What has been will be again,
     what has been done will be
        done again;
     there is nothing new under the
         sun…
     --Ecclesiastes 1:9

If the pen is mightier than the sword, the pen must vanquish hate-filled mobs screeching in front of the White House gates, protestors taking over the statue of Liberty, and mindless, increasingly violent, protest-marchers in major cities in the United States, Western Europe and even South America.

What has happened?  Last October 7, hate- and rage-filled Hamas members and other residents of Gaza crossed into Israel and went on a rampage of rape, torture, burning, hacking, and killing in cold blood more than 1,400 Israelis, and kidnapping approximately 240 more. They even beheaded children and babies.

Shocking it was and shocking it remains.

To a Jew, the world shook. Then it shook again with the global rejection of the Israeli plight along with the public jubilation over those murdered and kidnapped.  And the anti-Jewish madness so redolent of the Holocaust era has actually resurfaced, as uninformed, ignorant, young people transform themselves into supporters for the Hamas butchers. Once again, good is depicted as evil and evil depicted as good.

The aftershocks have been felt, and continue to be felt. Instead of horror at the plight of the massacred, almost all of the world has seemingly turned on Israel and the Jewish people. 

And yet, another platitude comes true: when one is in trouble, one learns who one's true friends are.

The Republican Party has been steadfast in its support for Israel.  And 28 Democrats even crossed party lines to censure a fellow Democrat, Rep. Rashida Talib of Michigan, who is a virulent anti-Semite and gross skewer of history.

University presidents, administrators, and boards of directors are culpable and colluding the same pattern of activity that enabled Nazism to take over the German population. But the latter, at least, knew they were doing something wrong, had shame, and attempted to hide their malevolence  from the world.

But not these people. Now the hate and violence is in the street and in our faces. There is no shame. 

Jews by nature are not a physically violent people. Israeli Jews are by necessity; but American Jews are not. That may rapidly change as Jews are forced to defend themselves under these circumstances.

In the meantime, Jews are implementing a war of words and a war in the courts.

At first, boycotts were implemented and successful. Those were followed by letters to various governing bodies.

Now the focus has shifted to the United States and its legal process.

Lawsuits are being filed against colleges and universities for violations of Title VI which will be followed by lawsuits regarding violations of the United States tax codes as many “private” institutions of higher learning get tax money.

One can only hope for a legal clawback.

This author is saddened to see the problems with the law on unrelated matters that New York City's Mayor Eric Adam’s is facing now. 

He was the first Democrat to come out in support of Israel, by giving an MLK-like speech in support of Israel: We are not all right.   

It was beautifully delivered with brilliant content.

His speech was followed by an unexpected kindness, a stunning kindness from another unexpected quarter among the Democrats.   

The Democrat U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, John Fetterman, wallpapered his D.C. office with the faces of all the Israeli babies and children kidnapped by the Hamas monsters  - not to be removed until all are released. 

Fetterman followed that up by provocatively engaging pro-Hamas protestors.  In his hoodie and shorts, Fetterman strode past the protestors, waving an Israeli flag.

Memo to self: don’t ever again underestimate a politician in a hoodie.

Image: Twitter screen shot