I was performing a cardiac catheterization in Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center when a deafening siren abruptly halted my procedure. The noise was so loud that it was painful. I removed my sterile gloves placing my bare hands over my ears, but to no avail. When the excruciating noise finally died down, I asked the nurse in the control room “What the H… was that?” “Mass casualties” she replied. I finished my procedure as rapidly as I could and then ran to the ER to join my colleagues.
We received 55 patients in a matter of minutes. Another 100 dead and wounded went to other Jerusalem hospitals. Later we learned that two homicide bombers detonated their explosive vests at opposite ends of the Mahane Yehuda fruit and vegetable market. I have relived that experience many times in my dreams. Although the scourge of terrorism remains with us, I never thought that I would live to see the day that Arab Gulf states would sign a peace treaty with Israel.
Nor would I imagine in my worst nightmares what happened on October 7, 2023. From the towers of academia came shouts of joy and support even before the invading terrorists were subdued and the full extent of the massacre of unarmed Israeli civilians was unfolding.
As time went on, international support for the worst massacre of Jews since the holocaust only grew bolder, louder, and evermore antisemitic.
How have they justified this abhorrent behavior? They have adopted a distorted view of regional history that has erased Jews from the region and embraces the long tradition of violent antisemitism.
The question remains, how do we combat this denialist phenomenon?
My answer is to offer a concise manual detailing a factually based historical perspective of Jews, so that when students are confronted with a false narrative, they will be better equipped to respond.
The genocidal calls for the elimination of the Jewish state during the pro-Palestinian protests included slogans like “Khaybar! Khaybar! Ya Yahud, jaysh Muhammad saya’ud!” It is not common knowledge that this is a direct reference to the Prophet Muhammad’s military victory in the Arabian Desert oasis of Khaybar marred by brutality and subsequent slaughter of the Jewish tribe that refused to convert.
Additionally, while many still question whether “Globalize the Intifada” is a call for violent action against Jews world-wide, the term has only ever been used by Palestinians to refer to their mass attacks against Jews. Standing up against these hateful and thinly veiled incitements to violence is not just a defense of Israel, but against the targeting of Jews and by extension the persecution of the religious and ethnic minorities of the Middle East.
The Nazis understood that to destroy the Jewish people, they first had to delegitimize their right to live so that their annihilation could be justified as a noble act. In similar fashion, the horrific crimes perpetrated by Arab terrorists against Israel’s southern communities on October 7 were justified only in the minds of those poisoned by hatred and ignorance.
This manual serves to correct the record.
The stakes are too high to remain passive. This is a moment when defending Israel is not just political, it is personal, moral, and urgent. While Israel stands on the front lines of the global struggle against evil in the form of senseless warfare, terrorism, and religious extremism, Israel is counting on you.
Steven L. Feld, M.D. graduated M.I.T. and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School (Dallas) with honors (AOA). He immigrated to Israel and became an officer in the IDF. He underwent cardiology training in Houston, Texas and performed interventional cardiology at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.
