George Washington, the father of our country, envisioned an America where people of all faiths could enjoy peace. In 1790, he wrote to the synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island: “May the children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants, while everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig-tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.”
This image from the Bible by our first president was his ideal for the nation as a whole---that we can live in peace and safety and not be harassed by our own government.
Fast forward to today. Students at George Washington University protested against “the children of the Stock of Abraham,” as they chose Palestinians over Jews after the barbaric attacks in Israel on October 7th, 2023---a date that will live in infamy.
Writing for “The Daily Signal” of the Heritage Foundation, Mary Margaret Olohon notes: “George Washington University students held a ‘Vigil for the Martyrs of Palestine’ on Tuesday evening where they mourned the Hamas terrorists killed attacking Israel….Organizers encouraged the students to bring posters, flowers, flags, and a mask or keffiyeh (Palestinian headdress) to hide their faces.”
This rally was held by the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter.
What is significant about this vigil is that it occurred on the Tuesday night (October 11) after the multiple attacks on Israel on Saturday.
And, of course, this protest of solidarity on behalf of the Palestinians was just one of many throughout the country and throughout the West. All of these took place after the horrific attacks of Hamas, including beheading Israeli babies, on October 7th.
In Australia, the anti-Jewish protesters actually chanted, “Gas the Jews,” echoing the Holocaust.
Gary Bauer, the founder of American Values, wrote: “The National Students for Justice in Palestine celebrated Hamas’s savagery by declaring the vicious attacks to be ‘a historic win for the Palestinian resistance.’ The Islamic supremacist group also claimed that 180 of its 230 chapters issued some kind of statement supporting the attack. How does this radical organization, a Hamas front-group, have 230 student chapters across the country?”
For decades in the West, we have had tens of millions of Americans brainwashed and indoctrinated, even in some of our finest schools, into the notion of moral equivalency, where, supposedly, all things are relative. There are no absolutes. What Hamas does is justified because of what Israel has done earlier.
Gary Bauer also notes the pro-Hamas’ antipathy toward Christianity, “These student demonstrators, many of whom shouldn’t be in America, also yearn for the day when they can celebrate the destruction of this country and our conquest by Islam. That is, after all, the ultimate goal, according to one top Hamas leader – a world dominated by Islam with ‘no Zionism and no treacherous Christianity.’”
But thankfully, there is pushback against the pro-Hamas protesters.
About 700 Hollywood stars, usually on the wrong side of every issue, decided to issue a joint statement in support of Israel---"those experiencing unfathomable levels of fear and violence.”
Harvard students who had declared for Hamas following the atrocities of October 7th are being denounced by Harvard ex-president Larry Summers and some Harvard donors.
It’s good to see that not everybody approves of what Hamas did in their surprise attack, killing peaceful citizens, including babies, children, and grandmothers.
On Fox News last week, Laura Ingraham highlighted the Hamas Covenant of 1988. She let the viewer read the words on the screen, while refusing to dignify the message by reading them out loud.
The Hamas Covenant 1988 includes these words: “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jews will hide behind stones and trees…there is a Jew behind me…come and kill him.”
Robert Spencer, director of Jihadwatch.org, told me that that statement comes from the sayings of Mohammed, known as the “Hadith” (Hadith, Sahih Muslim 6985).
Dennis Prager, as I’ve noted before, makes an interesting observation about the push to destroy Israel, whether talking about Hamas or any of their fellow travelers.
The founder of PragerU said, “There are a million hatreds in the world, but there’s only one exterminationist hatred, and that’s anti-Semitism. Anti-Semites don’t dislike Jews. I wish that was all they did, you could live with this. You can’t live with people who want to exterminate you.” Hamas does not acknowledge Israel’s right to exist.
Exterminationist hatred is the exact opposite of what Jesus declared in Israel 2000 years ago, to this effect: Do to others as you would have them do unto you for this is a summary of the Law and the Prophets.
This is a clarifying moment for the West: Will we call out barbarity for what it is?
Dr. Jerry Newcombe is the executive director of Providence Forum, a division of D. James Kennedy Ministries, where Jerry also serves as senior producer and an on-air contributor. He has written/co-written 33 books, including (with D. James Kennedy), What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? and (with Dr. Peter Lillback), George Washington’s Sacred Fire.