even counting the thousands that die committing terror attacks, or in retaliation of said terror attacks, or the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians refugees that migrated to different places in the world. Speaking of, Palestinian refugees are the only people whose offspring, the UN classifies as refugees as well. So, the Palestinian refugee count according to the UN is well in the millions –a noteworthy narrative to hold, if you’re making a case for ethnic cleansing, but I digress.

Recap time. There is no occupation, no apartheid, and no genocide. Yet, these narratives persist within the UN, the mass media, private and public institutions, further fueling radical ideologies and doctrines, that normalize antisemitic behavior, and make the streets unsafe for Jews. Why is that? Unless…

It is farcical that only when it comes to the Jewish people, the world tends to be either indifferent or quick to lynch, for the actions of individuals or a country tangentially connected to their identity. Yet, it also highlights the profound necessity for the existence of that country. Worldwide attacks on Jews, and defacing of Jewish businesses, synagogues, and homes all proved this. Which again begs the question of the mutually exclusive nature of Zionism and being Jewish. The world sure is making a case for one.

The world is also quick to forget it was the same Palestinian civilians that elected a terrorist organization, who wasn’t exactly coy about their radical views of Jews and Israel, into office and kept them there for decades. And more egregiously, the fact that Hamas still holds 60-70% favor amongst Palestinians today, even when the Strip has seen nothing but ruin and decadence as direct consequence of their actions. This cancer infected the government, its people and children, with radical ideologies and doctrines that achieves nothing but propagating more hate.

Take the Martyrs Fund for example. An official PA doctrine that sets a terrorist’s family up for life, should they die killing Israelis and Jews. That’s a creative use of humanitarian aid… It’s no wonder so many kids are indoctrinated, and so many Palestinian parents push their kids towards the cause, when there’s little to culturally strive for outside of martyrdom, while still providing for your family. Just listen to the recording of one of the terrorists from the attack on October 7th, who calls his parents from the phone of an Israeli girl he just butchered, bragging about slaughtering 10 Jews, like a little boy seeking his parents’ approval.

Our kids are taught of the joys of life, while theirs are taught to seek salvation in killing and dying as martyrs. Golda Meir once said, there will be a time where we’ll be able to forgive them for killing our kids, but it will be harder for us to forgive them for having forced us to kill theirs. And that peace will come when they will love their children more than they hate us.

So, where do we go from here? To achieve peace, radical Palestine must be neutralized, and the path to coexistence starts with the elimination of Hamas. That means war, and in war there’s casualties. Israel, historically, has been the only nation not allowed to categorically win wars they are forced into. Always making concessions and letting off due to international and humanitarian pressures.

This is a war the enemy started when they butchered Jews in a capacity and brutality not seen since Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. The enemy also holds hundreds of hostages, who they refuse to give a full account for, to further inflict psychological warfare. All these factors make this time, and this war, different –and it’s important for the world to realize this. This war needs to be won. Evil needs to be defeated. It is the only way to prevent future atrocities.

To those of you taking to the streets in droves, understand what it is you’re supporting. There is no underdog, there is no oppression that isn’t by their own radical volition. Multiple propositions for two state solutions have been made and agreed to by Israel, the UN, and other parties. All rejected by the Palestinian Authority. Because, while the world’s left and the general west, in their naivety would like to believe that their ‘Free Palestine,’ and ‘From the River to the Sea,’ chants mean peace and coexistence; to Palestinians and Islamists, it means liberation via genocide, eradicating Israel and the Jews. And while that will NEVER happen, the platform and audience these rallies amass, is all the catalyst radicals need to normalize antisemitism, and antisemitic acts.

Sadly, that will be the only victory this conflict will have achieved for Iran, its Islamist proxies, and anti-Semites around the world. To them, it’s not about having an all Arab Palestine state, something that NEVER even was, ever. The closest thing to that unironically already exists, in Jordan, when you consider historical displacement and density of Arabs in the Levant. But again, it’s not about land, it’s about destroying Israel and killing Jews, always was.

A reminder that you don’t see Jews or Israelis, the actual targeted victims of these barbaric atrocities, creating havoc, destroying or defacing Muslim establishments, attacking Arabs and Muslims, in retaliation. Islamophobia isn’t on the rise, despite the hordes of less-than-civil protests, extremist chants and displays taking place. Antisemitism cases, however, are a very different story, up by 1000% worldwide. Something we all knew still existed, but maybe not to this extent.

Lastly, to those of you removing the posters of kidnapped elderly, men, women, children and babies, for what can only be assumed to be because they are hurting the perception of your cause; maybe it’s time to look for another cause? There are hundreds of thousands of abductions, and genocides happening in Africa, Yemen, and the Sudan that you can be rallying and protesting for. I guess intra-Muslim conflict doesn’t quite move people the way that antisemitism does –those pesky Jews…

If you made it this far, I appreciate you. My thoughts are just that, thoughts. They are not meant to persuade, heck, if the atrocities of the Holocaust and genocide of 6 million Jews, and a long history of oppression and prejudice didn’t convince people to not be antisemitic, nothing will. And while these have been dark times for my people, I have never been prouder at the unity and togetherness we’ve shown in the face of everything. We will continue to endure and prevail, rebuild and grow, prosper as we have repeatedly done in our Jewish history —because that too is coded in us.

Am Yisrael Chai.