Dear Friends of FAIR, In the wake of the terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7th, we at FAIR have listened to and held space for all those profoundly affected by this crisis. We have also taken this time to process events and to allow others to do the same.
I very much appreciate your statement. The one thing I would add is that Israel‘s actions, now, and in every conflict, are in self-defense as opposed to retaliatory. They need to uproot Hamas, so a similar act of genocide against them doesn’t reoccur. This is why Israel always gives warning to the civilians, despite the unfortunate outcome because for public relations reasons Hamas does not permit the people they were elected to govern to leave.
One of the resources I would recommend people tapping into is the Whispered in Gaza project which seeks to allow ordinary Gazans a voice to the outside world, a voice which Hamas seeks to suppress. There are videos plus a monograph. https://www.peacecomms.org/gaza It helps to give an insight into the totalitarian world which Gazans are now forced to endure under Hamas. This is a world where there is no singing, no dancing and no being able to walk the dog. A world where it is better to die than to live. I know it really opened to my eyes to what was going on.
There can be no doubt that the first victims of Hamas are the ordinary Gazans and they continue to be the victims of Hamas' aggression. It is why in order to realise a two state solution which allows for people to live freely, Hamas and its repressive ideology must be destroyed.
Going back to a military stalemate or 'ceasefire' which does not include Hamas recognizing Israel's right to exist or indeed them renouncing violence and terror will only lead to further blood shed and loss of innocent lives on all sides of the conflict. There is a straight line from the last ceasefire to 7 October.
Muslims? I haven't seen a single incident of anti-Muslim agitation. Why throw that in? To attempt to appear even handed? This is not a time when you can pretend there are two sides. There is barbarity and there is defense, and the lines are clear. Please provide documentation of anti-Muslim agitation. Thanks.
Agreed! Please document the anti-Muslim agitation. All I have seen is thousands of people, across the world marching in support of Hamas and advocating for the destruction of Israel which is de facto, the annihilation of Jews.
This is a wonderful statement that I wholeheartedly agree with. The fact that it took you 2 1/2 weeks to make it causes me a great deal of mistrust in your sincerity.
I have to disagree with you. Knee-jerk support posts always make me suspicious. It makes me think that either the person is incredibly well informed about the ins and outs of a situation...or they are just repeating the popular talking points.
If FAIR was a crisis response organization than an immediate response is necessary. But organizations that support dialogue and community must be thoughtful and cool headed.
In most situations I would agree with this. However, I feel the degree of barbarity on display in this incident, and the videos made available by Hamas themselves left little to question. I appreciate your thoughtful response.
Weak sauce here, and way too late. "Process events" ? WTF?
Do Jews have a right to exist? Does FAIR support the existence of Israel? No mention of the fact that Hamas is a genocidal terrorist organization? I have supported FAIR all along but now..? for a "pro-human" organization, you dropped the ball here.
…because they are victims of intimidation and violent anti-Semitism. Why should Jews all over the free world have to fear being Jewish and Zionistic? This is tragically reminiscent of 1930’s Nazi Germany- which started like this, and culminated in the Final Solution (Wansee 1942).
That it’s taken close to 2 weeks for an initial response to the Oct 7th massacre - is bad enough. Thanks for at least acknowledging the horror, albeit in one sentence.
What is tragically absent is the reckoning that anti-Semites have now been galvanized to pick up where Nazi Germany left off.
Zionism - the movement which calls for the RETURN to ancestral Jewish homeland was ongoing since Roman expulsion 2000 yrs ago, and continued before and throughout the Holocaust…and since. The rescue of victims fleeing Nazis could have been greatly mitigated by a State of Israel - this was ratified at the 1st world Zionist Congress in 1898 and ratified by the League of Nations following the
Balfour Declaration of in 1917.
Sadly it was shelved. European Jewry had nowhere to go - but the ovens. It is this tragic reality which cemented the founding of the modern State of Israel.
Now, with all the “wokism” in the world Jews all over, are on the defensive because they are protecting its citizens and the right to be Jewish?
Students in American colleges and schools should never have to fear a backlash of anti-Semitism for simply being proud Zionists. The violent intimidation tactics indeed are reminiscent of Germany in tge 1930’s; this is echoed all over the free world, where Jews- like anyone else- should not be victimized by hate and discrimination.
An above average half way there post. Hamas is ISIS. It not only murders Jews it murders Gazans. Israel has the right and obligation to defend itself. It also has responsibilities to follow the laws of warfare. This is a good video on Israel's rights and responsibilities: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdW6ISElci4
It’s hard to believe that if Israel were any other country besides the Jewish state, having undergone the barbaric genocidal atrocities of October 7, that people would be busy wagging their finger at them about their responsibility to follow the law of warfare. Do you wag a similar finger at Ukraine?
I think you are talking to the wrong person. Maybe you didn't watch the video. In any case, yes, all countries, USA, Israel, Ukraine, et al, have the responsibility to follow the rules of war as best as possible.
Attacking innocent civilians is not war- it is out and terrorism.
Israel follows the rules of war most humanely. Do you want to talk about placing innocent civilians in harm’s way- in hospitals, mosques, schools. This is what Hamas does to its own.
Israel has the most moral army in the world! Who else forewarns the civilians to leave the area due to an imminent attack by disseminating leaflets in the local language (Arabic)? Do you know any other army that has such moral compass? This is NOT a war but a massacre of the Israeli peace-loving civilian population. Wake up!!!
The “bothesideism” approach which was touched on fails to acknowledge revisionism which is disguising full-frontal anti-Semitism.
The funding of the Hamas war machine began decades ago- money set aside, not for peaceful coexistence between Israel and Palestinians, but for the annihilation of Israel.
You name the monarchy or it’s proxy newspapers, they are not part of the solution but rather the source of the problem.
Oh - and I received this lovely email:
Clarence Wilhelm Spangle replied to your comment on FAIR's Message in the Wake of the October 7th Attacks.
Fuck you and your Jewish god.
So much for fairness and being against intolerance?
I think the comments section is proof that organizations like FAIR need to exist. So many of these comments are taking the post in bad faith, reading ill intent or apathy into it because the wording wasn't "correct" or the author didn't post it quick enough.
What I am getting from this is that several of the commenters want FAIR to produce rapid-fire, emotionally-charged content to stoke their audience's outrage. If that's what you want, try X/Twitter.
Besides, what IS the correct social media response to events like the Hamas attacks and Israel's retaliation? What can we say or Tweet or post to fix it? Nothing. Posts like this one are just acknowledgements. The point is just to say "I don't have my head in the sand. I see that this is wrong."
I very much appreciate your statement. The one thing I would add is that Israel‘s actions, now, and in every conflict, are in self-defense as opposed to retaliatory. They need to uproot Hamas, so a similar act of genocide against them doesn’t reoccur. This is why Israel always gives warning to the civilians, despite the unfortunate outcome because for public relations reasons Hamas does not permit the people they were elected to govern to leave.
Beautiful Nina!
You forgot one statement: "We denounce Hamas and stand with Israel."
One of the resources I would recommend people tapping into is the Whispered in Gaza project which seeks to allow ordinary Gazans a voice to the outside world, a voice which Hamas seeks to suppress. There are videos plus a monograph. https://www.peacecomms.org/gaza It helps to give an insight into the totalitarian world which Gazans are now forced to endure under Hamas. This is a world where there is no singing, no dancing and no being able to walk the dog. A world where it is better to die than to live. I know it really opened to my eyes to what was going on.
The Times of Israel did a three part essay on the project last January: https://www.timesofisrael.com/whats-life-like-under-hamas-whispered-in-gaza-offers-unique-courageous-testimony/
There are reasons why the most recent dispatch as shared by the Free Press ended with the person saying they nightly prayed for the destruction of Hamas. https://twitter.com/TheFP/status/1717187141636104444
There can be no doubt that the first victims of Hamas are the ordinary Gazans and they continue to be the victims of Hamas' aggression. It is why in order to realise a two state solution which allows for people to live freely, Hamas and its repressive ideology must be destroyed.
Going back to a military stalemate or 'ceasefire' which does not include Hamas recognizing Israel's right to exist or indeed them renouncing violence and terror will only lead to further blood shed and loss of innocent lives on all sides of the conflict. There is a straight line from the last ceasefire to 7 October.
Muslims? I haven't seen a single incident of anti-Muslim agitation. Why throw that in? To attempt to appear even handed? This is not a time when you can pretend there are two sides. There is barbarity and there is defense, and the lines are clear. Please provide documentation of anti-Muslim agitation. Thanks.
Agreed! Please document the anti-Muslim agitation. All I have seen is thousands of people, across the world marching in support of Hamas and advocating for the destruction of Israel which is de facto, the annihilation of Jews.
There was a child murdered in Illinois.
https://apnews.com/article/muslim-boy-killed-chicago-landlord-will-county-5135dea218326d6e639a996564d9369e
Seriously? I mourn for that child but that's hardly Islamaphobia
there is probably more to that story than meets the eye.
This is a wonderful statement that I wholeheartedly agree with. The fact that it took you 2 1/2 weeks to make it causes me a great deal of mistrust in your sincerity.
I have to disagree with you. Knee-jerk support posts always make me suspicious. It makes me think that either the person is incredibly well informed about the ins and outs of a situation...or they are just repeating the popular talking points.
If FAIR was a crisis response organization than an immediate response is necessary. But organizations that support dialogue and community must be thoughtful and cool headed.
In most situations I would agree with this. However, I feel the degree of barbarity on display in this incident, and the videos made available by Hamas themselves left little to question. I appreciate your thoughtful response.
In the three weeks it took FAIR to put out this say-nothing statement I forgot they existed.
Weak sauce here, and way too late. "Process events" ? WTF?
Do Jews have a right to exist? Does FAIR support the existence of Israel? No mention of the fact that Hamas is a genocidal terrorist organization? I have supported FAIR all along but now..? for a "pro-human" organization, you dropped the ball here.
Weird it took you guys 2 weeks to get round to it...
Continuing my post (cut off)
…because they are victims of intimidation and violent anti-Semitism. Why should Jews all over the free world have to fear being Jewish and Zionistic? This is tragically reminiscent of 1930’s Nazi Germany- which started like this, and culminated in the Final Solution (Wansee 1942).
Speak out against hate!
That it’s taken close to 2 weeks for an initial response to the Oct 7th massacre - is bad enough. Thanks for at least acknowledging the horror, albeit in one sentence.
What is tragically absent is the reckoning that anti-Semites have now been galvanized to pick up where Nazi Germany left off.
Zionism - the movement which calls for the RETURN to ancestral Jewish homeland was ongoing since Roman expulsion 2000 yrs ago, and continued before and throughout the Holocaust…and since. The rescue of victims fleeing Nazis could have been greatly mitigated by a State of Israel - this was ratified at the 1st world Zionist Congress in 1898 and ratified by the League of Nations following the
Balfour Declaration of in 1917.
Sadly it was shelved. European Jewry had nowhere to go - but the ovens. It is this tragic reality which cemented the founding of the modern State of Israel.
Now, with all the “wokism” in the world Jews all over, are on the defensive because they are protecting its citizens and the right to be Jewish?
Students in American colleges and schools should never have to fear a backlash of anti-Semitism for simply being proud Zionists. The violent intimidation tactics indeed are reminiscent of Germany in tge 1930’s; this is echoed all over the free world, where Jews- like anyone else- should not be victimized by hate and discrimination.
I dare you to print this!
An above average half way there post. Hamas is ISIS. It not only murders Jews it murders Gazans. Israel has the right and obligation to defend itself. It also has responsibilities to follow the laws of warfare. This is a good video on Israel's rights and responsibilities: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdW6ISElci4
It’s hard to believe that if Israel were any other country besides the Jewish state, having undergone the barbaric genocidal atrocities of October 7, that people would be busy wagging their finger at them about their responsibility to follow the law of warfare. Do you wag a similar finger at Ukraine?
I think you are talking to the wrong person. Maybe you didn't watch the video. In any case, yes, all countries, USA, Israel, Ukraine, et al, have the responsibility to follow the rules of war as best as possible.
Attacking innocent civilians is not war- it is out and terrorism.
Israel follows the rules of war most humanely. Do you want to talk about placing innocent civilians in harm’s way- in hospitals, mosques, schools. This is what Hamas does to its own.
Israel has the most moral army in the world! Who else forewarns the civilians to leave the area due to an imminent attack by disseminating leaflets in the local language (Arabic)? Do you know any other army that has such moral compass? This is NOT a war but a massacre of the Israeli peace-loving civilian population. Wake up!!!
Thank you.
Thank you for your leadership.
Well said, thank you.
To the FAIR advisors-
The “bothesideism” approach which was touched on fails to acknowledge revisionism which is disguising full-frontal anti-Semitism.
The funding of the Hamas war machine began decades ago- money set aside, not for peaceful coexistence between Israel and Palestinians, but for the annihilation of Israel.
You name the monarchy or it’s proxy newspapers, they are not part of the solution but rather the source of the problem.
Oh - and I received this lovely email:
Clarence Wilhelm Spangle replied to your comment on FAIR's Message in the Wake of the October 7th Attacks.
Fuck you and your Jewish god.
So much for fairness and being against intolerance?
Yep I got that from Clarence. Out and out jew hatred is gushing out. FAIRS statement was at best stupid.
Spangle is an actual Nazi. Report him.
I think the comments section is proof that organizations like FAIR need to exist. So many of these comments are taking the post in bad faith, reading ill intent or apathy into it because the wording wasn't "correct" or the author didn't post it quick enough.
What I am getting from this is that several of the commenters want FAIR to produce rapid-fire, emotionally-charged content to stoke their audience's outrage. If that's what you want, try X/Twitter.
Besides, what IS the correct social media response to events like the Hamas attacks and Israel's retaliation? What can we say or Tweet or post to fix it? Nothing. Posts like this one are just acknowledgements. The point is just to say "I don't have my head in the sand. I see that this is wrong."