Hamas’s unprovoked and brutal attack on Israeli civilians on Oct. 7 has shone a bright light on the global rise of antisemitism and forced individuals and institutions alike to take a stand. Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and others have expressed their pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel sentiments overtly, while others have revealed their positions more unwittingly. For example, CNN writer Stephen Collinson gave himself away when he described Israel’s retaliatory attacks on Hamas targets in Gaza as “indiscriminate.”

At any rate, two points are clear: Everyone has an opinion, and antisemitism runs far deeper than most of us had thought.

One of the most disturbing developments has been the growing number of pro-Palestinian rallies at America’s most elite universities, attended by students who are clearly ignorant of the reality in the Middle East. The spectacle of these protesters chanting “death to the Jews” and calling for “intifada,” as well as the tepid responses from university leaders, shows just how thoroughly they’ve been indoctrinated by the left-wing ideology that dominates academia.

The indoctrination that originated in our universities decades ago has spawned the most radical, anti-American generation ever. And these people are now working in our government, our legacy media, and our most powerful institutions.

In the weeks since the attack on Israel, the United Nations, an organization created to foster international peace and prevent conflicts, has clearly come down on the side of the terrorists. Unbelievably, on Sunday, the U.N. General Assembly rejected a motion to condemn Hamas for its savagery and adopted a resolution for a “humanitarian truce” in Gaza which passed overwhelmingly by a vote of “120 to 14 with 45 abstentions.”

United Nations Watch, a nongovernmental organization based in Geneva whose mission is to monitor the performance of the U.N., published a copy of the three-page resolution . Not only does it fail to address the more than 200 hostages still being held in Gaza by Hamas, but it doesn’t even mention the terrorist group. Instead, it demands “immediate, full, sustained, safe and unhindered humanitarian access … to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.” It also calls for Israel, which it labels “the occupying Power,” to rescind its order for Palestinian civilians to evacuate northern Gaza.

The organization also posted the voting record , which shows that EU countries such as Belgium, France, Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland voted in favor of the measure. Has the world gone mad?

On top of this despicable resolution, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres saw fit to appoint Iranian Ambassador Ali Bahreini to chair the 2023 United Nations Human Rights Council Social, which is scheduled for Thursday and Friday. Given the regime’s horrendous track record on human rights and the fact that Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism , Guterres’s decision seems like a cruel joke.

The world is in crisis. Arguably, our plight is even more dangerous today than it was during our fight against Nazism during World War II. While we faced a formidable enemy then, at least we were united in the cause. Today, the country is nearly as divided as we were during the Civil War. Those who excuse the sadistic murders of over 1,400 human beings live among us.

The Oct. 7 attack was not merely an assault on Israel. It was an attack on civilization brought to us by barbarians who seek our annihilation. We witnessed a savagery that seemed almost inconceivable in a civilized world.

In a Monday op-ed published by the Wall Street Journal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted that the world is at a “turning point.” He believes that unless the civilized world is “willing to fight the barbarians,” we will live in a “world of fear and darkness.”

He considers calls for a ceasefire to be “calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to barbarism.” And he promises, “That will not happen.”

Throwing down the gauntlet, Netanyahu wrote, “Today we draw a line between civilization and barbarism. It is a time for everyone to decide where they stand. Israel will stand against the forces of barbarism until victory.”

Netanyahu is right. There is no turning back for Israel. It is long past time for action. Israel has both the motivation and the capability to destroy Hamas, but up until now, it has not been allowed the time by the international community to get the job done.

The rest of the West faces its own crossroads. The Israel-Hamas war really is a clash between civilization and barbarism. And it is essential that civilization wins.

Elizabeth Stauffer is a contributor to the Washington Examiner, Power Line, and AFNN, and she is a fellow at the Heritage Foundation Academy. She is a past contributor to RedState, Newsmax, the Western Journal, and  Bongino.com . Her articles have appeared on RealClearPolitics, MSN, the Federalist, and many other sites. Please follow Elizabeth on  X  or  LinkedIn .