On October 7, 2023, at precisely 6:29 a.m., the world fundamentally changed for the Jewish people, both in Israel and across the globe. The world we knew before October 7 was marked by illusions of hope and security, but the tragic aftermath has forced us into a new, hostile, and tragic reality.
On that day, the Jewish people suffered an unspeakable horror that has etched deep and has left everlasting scars on countless families and communities. Over 1,200 innocent souls in Israel were brutally violated, mutilated, and murdered in acts of unfathomable evil. More than 250 hostages were taken to Gaza, with over 100 still held captive to this day – leaving their families in anguish, plagued by heartbreak and uncertainty. Thousands of families remain traumatized, tens of thousands have been displaced, and the entire Jewish community continues to mourn. The pain of that day serves as a reminder of the fragility of peace and the darkness that terror can unleash upon the world.
October 7 was not an attack only on Jews in Israel – it was an attack on Jews everywhere. Radical protestors in American cities have rallied with posters in support of Hamas terrorists and with Hezbollah insignia. Antisemitic agitators have callously vilified “Zionism,” the self-determination movement grounded in the right of the Jewish people to have their own state in their ancient homeland. Jewish students on campuses throughout the country have been targeted, discriminated, bullied and some cases directly attacked. Synagogues and Jewish institutions have been threatened with violence, antisemitic attacks have risen exponentially, and the daily lives, habits, and security of so many American Jews has been irreparably disrupted.
Every day since that unfathomable attack has been a call for moral clarity. As President Biden stated, “The October 7 attack brought to the surface the painful memories left by millennia of hatred and violence against the Jewish people.”
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum published the following touching words of Holocaust survivor Alfred Münzer: “The Jewish State is precious to survivors, and the events on October 7 had a shattering impact on me. We have to do everything we possibly can to counter antisemitism and all forms of hate, remind people that we are really members of one human family, and mourn the loss of all innocent lives in this war.”
The American Jewish Congress stands today in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Israel as they deal with the aftershocks of that tragic day. As they fight for their country and their lives against a war imposed on them.
One year after the invasion and massacre inside Israel, terrorists who plunged the Middle East into hate and conflict insist they want to continue fighting Israel and killing Jews, in service of an agenda that seeks to engulf the world if not stopped today. Hamas calls it a victory, Hezbollah says it will continue raining rockets over and terrorizing northern Israel, and the leader of the regime in Tehran celebrates achievement. We can’t accept this as the new normal.
Today and every day, we stand with Israel and pledge to defend the Jewish state’s security and its people. We vow to work tirelessly until all remaining hostages in Gaza are released. We are committed to ensuring a just and sustainable peace – for the Jewish people, for the Middle East, and for the world. And together, we will succeed.
