Today marks two years since that horrific day that some have called the 21st-century Holocaust. On that day, Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel, murdering 1,200 and taking 250 hostages. Israeli homes were set on fire, and people were subjected to the horrors of abduction, annihilation, rape, and unfathomable variations of torture, where Israelis were mutilated, raped, and brutally killed and had babies, children, women, and men kidnapped. This is still happening today, with 20 living hostages remaining under Hamas control.
Alan Dershowtiz noted, “On October 8, things changed again when the extreme Progressive woke left used these massacres as an excuse to turn on Israel. This was even before Israel fired a single shot or sent a single troop into Gaza. Now on college campuses, students and faculty feel free to call for genocide against the Jews. Everyone should read the Hamas charter, which in some ways is worse than Mein Kampf because it is more specific.”
All interviewed want to remind people that if Israel’s enemies laid down their arms and released the hostages, there would be peace. If Israel laid down its arms, there would be actual genocide.
Two filmmakers had the courage and tenacity to speak out: Wendy Sachs and Eytan Schwartz. To gain a full picture of what has happened on October 7 and its aftermath, people must watch their films. The films, October 8 and Screams Before Silence, can be viewed on most streaming platforms.
Wendy Sachs, who directed, produced, and wrote October 8, stated, “There was no Israeli occupation of Gaza on October 6, not one Israeli soldier in Gaza then. People forget that. Yet on October 7, Hamas and the Palestinians brutally attacked Israel, and Israel responded. The film shows that even before Israel responded, there were protests for Hamas, cheers, jubilation, and support for Hamas.”
Eytan Schwartz produced Screams Before Silence and said the film was made “after Israel told of the sexual crimes, and the claims were denied or questioned by many in the academia establishment and media.”
Both filmmakers are stunned and dismayed by the double-standard and bias of those in academia and the media and of world leaders. Eytan commented, “Women’s organizations operate by the assumption that we must always believe the victims, yet suddenly, they doubt testimonies and ask to see forensic evidence. It’s nothing less than shocking. We want viewers to see that rape and sexual crime not only happened, but were a widespread plan as part of a strategy to inflict pain, horror, and humiliation, not only on the victims and their families, but for the entire people of Israel.”
Wendy made October 8 as a reaction to what was happening even before Israel entered Gaza. She cannot believe how many met Hamas’s hostility with silence. “The women’s organizations that speak out on every other issue are suddenly silent to the rapes, kidnappings, and mutilations of girls and women in Israel. There was also the silence of Hollywood, plus on college campuses there were letters blaming Israel for the attack of October 7. Hamas was celebrated as freedom fighters rather than being condemned as terrorists. This celebration was happening on the university campuses and on the streets in America and around the world.”
The aftermath of October 7 has brought antisemitism to a new level. On college campuses, it has become acceptable: yelling “from the river to the sea,” detaining Jewish students, and throwing bags of pork at a Jewish fraternity who were having a Rosh Hashana dinner. Just last month, a shop owner in Flensburg, northern Germany sparked outrage after hanging a sign in his store window reading, “Jews are forbidden here.” He claimed it was a protest against Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
Some try to distinguish between antisemitism and anti-Zionism. All those interviewed agree with Elliott Abrams, who served in foreign policy positions for presidents Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump.
Everybody has the right to criticize a particular policy of your own government and the Israeli government. What cannot be done is to separate the state of Israel from the state of every Jew in the world. We are inexplicably linked. “Diasporas” claim that Jews will thrive around the world if they just separate from Israel. At best, it is a dream, but in truth, this is crazy and false. There is one Jewish state, and half the Jews live there. Their fate and the fate of the State of Israel are the same: We will thrive together, or we will be destroyed together.
The worst aftermath is the recognition of a Palestinian state by Western leaders. It shows how the world excuses the acts of terror against Jews. But let’s remember that the Palestinian Authority is no better than Hamas, considering that it continues to subsidize terrorism in the form of its “pay for slay” program, which rewards terrorists and their families for carrying out attacks against Israelis.
France, England, Australia, and Canada, just to name a few, all recognized an independent Palestinian state. Many in their speeches did not even mention October 7 or the hostages. Thankfully, Trump is now president and calling out all those who seek to have a Palestinian state. He spoke out at the press conference with U.K. P.M. Starmer, at the U.N., and while sitting next to French president Macron, stating that the real genocide is what Hamas did on October 7.
To Macron, President Trump said that having a Palestinian state
honors Hamas, and you cannot do it because of October 7. You cannot honor them and do as you suggest. All you can do is say we want the hostages back. October 7 is one of the most savage days in the history of the world. There has never been anything like it. We are talking about babies being sliced in half. We are talking about young children having their heads chopped off. You cannot forget that.
Senator Lindsey Graham succinctly stated what the supporters of Israel feel: “Because of these actions, throughout the terrorist world, October 7 will now be considered ‘Liberation Day.’” Hamas has proved him correct, considering that Ghazi Hamed, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, said in an interview with Al Jazeera: “The initiative by several countries to recognize a Palestinian state is one of the fruits of October 7.”
Wendy believes that the reason so many, including world leaders, are supporting the Palestinians is the
sense of the oppressor and the oppressed. There is the idea of siding with the underdog. We try to explain in the film how even though Israel has a stronger military than the Palestinians they are hardly the oppressor. It is the idea of “intersectionality” (a framework for understanding how multiple identities and systems of oppression affect individuals and groups) because the Palestinians are the gold standard of the oppressed. A narrative that has been going on for decades. They are very strategic, with a great narrative. It has taken hold with young people and progressives, while Israel is fighting for its very existence.
All agree that going forward, Israel and the Jews have woken up. Although the words “Never Again” mean nothing, as Elliott Abrams noted, “Israelis understand that deterrence is not adequate. They now assume that their enemies will use whatever weapons they have to kill as many Israelis as possible. The Israeli security establishment believed they would never be attacked in this way, and they were wrong. They have come to the realization that their enemy cannot be psyched out, deterred, and the ability to be attacked must be removed.”
Going forward, both Eytan and Wendy have decided to make more films about what is happening. Eytan has made The Children of October 7, now on Paramount Plus. Montana Tucker interviews children who survived the massacre, reminding people about the genocidal attack by Hamas on Israeli communities. He is working on several other projects to continue telling the stories of October 7, documenting for present-day and future generations.
Wendy is now directing Poison Ivy. It picks up where the film October 8 left off and examines how the ideology in academia, beginning in K–12, has become increasingly anti-West, anti-democratic, Marxist, and anti-Zionist. The film also digs into the influence of Qatari and Chinese funding of American universities. The film will also unpack how institutionalized media bias and social media propaganda are hijacking young people’s minds. The film is scheduled for release in spring 2027.
People should never overlook October 7 and its aftermath. Everyone concurs with Eytan:
It is shocking and saddening that there are people that forgot why this war began. On October 7, thousands of Hamas terrorists attacked dozens of cities and communities, army bases, and three parties in an unprecedented rampage of violence. ... Currently, there are still hostages in Gaza. There is nothing more important than returning them back home now.
We say in Israel we are not a country in post trauma but are a country in trauma. Our own brethren are so close by, but we cannot rescue the hostages because they are used as human shields. Hamas knows this is tormenting Jews.
The world should realize that evil does not occur in a vacuum. Some, whether college presidents, the mainstream media, or Western leaders, should recognize that they have enabled and encouraged genocide against the Jews.
Image: hendricjabs via Pixabay, Pixabay License.