Thoughts re October 7 & FAIR's NYC Screening

How dare Israel try to lead the free world.

Hi all,

I hope you had a good weekend.

We are one week away from the first anniversary of October 7.

It is remarkable to see how that bloody day changed the world. It also revealed much, especially the depths of antisemitism that existed. We have yet to see the end of the ripple effect — the actions of Israel that we’ve witnessed over the past two weeks is nothing less than a stunning reordering of the Middle East geopolitics. Iran’s ring of fire that it spent the last several decades building around Israel to 1) destroy it and 2) protect its nuclear weapon ambitions was mostly exposed and shattered for the paper tiger it was.

The response of world leaders was predictable: they ordered Israel to deescalate. There was no praise for destroying the strongman theocrats who placed rockets and missiles and tunnels into the homes of residents in the name of “resistance.”

It is not hard to see why so many world leaders hate or dislike Israel. For years, they told Israel that it couldn’t achieve the military victories that it did. And they told Israel that she would have to accept the rise of these theocratic powers as inevitable. But in the past weeks, Israel made fools out of them — how dare Israel try to lead the free world.

The one thing that too many critics of Israel rarely mention is the Islamic subjugation of far too many people in the Middle East. Iran brutalized its pro-democracy protesters, especially women. Hezbollah slaughtered countless Syrians in response to the Arab Spring. Hamas built terror tunnels and fed Jew-hate. On and on. And they blamed Israel one too many times for the ills in the Middle East. However, many citizens of those nations cheered Israel’s recent victories and held up signs thanking them. They smell freedom from the true oppressions ruling those nations, and it is stunning that they rarely get a voice in today’s media that claims to care for the “marginalized.”

How will all this affect America? I posted a controversial tweet two days ago: “An Israel comprised of American Jews would never have achieved what it did the past two weeks.” If I had to revise it I would take out “Jews” and say “Americans” instead. There are too many reasons why to list here.

But I will say that in my small corner of the world, the reaction of many Americans to the Killing America documentary has been eye opening. A significant part of the film deals with the rise in antisemitism in schools after October 7 and how liberation ethnic studies — oppressor vs oppressed — is used to justify it.

Many from liberals to conservatives refuse to screen the film, especially in colleges, out of fear that it will upset the protestors. These protestors have every right to say what they want, but why are these Americans fearful to the point that they are willing to surrender their freedom of speech? It is not enough to pay lip service to it; you have to actually practice it.

That is why I am thankful that FAIR has worked hard to get a screening for Killing America in New York City on October 7. There were many entities that said they would partner with us only to drop out because it’s too “hot” or “controversial” or “New York will be on fire on October 7.”

Indeed, I received this notice from a friend this AM:

But acting out of fear comes with a price. Again, what worth is one’s belief if one is not willing to act on it?

For those of you in NYC who want to see Killing America, I hope you will make the trip to lower Manhattan join us. I will be there on the panel along with Diana Blum, Naya Lekht, and Wai Wah Chin. These individuals are quite fearless, playing influential roles from taking on school boards to the Supreme Court overturning Affirmative Action. This will be a raw and unfiltered discussion and here is the link to RSVP.

I hope to see you there on this special anniversary.

My best,

Eli