For a more hopeful meaning of remembrance of October 7

Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, founder of the Realign for Palestine project, spent today at a commemoration at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, sponsored by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

Alkhatib is a Palestinian from Gaza who has lost many family members to the Israeli military assault on Gaza. I've heard him speak with pain about the loss of those he loved, the loss of his family home, and his worries about relatives still in Gaza. He is angry at Israel (justifiably, in my opinion), but has channeled his anger into working for a new alternative for Palestinians, not in futile support of the violent so-called resistance supported by radical left groups in the US and elsewhere. This is from his newsletter:

Today, we remember the tragedy experienced by thousands of Israelis who endured horrendous violence and pain due to Hamas’s barbaric terror attack on October 7, 2023. I stand, as I have over the past two years, with the hostage families and those with loved ones still in captivity in Gaza, who are desperate to end the trauma that they and all Israelis continue to feel as long as this issue is not resolved. I am thinking of Lishay Miran Lavi, who is desperate to be reunited with her husband, Omri; Yotam Cohen and his brother, Nimrod; Arbel Yehoud, who spoke of her struggle to overcome the trauma from prolonged captivity; and all who have living and deceased family still held in Gaza.

Many former hostages were present today at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC for a commemoration hosted by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum with support from US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and his wife, Allison. Several former hostages shared the horror they went through on October 7 and beyond, not to mention the unimaginable suffering experienced by their families while waiting for their release. These voices are worth remembering whenever people try to convince you that October 7 and hostage-taking were somehow an inevitability due to occupation or oppression. What occurred on that fateful day was not “resistance” by any stretch of the imagination. It was nothing but violent criminality that was entirely unnecessary and avoidable. It did not need to happen. 

Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib Proud American; native Gazan; pro-Palestine, pro-Peace, anti-Hamas, anti-occupation, Two State Solution; Resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council (Views my own).

 

How Anti-Zionists "Remember" October 7, 2023

The Cornell University "Progressives" seized the opportunity presented by the second anniversary of the Hamas attack to desecrate the memory of the 1200 people murdered on that day by placing "pro-Palestinian" signs and placards on the quad at Cornell. There was no mention of why the war began; it's as if Israelis woke up suddenly on October 8 and decided to attack Gaza out of the blue. 

Instead of remembering the murdered Israelis, this is what they call for:

What does the slogan "We will free Palestine in our lifetime" mean? 

It reminds me of the New York City anti-Zionist group "Within Our Lifetime," which clearly has the goal of destroying Israel and establishing a Palestinian state instead of Israel. Is that the goal of the CU so-called Progressives? If not, they should make clear what their goal actually is.

(Photo is from CU Progressive Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/p/DPggbq9gGKx/). Go there to see the rest of their photos. Some are of Palestinians killed by Israel in Gaza - and note that I do not object to those photos, or in general to calling attention to and condemning how Israel has conducted the war in such a brutal and destructive way. My objection is to the CU Progressives refusing to admit how the war began, with the Hamas attack, and crassly and exploitatively seizing the opportunity on this day of all days to proclaim their political righteousness.

This is the poster that Within Our Lifetime posted on their Twitter/X page:

They named their demonstration after the title that Hamas gave to their invasion of Israel, the "Al-Aksa Flood."

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The Coalition for Mutual Liberation at Cornell also posted the same photo from the CU Progressive Instagram, plus a short video that used footage from the Hamas attack on October 7, which they took from an account called "Palestine Reveals" (link here: https://www.instagram.com/p/DPgSRPEDW5J/).

Here's a still from the video:

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The Ithaca College Students for Justice in Palestine also posted this same photo from CU Progressives in their Instagram Story:

They also posted another slide that requires one to agree with the Pro-Palestine movement in order to be considered a feminist:

(Link to Instagram Story: https://www.instagram.com/stories/ithacacollegesjp/3738202444342873566/).