Ever since the Hamas massacre in Israel last year, I have been waiting for satellite, cable, network TV, and Internet streamers to deluge us with classic World War II anti-Nazi movies. Ones like Judgment of Nuremberg, The Mortal Storm, Escape from  Sobibor, 49th Parallel, Pimpernel Smith, The Nasty Girl, and my favorite (mini-series) Leon Uris’s QB VII.

Films we must watch to remind and/or teach ourselves why “Never Again” became the battle cry of Jewish – and all others who respect human dignity – people. Particularly since, following that October 7th invasion … Black Lives Matters (“I Stand with Palestine”), Queers for Palestine (“We say no to Genocide”), Pro-Hamas college students (“From the river to the sea”), and supporters of that lunatic global warming activist Greta Thunberg (“I Stand with Gaza”) ... have been repeatedly and hysterically claiming that the victims of that October 7th attack – pay attention here – are the “Nazis,” and that Israelis are perpetuators of “genocide.”

So, for any of you out there eagerly popping “Ecstasy of Hate” pills … and for those who claim that they “aren’t political,” and thus are permitted to pretend that we aren’t on the cusp of terrible and terrorist times, listen up.

Do you want to know what genocide really is?

Of course you don’t. But I’ll tell you anyway.

After the mass murder of Jewish people by Nazi Germans before and during World War II, genocide was defined by The United Nations, International Law, and the International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide as: "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica: “The Final solution, implemented  from 1941 to 1945, was a Nazi  plan to eliminate Europe’s  Jewish  population, resulting … in the systematic murder of 6 million Jews across 21 countries … the culmination of a state-sponsored campaign against Jewish citizens in  German territory  that began shortly after  Adolf Hitler  became  chancellor  on January 30, 1933.”

But that was then. This is now.

Today, GENOCIDE has been transformed into the rallying call – not of Israel (which just wants to be left alone) – but of Hamas and all pro-Palestinian anti-Semites, whether they are shooting rockets at Israel or wearing Gucci shoes and hating their Jewish co-workers in Hollywood, on Fifth Avenue, at the BBC, or the notoriously pro-Hamas United Nations.

From a letter sent to Secretary of State Antony Blinken  by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul:

“On October 7th, 2023, Hamas committed acts of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes against the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Hamas’ actions were not just acts of ‘terrorism’ or ‘terrorist attacks.’ Rather, the assault was carried out by a genocidal organization and comprised nothing less than the full range of atrocity crimes under international law.”

McCaul goes on “…these atrocities cannot be justified, ignored, or denied. Hamas’ acts of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes included” (but are not limited to): “Murdering civilians in their cars, including women, children, and entire families ▪ Assaulting kibbutzim, killing residents and burning homes ▪ Massacring families in their homes ▪ Executing civilians ▪ Forcing hostages to lure other civilians out of their homes ▪ Executing babies and children ▪ Murdering the elderly, and posting the evidence on the social media of those killed ▪ Slaughtering more than 250 civilians attending a music festival, at point-blank range, and as they tried to escape ▪ Capturing, holding hostage, and raping women ▪ Kidnapping children ▪ Parading and spitting on deceased victims in the streets ▪ Mutilating bodies of civilians and soldiers ▪ Burning men, women, and children alive ▪ Stripping hostages and holding them at gunpoint ▪ And numerous other atrocities.” 

Quoting from the November 10, 2023 issue of The Economist, “…Hamas is a genocidal organization. Its founding charter, published in 1988, explicitly commits it to obliterating Israel. Article 7 states that “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them”. Article 13 rejects any compromise, or peace, until Israel is destroyed. Hamas fighters who burst into Israel on October 7th and killed almost 1,200 Israelis (and other nationalities) were carrying out the letter of their genocidal law.”

I am not going to write here about calls for Israel to be “compassionate” or “just” or to seek out a Hallmark Cards / Happy Families cease fire, which, to me, is as ridiculous as saying that the Allied Forces should have held back in their bombings of Germany during World War II, lest they injure civilians. The West, back then, was fighting for its life. So is Israel.

So is Ukraine. But nobody calls for a cease fire against the invading Russian armies. Why? Because Ukraine may have a Jewish president, but its citizens are not perceived as being Jewish.

Golda Meir, prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 1974, defended Israel then in the same manner that Israelis are defending themselves today. Except that now, anti-Jewish and anti-USA hatred has spread from the Middle East to the rest of the free world.

NOTE: On April 15, 2024 in New York City, during worldwide pro-Palestinian protests, the United States flag was set on fire to shouts of “Death to America” … On July 4th in Washington Square, 100 protestors burned American flags while shouting “F–k Israel! F–k America! Woohoo!” … And on July 24 – a little over a month ago at Union Station in Washington, D.C. – pro-Hamas fanatics defaced monuments, raised Palestinian flags, burned an American flag, and scrawled in red paint on the Columbus Memorial Fountain, “Hamas is Coming.”

America is having its own Kristallnacht, but nobody seems to be noticing.

Meir said that “When peace comes we will perhaps in time be able to forgive the Arabs for killing our sons, but it will be harder for us to forgive them for having forced us to kill their sons. Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.”

Returning to the letter from House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul: “Equivocation on the nature of these atrocities is indefensible.  And denying their existence is wrong.  Accordingly, I call upon the Department of State to join me in issuing a clear and unambiguous declaration that Hamas has committed acts of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes against the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Indeed, all parties to conflict must act in accordance with international law.”

I’ll end this column with one last quote from Golda Meir: “If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel.”

And, Dear Reader, if the end of Israel is what you desire, do not pretend that you are a humanitarian wanting to protect pregnant women chanting to their innocent babies – “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” – just look yourself in the mirror, and proudly proclaim, in the manner of anti-Semites everywhere …

I’m not even going to say it.

The mere thought of people with such a mentality makes me sick.

Copyright © Shelly Reuben, 2024. Shelly Reuben’s books have been nominated for Edgar, Prometheus, and Falcon awards. For more about her writing, visit www.shellyreuben.com.